32 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



mossy-cup oak, post oak, water oak, black-jack oak, red oak, and pin oak,) 

 locust, (three varieties,) willow, (three varieties,) American linden, white 

 and slippery elm, alder, paw-paw, hornbeam, red-bud, hackbeiry, red 

 and white dogwood, persimmon, (several sorts,) burning-bush or straw- 

 beny ti"ee, mulberry, hop tree, crab apple, sassafras, spice bush, prickly 

 ash, sumach, and others I may not have observed. Those named below 

 have been successfully cultivated by the writer, and show that you need 

 not wait till gray hairs to reap the reward of your labors, and those labors 

 a pleasure. 



Silver Maple^ cultivated from seed, and from forest seedlings with 

 success. 



Sugai' Maple, of slower growth than the above, but preferable. 



Box Elder, an extraordinary rapid grower. A first-class shade tree. 



Buckeye, a native of great beauty; early in leaf; a well-rounded, 

 close, compact grower. ?I have seen in the grounds of Gen. Orr, in 

 Northern Indiana, some fine specimens, which fixed the status of the 

 Buckeye, as an ornamental ti"ee, in my estimation. 



Birch, in some of its varieties, has been a hobby with that species 

 of the genus homo, yclept tree peddler, in this county. They have 

 proved as worthless as the scamps who vend them, either for use or or- 

 nament. 



American Chestnut. I can but regard this variety as a valuable acqui- 

 sition to Western planters, for timber, ornament, or fruit. Of the easiest 

 cultivation; a rapid grower; bears at about five years, from the seed. 

 Trees of that age bore for me last year, which are the first nuts ever 

 grown in Mason county. 



Hickory, as before stated, grows here in several varieties, valuable 

 for timber and ornament. 



Pecan resembles it so nearly, its wood can be used for the same 

 general purposes. 



Beech would also be a desirable acquisition, but I have not yet un- 

 dertaken its cultivation. 



Ash I have grown from seed; a handsome shade tree that merits 

 more attention. 



Black Walnut, a prince of trees: grows spontaneously; is a valuable 

 timber ti'ee. I have walnuts twelve feet high, three years froin the seed; 

 am growing them yearly with the chestnut, and planting the young 

 trees in different localities on my farm; around the peach orchard and 

 nursery, along the road, and on the outer line fences, etc,; picketing 

 vineyard, garden, and field; genial alike for their shade, beauty, and fruit; 

 and in after years, when they need thinning, their timber will be valuable 

 for r>osts, rails, and lumber; and even the knots and forks command a 

 high price for veneering. 



Larch, European and American, have been grown, but not to the 

 saine extent as the walnut and chestnut. Two classes of our waste lands 

 (viz. high sandy, and low marshy) could be profitably employed by 

 planting in this timber, the variety adapted to each. Both would be very 

 remunerative, and yield quick returns. 



