88 LIFE ON THE FARM. 



THE PLANTING OF GROVES. 



The planting of groves must now be taken up 

 in nearly all sections of the United States to supply 

 the deficiency caused by the wanton and ignorant 

 destruction of trees which has taken place. Grove 

 or forest planting will be a general good to the 

 country at large, and a special good to those who 

 plant them. It will be capital well invested. 



A cultivated forest, to be profitable, should be 

 planted and tended much the same as a field of 

 corn. The ground should be plowed and har- 

 rowed late in autumn, and the seeds, or nuts, 

 planted in rows from three to four feet apart so as 

 to admit of cultivation for the first few years. The 

 seeds should be planted in the fall of the year, 

 because most kinds require the moisture and frosts 

 of winter to render them capable of sprouting in 

 the spring. This is nature's way of planting trees. 



In planting a few acres of trees on a farm, the 

 kinds should be considered. It is always well to 

 have a variety, but the greatest numbers should be 

 those that have the greatest value, both for their 

 wood and their fruit. A few years after planting 

 the thinning out of every alternate tree is neces- 

 sary, and a few years after that still more is 

 required. The first thinnings, of course, are small, 

 but they have a market value, and can be used in 

 various ways. For instance, the first thinnings of 

 hickories are used as walking sticks, and always 



