EXPERIMENTS IN TRANSPLANTING FOREST TREES. 



ing to my experience and observation, twelve out of twenty will surely die. Now, the 

 question arises in my mind, why should a chestnut tree be more difficult of removal than 

 many other deciduous, and even evergreens. It is a native of our soil; it graces our noble 

 forest, and crowns our highest hill, standing in the most bleak places, and seems to glory 

 in its towering majesty, stretching out its mighty arms in defiance of the storm-warfare 

 of centuries, till it sometimes attains to the size of ten feet in diameter. 



I have grafted the chestnut with good success, and I have known the scions to grow 

 from four to six feet in the first year; indeed, I think tlie success in grafting the chestnut 

 to be fully equal to that of the apple, and any one who wishes to add usefulness to beau- 

 ty, can do so with perfect safety, and improve their quality of chestnuts, by grafting. I 

 do not wish to be lengthy in my remarks, but I have such a love for shadowy streets and 

 lanes, especially on sultry days, that I cannot forbear to lay before your readers the result 

 of an experiment of mine in bringing about this good work. 



Four years ago I resolved to set a row of trees by the side of one of the lanes in our 

 village. I accordingly measured the ground, and found that it required twenty trees. I 

 thought I had a hard task to perform, and called on my neighbors to lend a hand in a pub- 

 lic work, but I found that none had time to spare to aid or encourage such notions, so I 

 resolved to do it alone. I went some little distance into the woods, to a fine little copse 

 of rock majjles, [or sugar maples] and in about five hours I succeeded in digging my num- 

 ber. The trees which I selected were about one inch and a half in diameter at the base; 

 as they were sheltered by some aged pines, they grew remarkably slender, and seemed 

 unable to sustain their own weight; and as there was a drouth in the fall, I took them up 

 with a clod of earth attached to them, and set them together by the side of a tree; 

 not having conveyance at hand I left them there three or four days, when they were 

 conveyed home. I cut their tops off to ten or eleven feet, not leaving a branch or scarcely 

 a spur upon them. I set them upon light, gravelly ground, and when I dug the holes the 

 earth was as dry as snuff. I took heed not to cover the roots too deeply, but placed some 

 stones on them, to prevent the frost from throwing them out, which answered a two-fold 

 purpose, both to keep the tree firm, and to keep the soil pressed about the roots when the 

 frost come out of it in the spring. I mention this, partly to show that this kind of tree 

 will grow with less care in transplanting than some other varieties, though with more care, 

 the better they will flourish. It was about a days' work to set them, and half a days' 

 work to stake them up to guard against cattle. Counting time as money, the expense did 

 not exceed three dollars; and though they set in an exposed, bleak place, I had but two 

 failures, which were soon replaced. Some of them made a more rapid growth the first 

 year than they would have done in their native forest. I have now the gratification of 

 seeing as fine a row of trees as there is in the town, with the prospect of yearly additions 

 to their beauty. On meeting my neighbors, some jocosely remarked that I had got my 

 bean-poles set in season ; while others said with a siieer, " I guess they will grow like bean- 

 poles." I was, however, so elated with my success, that I resolved to set a row on the 

 opposite side of the lane, which I did in a year two after. This was attended Avith a little 

 more expense, and better success. I got trees varying from two to three inches in diame- 

 ter, and planted them in the same way. There are fifty-five trees in all. They have all 

 flourished well, and bid fair to add much beauty to the landscape, and afford as pleasant a 

 shade as one could wish; may others, interested in the beauty of shadowy lanes, go and 

 do likewise. How many tliere are who spend three times as much money for that Avhich 

 is useless, and a great deal more time than it would require to plant a hundred such 

 in the course of a year, which, if rightly employed in ornamenting and improving 



