138 BOAED OF AGRICULTUEE. 



sands of other varieties, covering a large surface, among 

 which are the Scotch or European larch, Scotch birch, Eng- 

 lish sycamore, Norway spruce and willow, and white ash, 

 all have done well. In sowing pine seed broadcast, im- 

 prove the time after a light snow, in March or April, so that 

 you can see where the seed falls, that the planting may be 

 uniform and not too thick. If the land is not too poor, black 

 walnuts, butternuts, and especially chestnuts, planted from 

 the seed, I am sure would prove a profitable investment. 

 The seedling ash, if planted three feet by three, even in a few 

 years would yield salable hoop-poles, amply paying cost 

 and interest." 



The foregoing statement plainly shows what has been 

 done, in a quiet way, involving but little labor and expense, 

 by one having the will and energy to do it. Mr. Fred- 

 erick Matthews of Yarmouthport has, during the last forty 

 years, planted for himself and neighbors about 300 acres 

 of pitch pine. This tree is of slow growth, and yet some 

 of the oldest plantations seeded by Mr. Matthews reached, 

 years ago, a stage in their growth when it was deemed 

 profitable to cut them for fuel ; and he is now cutting wood 

 for his own use, in a grove planted only thirty years ago. 

 He has within a few years noticed a blight which has proved 

 fatal in many cases. This blight, and that noticed by Mr. 

 Fay, is without doubt caused by the pine moth of Nantucket 

 {retinia frustmna) . He gathers the cones in October, and 

 after thorough drying for two months, shells and cleans the 

 seed, and plants in the spring with a machine of his own 

 construction. He thinks it pays a moderate interest on the 

 investments, and is . acquainted with no other tree as well 

 adapted to the soil and climate of Cape Cod, or that could take 

 the place of the pitch pine. This tree, as we have remarked, 

 is of slow growth, even under favorable circumstances, and 

 that growth is retarded as you approach the seashore, until, face 

 to face with the ocean, it is so slow that a careful observer 

 can scarcely see any change from year to year. This is a 

 discouraging fact ; and he who would dot the sea-coast with 

 groves, knows, perhaps, of no variety that will root itself in 

 the movinsr sand and flourish in defiance of the ocean sales. 



Observation and somewhat extended inquiries strongly 



