1880.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



147 



valuable of our trees, but there is a handsome 

 profit to be made in planting it on waste and 

 unproductive lands, irrespective of the shelter 

 and protection which even a small grove of pine 

 trees is capable of affording. The seed of the 

 pitch pine is easily procurable. It is cheap, and 

 possessed of such vitality that the farmer plant- 

 ing it in the sand, even of Cape Cod, can be sure 

 of his crop. At different times about ten thou- 

 sand acres on Cape Cod, principally in or near 

 the town of Orleans, have been planted with the 

 seeds of this tree, while in Nantucket something 

 like seven hundred acres were planted between 

 1850 and 1855. The land on which the Nantuc- 

 ket plantations were made, was worth, at the 

 time of planting, SI an acre. Land of the same 

 sort can be bought for the same price now, al- 

 though the planted land has long been assessed 

 at S8 per acre, and finds a ready sale at $15 or 

 more an acre. The land first planted, thirty 

 years ago, will cut from fifteen to twenty cords 

 of firewood to the acre, worth at least S3 a cord 

 on the stump. This wood is not of the best 

 quality, and from good land the yield per acre 

 would be ridiculously small. 



"In order to test the possibility of growing 

 cheaply some of the more valuable pines from 

 seed in this way, a series of experiments were 

 undertaken two years ago, under the direction 

 of Prof. Sargent, of the Harvard Arboretum, by 

 Mr. Henry G. Russell, on his estate at East 

 Greenwich, R. I. Four plots, each one acre in 

 extent, were laid out; in shallow furrows, four 

 feet apart, were run both ways, and at their 

 intersection the seeds were planted in the most 

 careful manner possible, special pains having 

 been taken to procure the best seed which could 

 be found in this country or Europe." 



The kinds sown were the "White, Austrian, Cor- 

 sican and Scotch. This seed sowing where the 

 trees were to grow was not a success, as very few 

 seeds came to be trees. But though not a success, 

 the experiments are extremely useful as showing 

 what may not be done. There is the fact that 

 pines do well in Massachusetts soil. All that is 

 to be learnt is how to raise them cheaply and 

 successfully, so that the crop will be as certain 

 as corn and not too costly at the outset. 



"Mr. Russell's example is worthy of more 

 general imitation. By devoting his time, his 

 land and his money to experiments of this na- 

 ture, he is doing much to make tree-planting 

 easy and profitable for the next generation. His 

 experimental plantings already cover more than 



a hundred acres, and are being constantly and 

 rapidly extended. Having failed in raising pines 

 cheaply from seed, he is now engaged in trying 

 a similar experiment with the Ailanthus. If he 

 can demonstrate tliat it is practicable to cover 

 his sandy shore with this valuable tree, at a cost 

 of not more than a dollar or two an acre, he will 

 have introduced a new era into New England 

 tree-planting, which will add much to its agri- 

 cultural prosperity." 



Profits of Timber Culture.— About three 

 miles from the residence of the writer, and in 

 Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, is a piece 

 of chestnut timber land, about thirty acres, 

 which was cut off forty-five years ago, and a 

 new crop suffered to grow up. This is now 

 being cut and sold for posts. The posts sell at 

 S30 per 100 dressed and delivered to purchasers. 

 We have made a careful estimate, and find this 

 tract will yield 5,400 posts per acre, which at 

 thirty cents each, makes $1,620, or $36 per 

 acre, per annum. Land near it has recently 

 been sold for $150 per acre, and this is proba- 

 bly the market value of cleared land by which 

 this forest stands. The writer happens to know 

 that this is exactly what the land there was 

 worth twenty-five years ago. We may say 

 that no increase in value has been made since 

 the forty-five years the timber has been grow- 

 ing, and this fact affords an excellent opportu- 

 nity to judge of the value of timber laud, unin- 

 fluenced by any other circumstances. Of course, 

 there is some labor and expense in cutting, 

 shaping, and delivering the posts, but this ex- 

 pense has of course to be spread over the whole 

 fort3^-five years, and amounts to but a very 

 small percentage of the $36. The only fair 

 charge against the timber is compound interest 

 on the $150 for forty-five years, and the taxes. 

 The latter would be only about SI. 50 per an- 

 num. Prom out of this tract during the period 

 it has been in forest, large quantities of thin- 

 nings have been taken, which have served for 

 rails, and so forth, which will be a fair set off 

 to compound interest. Simple interest will be 

 even more than ought to be charged against the 

 product. Thus, we have about $9 an acre cost, 

 against $36 of income per acre, a very good profit 

 indeed, and going to show that under some 

 circumstances timber culture will pay. This 

 tract is but fifteen miles from the centre of the 

 City of Philadelphia, and within what is now 

 the city limits. 



