IX. 



PLANTING AND GROWING TREES. 



WHOEVER has recently bought, inherited, or other- 

 wise become the owner of a farm, has usually found 

 some part or parts of it devoted to wood ; and this, 

 if not in excess, he will mainly preserve, while he 

 studies and plans with a view to the ultimate devo- 

 tion to timber of just those portions of his land that 

 are best adapted to that use. In locating that timber, 

 I would have him consider these suggestions : 



I. Land wisely planted with trees, and fenced so 

 far as need be to keep out cattle, costs nothing. 

 Whatever else you grow involves labor and expendi- 

 ture; trees grow of their own accord. You may 

 neglect them utterly may wander over the earth 

 and be absent for ten or twenty years, while your 

 fences decay and your fields are overcropped to ex- 

 haustion ; even your meadows may be run out by 

 late mowing and close feeding at both ends of the 

 season, till a dozen acres will hardly subsist a span 

 of horses and a cow ; but your woods need only to 

 be let alone to insure that their value shall have de- 

 cidedly increased during your absence. They will 

 (56) 



