22 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



found growing among rocks where no soil can be seen. The 

 rock chestnut oak, the black birch, the red cedar, and the 

 Hacmatack, rejoice in such situations. As in the case of the 

 sands, the experiment has been made, on a large scale, of cov- 

 ering bare, bleak hills, with trees. Of the Duke of Athol's 

 successful experiments in Scotland, on thousands of acres of 

 worthless, rocky hills, an account will hereafter be given, as 

 also of the value of the forests thus created. 



Of sedgy marsh and swamp, too wet and cold to be cultivated 

 without extensive and costly draining, many acres in the east- 

 ern part of the State have been sown by a natural process with 

 the seeds of the white cedar. The seeds, when shed, float upon 

 the water, and are carried by spring tides and freshets, and left 

 upon the surface of the ground. In the summer, they spring up 

 in countless multitudes. They may now be seen in different 

 states of forwardness, some of them forming impenetrable thick- 

 ets. What has been done, in these instances, by nature, indi- 

 cates the process by which similar grounds may be reduced or 

 restored to the condition of forest. 



By means of the trees above mentioned, and others, almost 

 every acre of the surface might be made productive. Even the 

 rocky crown of the sea-beaches might be covered with beach 

 plums. 



Much is to be done for the improvement of the woodlands 

 now existing. In some cases, they are managed with great 

 care. The best means of thinning, pruning, and felling, are 

 studied and practised. But, in many cases, indeed in most 

 instances, they are left in utter neglect. The consequences are 

 often very visible. In the cedar swamps just spoken of, the 

 seed-sowing has been so profuse, that plants spring up thick 

 enough to almost cover the ground. Ten or twelve may some- 

 times be seen on a square foot. These grow up well together 

 for a year or two. Afterwards, they seem to be struggling for 

 existence. The growth of all is retarded — almost stopped. In 

 a few years, the strongest overtop the others, which gradually 

 die. Still the number left living is far too great for the ground, 

 and few of them become fine and vigorous trees. All the side 

 branches die for want of light and air, and the top-most shoot, 



