FOREST TREES. 221 



to set at times, to 1853, mostly from 1817 to 1851. They were set 

 chiefly, on thin, barren, worn out soil that he purchased, and not 

 worth cultivating for any other use. They were set on from 

 twelve to fifteen acres, as near as I could judge without actual 

 survey. Some were set on small pieces of land ; about that I 

 did not know of when the committee came to view. If Mr. 

 Sampson had lived, he could have given a very important and 

 interesting account of his experiments in the cultivation of for- 

 est trees. 



Statement of Jonathan Copeland. 



The tract of land planted and transplanted with forest trees, 

 entered for the society's premium, payable in 1856, is high, poor 

 land, and had been exhausted by frequent croppings. In the 

 fall of 1847 I sowed the land to rye ; had a small crop. In 

 1848, in February, I sowed pine seed, procured the fall before, 

 and also sowed again the first of April, on the rye ; neither sow- 

 ing came up well. The seed I sowed in April germinated bet- 

 ter than the former. In 1850, I transplanted white pines and 

 some white birches. I think the best months to transplant are 

 April and November. Where young trees can be obtained, I 

 think that transplanting is far better than sowing the seeds, and 

 less work. Two men can set out five hundred young pines in a 

 day, and that is enough for half an acre. 



If transplanted, they should l)e from ten to twenty inches 

 high, when moved. In transplanting, we gain five to six years 

 in the growth, and nine out of ten will live, if properly set. 

 The land I entered for premium contains seven acres and a 

 quarter. 



f 



These statements, detailing the results of experiments in 

 forest planting, are very ercouraging. The whole area of the 

 State is 4,491,812 acres. Of this, it is stated in recent returns, 

 that there are 729,792 acres of woodlands. There were also re- 

 turned, 995,000 acres of unimproved lands, and 360,000 acres 

 denominated unimprovable lands, thus showing an aggregate of 

 nearly one-half the area of the State that is not under improve- 

 ment. The planting of the seeds of forest trees, if intelligently 

 and economically conducted, will convert much of this unpro- 

 ductive land into profitable and productive forests. — Ed. 



