NOTICES OF TREES. 



anticipate a great demand and profit by timely provision. The father of the late 

 Duke of Atliol lived to see a ship launched that was built out of the Larch wood 

 jilaiiti'd by hiuisolf on his naked Scotch hills There are tliousaiids of sites in this 

 country whore the larch and other useful wt)ods W(juld yield their thousand per cent, 

 upon a very slight outlay. .Alduntain sides should be enriched with hard wooded 

 trees ; Larch plantations have i)rovcd extremely profitable.* 



A father sometimes buys from an annuity company, for a small sum, a large 

 amount predicated upon an infant's attaining majority — let other fathers plant trees 

 and be({ueath the result in the same manner; in the one case there is nothing 

 pro( faced for the benefit of the country — in the other there is a sure capital created, 

 which is growing faster than the child ; and if the latter dies, the trees survive for 

 a successor, while the sum for the annuity is lost to the family. A plantation of 

 Locust trees, costing five hundred dollars at the birth of an infant, on soil of 

 moderate price, would be equal to more than ten thousand dollars at its majority. 



NOTICES OF TREES. 



NO. 1. 



Under this head it is proposed to give occasionally a sketch of such trees as may 

 come under the writer's notice, that are any way remarkable in size, beauty, or 

 rarity, with such remarks as may generally interest. As knowledge, like charity, 

 should always begin at home, the nearest interesting collection of trees is first taken 

 in order, — that of the Messrs. Johnson, Germantown, Penna. 



These trees were planted by the father of the present proprietors, between the 

 years 1805 and 1812 ; and to those who imagine that they have to wait what they 

 term ''a whole life-time," in order to enjoy the fniits of their labors, — shade, shel- 

 ter, and retirement, — they have aflPorded for a long time an excellent example of 

 what a bountiful reward a few short years will heap upon them. The handsomest 

 specimen on the grounds is one of the European Silver Fir (Picea portinata), and 

 it would probably be not too much to assert that it is the most beautiful tree of the 

 kind in the United States. Its present height is ninety-six feet, and its circum- 

 ference is nine feet four inches at three feet from the ground. Near the ground 

 line it is eleven feet and nine inches, and the whole tinink perfectly straight, and 

 clothed with fine healthy branches to its very base. 



* The last number of the London Quaterly Seview, which has come to hand since this article was penned, says :— " It 

 appears that the Larch yields the greatest profit of any description of tree, and in the hortest time. It Is proverbial, 

 in fact, that Larch will buy a hoise bel'ore Oak will furnish the saiUiie. The timber is said to be superior to foreign Fir 

 In the following respects: It Is clearer of knots; more durable, even the dead branches being never found rotten; It is 

 much less liable to shrink or split; it may be seasoned in a much shorter time: it is tougher, of a better color, and 

 susceptible of a polish superior to that of the fluost Mahogany, and bears exposure to climate ami moisture for many 

 years without undergoing any change. It has, however, been found open to objection for ship building." 



