The remarks which I shall have to make on this subject have, in some degree, been anticipated by the observations which I have already made, respecting the Skellingthorpe Plantation, but a more particular reference to a few well-known kinds, may not be amiss. I begin with the _Larch_, which, from its great value to Farmers and others, is fairly entitled to precedence. The Larch is found, in greater or smaller proportions, in most places where Plantations are made; and it is entirely the planter’s fault, if he be not well acquainted with its character, as a nurse for Oak. I say this, because it has been so extensively tested, and its habits are so well known, that no one, having the slightest wish to become acquainted with it, can have failed for want of opportunity. I have very often seen the Larch where it has proved an exceedingly bad nurse; where, in fact, instead of nursing the Oaks, it has destroyed them: but this has, of course, arisen from “mismanagement,” and might have been avoided. When good, stiff, healthy Oak Plants are put in with Larch only, or but with very few of any other sort, the Larch ought not, in the first place, to be put _too near_—the exact distance can only be determined relatively to that of the Oaks—secondly: an advantage should be given to the Oaks, if possible, _at the start_; either by assigning them a portion of the soil from the land intended for the Larch, or in some other way; after which, if the latter are constantly watched, they will approve themselves very suitable and valuable nurses; but if they are allowed, as they too generally are, to take the lead of the Oak, they will plentifully avail themselves of the licence, to the serious and, perhaps, irreparable injury of that plant. For large Plantations, intended for profit, it may be questioned whether, in the first instance, any thing else than Oak and Larch should be planted, and the distance must be decided after due consideration is given to the quality and condition of the land. If, however, a disposition is felt to plant other kinds, as nurses, there can be no objection, provided that their companionship is made fully to square with the well-being of the trees intended for timber. But where it is intended to introduce nothing that shall not act as a good nurse for the Oak, exception must certainly be taken to the Alder, the Poplars, the Sycamore, the Horse Chesnut, the Birch, and the Scotch Fir, &c. Not one of these discovers any congeniality for the Oak, nor any fitness for the office of nursing it; and it does really appear to my mind, as most unaccountably strange, that trees of all sorts should, without forethought, or calculation—and most particularly, that no reference should be made to their suitability or adaptation for the circumstances in which they are to be placed—be planted at a greater cost than would have sufficed to procure an ample number of the right sort.