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^f AST sums of money are annually spent in tliis country on trees ; it would be 

 W impossible to make a close estimate of the amount, but we can not be very far 

 out of the way in putting it at a million of dollars. We believe we could show by 

 figures that this is not, as it may appear to many, an immoderate estimate ; for more 

 than one quarter of that amount may be set down to Rochester alone. This gives us 

 some idea of the extent and importance of our arboricultural interest, yet it attracts 

 little attention. The men engaged in rearing and planting trees are not those who 

 make much noise in the world. We have no arboricultural societies to collect inform- 

 ation or incite to experiments and observation — no public gardens or arboretums to 

 test theories and modes of culture — the whole matter thus far has been left to indi- 

 vidual effort and enterprize ; and as both growers and purchasers of trees usually 

 proceed upon the principles of economy, no great improvement has been made upon 

 old methods; — at least, this business has certainly not advanced in the same ratio as 

 some other branches of the useful arts and sciences. IIow many of those engaged 

 in the planting and culture of trees, have taken pains to acquire the slightest possi- 

 ble degree of knowledge concerning their structure, the functions of the different 

 parts, and their relative connection and influence upon each other? Not one in five 

 hundred. A man spending a hundred dollars for trees does not consider it worth his 

 while to consult the best books that have been written on the subject — he does not 

 consider that a dollar spent in that way might save him fifty in the management ot 

 his plantation. A few words of oral instruction from some one perhaps as ill-informed 

 as himself, or a few hints which he finds on the cover of a nurseryman's catalogue, 

 supply all the needed information. We are happy to admit exceptions — numerous 

 too. Books and papers are read and studied ; but the few who read and seek infor- 

 mation from such sources are, when compared with the number of persons who plant 

 trees, but a drop in the bucket. Frauds of all kinds are perpetrated upon people thus 

 exposed by ignorance ; for there is no pursuit under the sun exempt from dishonest 

 and tricky persons. It is not surprising that we hear, every year, people complain 

 bitterly of their trees. Some they lose totally the first season ; others linger along 

 for years without making any considerable growth, while the cause remains a com- 

 plete mystery. " They were nice trees, well planted, and every way well cared for." 

 Now there are many reasons for these failures ; and if people were as well informed 

 as they should be on this sulject — if they possessed a correct knowledge of the essen- 

 tial properties of a tree fit for safe and successful removal, and understood properly 

 what good planting and good treatment consist in — they could readily account for 

 their losses. 



We pripose, now, to offer a few suggestions on these topics — first, in regard to the 

 qualities of trees, and how these are to be secured ; and secondly, on planting and 

 subsequent treatment. We may as well say at the outset, that we are not about to 



Februait 1, lS54. ul iNo. 11. 



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