BARNSTABLE SOCIETY. 355 



is situated in East Barnstable, and contains about seven acres. 

 It was of a light, sandy soil, of an uneven surface, and cover- 

 ed with briars and mosses, and was not, before being planted, 

 worth more than eight dollars per acre. After clearing, the 

 land was ploughed lengthwise. Into the furrows, were drop- 

 ped, three or four seeds of the pine, (matured that year, 1845,) 

 and covered by hand. The quantity of seed used, did not ex- 

 ceed a half pint to the acre. 



During the following spring and summer, a large portion of 

 these seeds germinated, and the young plants grew several 

 inches in the course of the year. Such spaces as did not show 

 plants, were resowed with the pine seed, in the autumn of 

 1846 and 1847. The expense of ploughing and planting this 

 land, did not exceed one dollar and fifty cents per acre, and it 

 has been of no material expense since it was planted. 



The increase of the young plants has been steady and rapid, 

 and now there is a handsome growth of thrifty trees, a consid- 

 erable portion of which are upwards of three feet in height, and 

 the land upon which they stand, may be safely estimated as 

 having doubled its original value. 



My success in my endeavors to rear a forest of pines, induces 

 me to remark, that many of the waste and barren lands of the 

 county, can be rendered highly valuable, by planting them with 

 the seeds of the pitch pine, — this species of forest trees having 

 been found to be more easily grown on the light soil of the Cape, 

 than most others. Our farmers, even of the smallest means, 

 may become, in a few years, possessors of beautiful and pro- 

 ductive woodlands, by expending a small portion of their time 

 and labor, in the planting of their sandy and unprofitable lands, 

 as above described, which they could do in seasons of leisure, 

 at a much less cost than is herein stated. 



Barnstable, Oct. \^th, 1850. 



Fruit. 



For a specimen of figs, raised in the county, to Oliver 



Ford, of Hyannis, gratuity, - - - $1 00 



