THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 395 



be increased Justin proportion to the acrenge planted. Thousands of acres of 

 waste lands are taxed at a very nominal rate, but the moment any attempt is 

 made to improve them, to plow or plant, the rate is at once increased, though 

 no apparent value is given to it, at least for a great many years, as the care and 

 labor of planting and rearing the young seedlings is much more than their 

 immediate worth. 



WHERE TO TLANT THE CHESTNUT. 



This practical note is from B. F. J., in the Country Gentleman : 

 I sometimes think we do not sufficiently respect the physiological and other 

 peculiarities of trees, shrubs, and vines, when we choose them for this, that, or 

 the other soil and situation. Jnst now there appears to be a boom got up for 

 the benefit of the native chestnut. It is claimed it will do well in almost any 

 soil and section and that no one can go far wrong in planting it where trees 

 are wanted for shade, shelter, or ornament. But the fact is, the chestnut of all 

 our valuable forest trees is particular about the land it grows on. On the ricb 

 loams of the west most of which are underlaid by a compact and calcareous 

 blue clay, where the burr oak, the walnut, the blue ash, the sugar maple, and 

 many other valuable timber trees do exceptionally well and attain gigantic 

 proportions, the chestnut infallibly dies within ten or fifteen years after plant- 

 ing. But on gravelly or sandy soil, or where beneath a rich loom there is a 

 deposit of porous sand or gravel, the chestnut may be safely planted. If au 

 endorsement of these statements is needed let me quote the Bon Jardinier 

 which says, " The chestnut grows with vigor in silicious sands where it lives 

 many centuries and attains remarkable proportions, but it inevitably perishes 

 in calcareous soils and subsoils." 



NATIVE FORESTS. 



In the Post and Tribune we find the following: 



While there is much said and written in regard to forest tree cultivation, we 

 find very little attention paid to the preservation of native forests. In the 

 timbered sections we have been too busy trying to get rid of the timber, to 

 think of any method of preservation. Yet in some sections that were, formerly 

 timbered there is now felt to be a scarcity of timber, particularly of that kind 

 which is useful in manufactures. The only remedy mentioned is the planting of 

 forest trees for this purpose. But this is a work that we are hardly prepared for 

 in this State and it is probable that only necessity will compel artificial planting. 

 The time seems too long to wait for an investment of this kind to begin to 

 pay, and there are very few who will undertake the work. At least very little 

 has been done in this line. At the Agricultural College an experimental 

 arboretum of four acres has been growing a few years; and a farmer in Monroe 

 county has this year set 1,500 black walnut trees with a view to grow them for 

 timber. 



Would it not be well to study more closely the possibility of improving the 

 timber lands that still remain. The woods still standing contain a vast 

 amount of material which is susceptible of development in far less time than 

 would be required for the planting and growth of new forests, the neglect of 



