ARBORICLLTLRE 



The mere planting of beach grass and 

 sowing seeds of pine and oak will not 

 accomplish the reclamation of these 

 sandy wastes, but this process must be 

 supplemented with extensive plantings 

 of quick-growing, hardy trees, set quite 

 thickly. (Jne-year-old rooted trees should 

 be used, and planted 8 by 8 feet. 



A moderate quantity of beach grass set 

 at the same time will efifect an entire 

 change in this region of shifting sands. 

 Sumac, bay, yucca and similar strong 

 rooted plants of shrubby or herbaceous 

 character will resist the action of the 

 wind, breaking its force at point of con- 

 tact with the sand, an^d gradually produce 

 a soil in which important forest trees will 

 thrive. 



Abele is growing well about the cape, 

 and I found catalpa as perfectly at home 

 as in Indiana. Red oak will quickly 

 mature in this locality if given an oppor- 

 tunity. Ailanthus is hardy and a strong 

 growi-r in the vicinity. The small cost of 

 these plants and the fact that they may be 

 -obtained in unlimited quantities make it 

 advisable to do extensive planting, as it 

 will insure to the state a large income in 

 future froni an expanse which is now 

 practically valueless. 



NATHANIEL MORTON. 



(Jne of Massachusetts most valuable 

 ■citizens has died since my visit last sum- 

 mer. Mr. Morton has demonstrated that 

 the lands of slight estimation, about 

 Plymouth, rolling hills covered with small 

 growths of oak and inferior pine is 

 capable of being converted into magnifi- 

 cent forests of pine if man will but assist 

 nature. 



Mr. Morton drove me over his large 

 tract and also showed me the adjoining- 

 lands, which are still in a state of nature. 

 The contrast was remarkable. 



Critics railed at this man's methods, 

 old fogies wisely shook their heads, 

 penurious ])ersons said he was spending 

 too much money. Yet this noble man left 

 to his native state a most valuable heritage 

 — a monument greater and more enduring 

 than one of the granite. He has set an 

 example which the landowners of your 

 state may follow with ]irofit. He has 

 taught a most important lesson, that 

 Avhile nature mav thin out a forest in 



time, by the slow process of starving and 

 strangling the weaker trees, while yet the 

 larger and stronger remain always hun- 

 gry, and thus fail to increase vigorously, 

 Mr. Morton demonstrated that systema- 

 tic thinning of the forest, and the removal 

 of lower side branches by the ax and 

 saw, is the economical procedure, that 

 time, which is money, may be gained by 

 performing this work instead of waiting 

 for nature to do it by her slow process. 



Cutting out the crowding scrub 

 growths sufficiently to enable the pine to 

 obtain a proper share of nourishment, he 

 soon obtained a good stand of valuable 

 trees. 



Mr. Morton assured me by his exhibit 

 of expenditures and by the actual in- 

 crease in wood growth, that under his 

 methods white pine had increased 7 per 

 cent annually. Trees that were sixty 

 years old are 16 inches in diameter and 

 60 feet high. 



By pruning close to the trunk, even 

 cutting into the live wood and bark about 

 the branch to be removed, induces a rapid 

 callous and speedy covering of the wound 

 with new bark. 



The life of such man is worth much to 

 the community in which he lived, and the 

 lessons demonstrated at an expense of 

 much money and the devotion of a life- 

 time should not be allowed to be wasted, 

 but should he of practical value to every 

 landowner of the commonwealth. Our 

 society feels proud that Nathaniel Morton 

 was one of its members. The growth of 

 trees does not so much depend upon the 

 character of soil as upon the moisture 

 available during the growing season, and 

 either a thorough cultivation or a natural 

 mulching with leaves and shade, which 

 prevent a growth of grass. Few trees 

 will thrive in a grass sod. 



But trees fomi a soil, either shallow or 

 deep, depending upon the root system. 



By penetrating the subsoil with their 

 tap roots, allowing air, moisture and frost 

 to enter and silently break up the hard 

 crust, one class of trees forms a deep 

 soil. As leaves die and fall away, so roots 

 decay, new ones being formed, and thus 

 the subsoil becomes filled with vegetable 

 mold, creating a soil. 



Such trees as have only surface roots 

 f(M-m a shallow soil. This latter class 



