196 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUKE. 



3d. Let the hole for the tree be dug larger each way than 

 the roots extend ; fill up with fine and fertile soil, even should 

 you be obliged to go to your corn-fields or garden after it. After 

 putting the tree in its place do not move or shake it, but scatter 

 in the dirt slowly, and press it carefully about the roots, which 

 should be in contact with earth and in their natural position. 



4th. The trees should be mulched with leaves or litter in 

 summer, and in place of wliich there should be a mound of 

 composted manure in winter, to be levelled in the spring. 



5th. The ground around and between the trees should be 

 cultivated for a few years, preference being given to some of the 

 root crops. An occasional wash of soap-suds or weak lye upon 

 the bark is beneficial. 



N. Austin Smith, Chairman. 



FOREST TREES. 



NORFOLK. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



We are surprised that, notwithstanding the liberal premiums 

 offered by this society, and the strong inducements otherwise 

 presented to farmers, the growth of forest trees has received so 

 little attention in Norfolk county. The cost and consumption 

 of fuel and timber is already creating serious apprehension for 

 the future, and would justify any reasonable measures to remove 

 it. True, it is said, that the amount of woodland in the county 

 is greater now than it was twenty-five years ago, although the 

 quantity of merchantable wood and timber is less. But we 

 believe that this statement rests mainly on the fact, that the 

 value of woodland has so increased, within the given period, 

 that many acres are now suffered to remain in their natural 

 state, which would otherwise have been cleared and devoted to 

 tillage or pasturage, and that many pastures are now covered 

 with scattered pines, birches or other trees, where, otherwise, 

 the brushwood would have been extirpated. On the slightest 



