128 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



oysters, they are delicious ; or boiled, 

 mashed and seasoned in the way of 

 the Egg Plant, they become a novel 

 side dish, having a pleasant and 

 somewhat spicy flavor, midway be- 

 tween the Jerusalem Artichoke and 

 boiled Chestnuts. In preparing them, 

 washing only is necessary, as the thin 



tender skin renders peeling needless. 

 A point not to be overlooked in 

 favor of their general use and culti- 

 vation is that they may be kept as 

 well, as easily and as long as pota- 

 toes, requiring only a cool, dry cellar ; 

 keeping their fresh appearance best 

 if covered lightly with earth. 



A FIRST LESSON IN FORESTRY. 



Bv T. M. Grover, B.A., Peterborough. 



SINCE I began to lay out a small 

 plantation of timber trees, and 

 told my friends what I was doing, I 

 found every one interested in the 

 subject, and many made enquiry as 

 to the nature of the seed or seedling 

 trees required, and the mode of work- 

 ing. As I had to teach myself each 

 step in the business, I think I can 

 guide any beginner into a little easier 

 wa}' than I found for myself. 



To learn it at a single lesson, I 

 would say to any one who has culti- 

 vated land near his home, to send 

 one dollar to some wholesale nursery 

 for a few seedling trees. These nur- 

 series are plentiful in the United 

 States, from New York to Illinoe, 

 and they will send you a dozen or 

 fifty or one hundred little trees by 

 mail, of- almost any variety, and there 

 is no duty on them (as yet), and no 

 risk of injury in transit. These seed- 

 lings, though no larger than a cab- 

 bage plant, will endure cold and 

 packing for a long time, and I have 

 heard of ash seedlings kept in a store- 

 house for three years with safety. 

 They are shipped all winter. These 

 hundred trees are from seed planted 

 last spring, are very small and cannot 

 yet contend with weeds or sod, so 

 they must be planted close together 

 in a row and kept clean, and the 

 better they are cultivated like a vege- 

 table, the more they will grow. 

 Some, like the Ailanthus, Locust or 

 Box Elder, will grow five feet the 



first season. They will all make a 

 ver}' fair growth. 



For further observation keep them 

 cultivated another 3'ear or two in the 

 same place, and then move them 

 wherever you like. 



The strife with weeds and soils 

 will show what trouble one would 

 have with a whole field like that for 

 a plantation ; the style of seedlings, 

 the growth, the season and the care 

 required are just the same, but for 

 field culture with horse power it is 

 better to get two-year-old seedlings, 

 as they are so little more in price, and 

 for any but skilled nurserymen, more 

 easily cultivated. 



Any one who would like to have 

 an acre of solid timber, or ten or one 

 hundred acres, and who will give it 

 his personal care, will have no trouble 

 in making the trees grow. There 

 will not be five per cent, loss in trans- 

 planting, and the cultivation (not that 

 generally given to lawn or street 

 trees) stimulates such an unexpected 

 growth that the planter will be more 

 than satisfied, in Canada, where 

 planting has not begun yet, and 

 for a small lot it would cost very 

 little to get good sized trees, say four 

 or five feet high, and when planted 

 only four or five feet apart, a block 

 .of such trees is very interesting. It 

 is quite unnecessary for any one to 

 trouble himself with tree seed, for 

 although there may be 20,000 seeds 

 in a pound, it is not likel}' that at the 



