DIGEST OF STATE REPOUTS. 501 



Tulip-Poplai', twcuty-two years plautcd, 21A iuclies iu diameier. 

 Sassafras, forty years planted. 'J2 iucbes iu diameter. 

 Cottonwood, forty-two years ])lautcd, 10 iuclies iu diameter. 

 Ived Oak, lifty years planted, 4o iuclics iu diameter. 

 Black Walnut, lifteeu years plauted, 14 iucbes in diameter. 

 White Piue, nineteen years planted, l:!;} iuches in diameter. 

 Chestnut, seventeen years plauted, ITJ inches in diameter. 

 Black Locust, thirty-eight years plauted, 3i inches iu diameter. 



The followiug are measurements of trees standing in blue-grass sod, 

 clay soil, planted at Springfield, Ohio, in 1851 : 



Eui'opean Larch, twenty years plauted, lOJ iuches in diameter. 

 Paper Birch, twenty years planted, 10i|- inches iu diameter. 

 Red Cedar, twenty years plauted, 9*- iuches in diameter. 

 White Elm, twenty years iilauted, 14i inches iu diameter. 

 White Piue, tv<'euty years plauted, 14+ iuches in diameter. 

 Norway Spruce, twenty years i^lauted, 14 inches iu diameter. 

 Australian Piue, twenty years planted, 15 inches iu diameter. 

 Ailanthus, twenty years plauted, 15 inches in diameter. 

 Burr Oak, twenty years planted, 15 inches in diameter. 

 Silver Poplar, tv/cnty years planted, 17^- inches in diameter. 



Others, in cultivated ground and more friable soil, but of same age, 

 measured as follows : 



European Larch, 18 iuches iu diameter. 

 White Pine, 14 iuches in diameter. 

 Pai)cr Birch, 14i- iuches in diameter. 

 Deciduous Cypress, 20 inches iu diameter. 



Mr. Ezra Sherman, of the White Water village of Preston, Ohio, 

 planted seeds of locusts and red cedar, in 1S30. At the age of three 

 years the trees were set out in a grove of 15 acres, and along the high- 

 way in an avenue for 200 rods. In 1870, or forty years from the seed, 

 two-thirds of the trees along the highway were cut down. These 180 

 trees made 1,500 posts, worth 35 cents each, or $525 ; that is, over $8 

 per tree. The stakes and top-wood for fuel were worth something be- 

 sides. Some of the trees in the grove are considered worth $10 apiece, 

 and the 15 acres thus stocked are expected to furnish fence-posts for the 

 whole farm of 1,500 acres for all time. The cedar, though of less rapid 

 growth, is more highly valued. They will make eight posts against 

 thirty of the locust trees. Mr. Sherman considers that the stakes, 

 poles, and pasture of this grove have been worth as much as it would 

 have yielded, if free of trees. 



The speaker refers to experiments made by Mr. Schofield, of Elgin, 

 Illinois, who, for the following reasons, prefers the European larch to 

 all other trees : It is hardy, of rapid growth, easily transplanted, and 

 bears being set closely. The timber is nnequaled for durability, and 

 having great strengtii and elasticity, is valuable for various purposes. 

 Every thinning he counts as a harvest. The first, at seven years, he 

 uses for stakes. The second, at fourteen years, furnishes 3,000 fence- 

 posts per acre, which he values at $1,000. The third thinning, at 

 twenty-one years, gives GOO trees, worth $3,000. The fourth cutting, at 

 thirty years, affords him 300 trees, valued at $0,000, making a total 

 yield of $10,000 from one acre in thirty years. He still has remaining 

 upon the ground 300 trees, as a permanent investment, worth $6,000 

 more, which will continue to increase in value annually. 



Mr. Milliken, iu his essay on forest culture in Ohio, thus alludes to 

 the immense consumption of timber and wood in the construction and 

 repair of the railroad lines of that State : 



Twenty years ago we had but two hundred and fifty miles of railroad in the State 

 the construction and working of which required but an insignificant amount of wood 

 Mow we have considerably more than six thousand miles of railroad, a sudden growth, 



