MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL. SOCIETY. 99 
about the laws and the reproduction of the European forests, 
I will give them if this paper should not prove too long. 
I think, if our laws are adhered to, they are just right, and 
if our timber then gets scarce, many a farmer, at least in our 
_ section of country, can grow all he needs, and if of a specula- 
tive nature, will raise it to sell, and make it profitable, as 
there is a large quantity of poor and waste lands to be had 
very cheap. which can be planted or preserved by the owners, 
and make forest tree timber-growing profitable, which timber 
will increase in value from year to year, until it is worth as 
much, or more, than improved farming lands without the 
timber. If rich land can be afforded to grow timber, all the 
better, as it will grow faster, and for mechanical purposes will 
be worth more, as the layers of the new wood growth will be 
larger and of greater strength than slower grown timber. 
But before I get into the details I will remark that fire and 
cattle have to be kept out for a number of years. On land, 
either in openings or where the timber has been cut off, or 
where fire has run over the forest, new seedlings will spring 
up again naturally, as there are generally live roots and dor- 
mant forest seeds left in the ground, which will spring up 
again; but if nothing of the timber kind should spring up, we 
have to assist nature and sow the seed of such forest trees as 
will be best adapted to the soil, and supply the places by arti- 
ficial means. 
For instance, on very poor, sandy lands, where it is rich 
enough to grow grass, timber seeds will grow; but if the soil 
is so dry that no grass can grow, it will be an uphill business 
unless water can be supplied. But on the very poorest land 
we have seen in this State (nearly dry sand,) the white birch 
will grow; or on moist sand, tamarack or larch, and if these 
should get large enough to shade the ground other timber 
seeds will grow, if sown so as to be in the shade, where they 
grow naturally. Pines are at home on sandy soil, but to start 
-a pine forest, other tree seeds should be sown and grown to 
produce the shade required for them. If they are to be grown 
from the seed, and even where small seedlings are set out, 
shade they must have. 
I have seen all kinds of land and timber lately, on my first 
visit westward to your State, Minnesota, and was surprised to 
see so much poor, sandy land between here and there, and also 
the variations of the soil by the growths of the different kinds 
of timber, bushes and plants, as we swept along by rail. 
Some appeared to be so poor that a sheep would starve to 
death in the month of June in a ten acre lot. Still there was 
always something growing on the surface, in the wood line, 
