"*' FOREST TREES. 197 



survey of the county, one is struck with the great number of 

 acres to be seen where the soil is light, capable of affording only 

 the scantiest herbage, — often covered with moss, — or yielding 

 occasionally a meagre crop of rye or corn, — scantily repaying its 

 cost, which might be covered with beautiful and productive for- 

 ests, and thus add, everyway, to the attractiveness and value of 

 the homestead. 



But while few systematic attempts have been made, within 

 our knowledge, to cultivate forest trees on any extensive scale, 

 we are happy to notice the instances of successful endeavor, in 

 this direction, to which our attention has been called ; and we 

 cannot but hope that others may be incited by them to give to 

 the subject that consideration which it deserves. 



Mr. Whiting Metcalf, of Franklin, entered for inspection a 

 plantation of pines and birches, covering three and a half acres. 

 This i^lantation was begun about twenty years ago, — when its 

 proprietor was nearly three-score years old, — and he now lives 

 to reap the mental satisfaction, as well as the pecuniary returns, 

 of an entirely successful experiment. Upon the western border 

 of his large and valuable farm, a swell of land, with a soil of 

 light, sandy loam, and a subsoil of pure sand, had been sown, 

 for many alternate years, with rye and grass seed, without any 

 fair equivalent for labor. This land was subsequently sown, — 

 one-half of it with seeds of the pitch-pine, which grew rapidly, 

 and encouraged the sowing of the other half, some years after- 

 wards, with seeds of the white-pine. For some reason, these 

 did not germinate as uniformly as the others had done, and seeds 

 of the birch tree were then sown in the vacant spots. The result 

 is, that Mr. Metcalf now has, on the half of this land first sown, 

 one acre and three-quarters of pitch-pine trees, from which he 

 thinned out, last spring, ten cords of small wood, leaving, on a 

 careful estimate, not less than fifteen cords per acre of good 

 merchantable wood. Probably these trees have grown more 

 rapidly than visual, in consequence of the previous cultivation of 

 the soil. But, judging from their past growth and present vigor- 

 ous appearance, we think they will increase at the rate of a 

 cord per acre, at least, for every year, until they are of sufficient 

 age and size to be felled. Allowing this to be not less than 

 forty years from the time of sowing, there will then be thirty 

 cords per acre on the ground. The increased value of the wood, 



