202 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



now contains abont eight liunclred trees, and occupies two-thirds 

 of an acre of ground. 



I transplanted these trees from an old pasture near by, when 

 they averaged about two feet in height, and with a sod around 

 them six or eight inches square. I ploughed furrows in the 

 land eight feet apart, and placed the trees four feet distant from 

 each other, in each furrow. Then with a hoe I drew the earth 

 over them, as far as was necessary to cover and protect the 

 roots. 



The whole expense did not exceed four dollars, and for this I 

 now have a beautiful and thrifty grove of pine trees, averaging 

 from eight to ten feet in height. 



Franklin, September, 1856. 



The committee also append the following statements compiled 

 chiefly from Mr. Emerson's report. 



" The object of this report," says its author, George B. Emer- 

 son, Esq., "is to describe the trees and forests of Massachusetts, 

 to set forth their importance, their general and particular rela- 

 tions, uses and properties, and the modes by which they may be 

 preserved, propagated and improved." 



It would be fitting to our purpose to reprint the whole of Mr. 

 Emerson's Introductory Essay on the uses and improvements of 

 the forest. But the space it would require forbids. We have, 

 therefore, selected such parts of it as best comport with our 

 design. 



It will readily be seen that the value and usefulness of this 

 report are in no degree diminished by the natural and social 

 changes which have taken place since its publication in 1846. 

 The only material difference between its applicability to that 

 period and the present, is in the statistics by which the author 

 measures the worth and the uses of the forests. The increase 

 which has accumulated in the quantity of wood consumed for 

 fuel and in manufactures and the arts, is truly astonishing ; 

 and the fact should serve to impress most strongly upon the 

 mind of every farmer the importance of attending to his forest 

 trees. 



We shall present a table of statistics, showing the present use 

 and value of wood, drawn from a source similar to that of the 



