FOREST TREE PLANTING. 137 



"The greater part of a place I l)Ouglit at Wood's 

 Holl some years ago, was made up of hilly pasture land, 

 worn-out, sandy, gravelly soil, with many boulders. It 

 was exposed to hiijh winds from Buzzard's Bay, and of 

 very little value for cultivation. I l)egan by trying some 

 seed of the native pitch pine, sowing it l)roadcast on the 

 surface in the spring. I afterward bought some seed of 

 the Scotch pine, and some other varieties, and sowed them 

 from time to time until I covered about 100 acres. I 

 used some white-pine seed ; but this kind is not suitable to 

 the seashore, and unless sheltered from the salt water does 

 not thrive. The native pitch pine did well, but seems of late 

 to be taken with a blight that has destroyed many of them. 

 The Scotch pines have done very well ; though I am doubtful 

 as to their value as timber, yet they will make good fuel. I 

 suppose my planting for the last 15 years will average 15 

 feet in height, which is one foot a year, and a thick forest now 

 covers my hundred acres. By sowing broadcast they have 

 come up too thick, and I have trimmed out hundreds of loads 

 for fuel, and yet they are hardly missed. My neighbors on 

 the Cape plant with a hoe ; that is, cut a place in the sod and 

 drop the seed. Others run light furrows, six or seven feet 

 apart, and drop the seed the same distance. Cover lightly or 

 not, as you may judge by mine being scattered on the short 

 grass or moss. The object in planting this wnj is the saving 

 of seed, and knowing where the seed was dropped, you can 

 see if it has failed to come up. Some of the seeds may not 

 start or be visible for a year or two. Where you are, I sup- 

 pose white pine is natural, and would do well. Seeds of the 

 pines can be procured at most of the Boston seed stores. I 

 would recommend the American red pine (pinus resinosa), 

 but the seed is very scarce and not readily found. It is the 

 Norway pine of New Hampshire, and a very fine and valu- 

 able variety, — the wood something like the southern yellow 

 pine. You will see from what I have written that my work 

 has mainly been in pines grown from seed sown broadcast, 

 involving the least possible labor and expense. I have 

 planted chestnuts which have made a very satisfactory growth, 

 and would advise planting them and black walnut, if you 

 have good soil and rocky land. I iiave planted many thou- 



