ESSEX SOCIETY. 43 



cases. In an old, open, uncultivated pasture, the soil and sub- 

 soil are usually very hard, presenting great obstacles to the pen- 

 etration of the roots. In this case, the ground must be ploughed) 

 and sub-soil ploughed, that it may be opened and loosened, to 

 the depth of two feet. After the acorns are sowed, or the trees 

 planted, the plough can go only between the rows, leaving the 

 sub-soil beneath the rows unmoved. This shows the necessity 

 of getting the ground in proper condition, before the operation 

 of sowing or planting begins. 



The best kinds of oak are those of the white-oak group ; viz : 

 the common white oak, the swamp white oak, both of them com- 

 mon in Essex County, the over -cup oak and the mossy-cup, the 

 latter to be found in Berkshire ; the stem-fruited, and the ves- 

 sile-fruited, which grow readily in our climate, and the chesnut 

 oak, found north and south of us, and the Rocky Mountain oak, 

 found in rocky hills, in several parts of the state. The wood of 

 all these eight is of great value, as fuel and for timber uses. The 

 next group is the red-oak group, containing the black or yellow- 

 barked oak, the scarlet oak, the pin oak, and the two varieties 

 of the red, called the red and the gray. The black and the scar- 

 let are common in Essex County, and are valuable and very 

 beautiful. The pin oak is found farther south, but would, I 

 think, grow readily here. The red oak is a rapid grower, and 

 a beautiful tree, but the least valuable of the oaks for fuel or 

 timber. There is one species of the live-oak group, I mean the 

 willow oak, which grows so luxuriantly in the states but little 

 south of this, that I have no doubt that it would grow here. 



The time for sowing the acorns is in the autumn, immediately 

 after they have fallen from the tree. It is very difficult to keep 

 the acorns through the winter, and it is necessary only when 

 they are to be transported to a distance. They should be placed 

 just below the surface. The plants must for some years be kept 

 free from weeds. I suppose the most profitable way of doing 

 this, is that practised in the peach-orchards in New Jersey, which 

 are for some years covered with crops of beans, potatoes, or 

 something else suitable to the soil. 



The first acre, sowed or planted as a nursery, will bear plants 

 enough for many acres of forest. As they grow larger, they may 



