214 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



told my carpenter I had got the material directly in front of 

 the house. We cut twenty Scotch larches that would square 

 eight by ten inches, that had been planted twenty-six years. 

 It is well known to all the gentlemen present that there is no 

 tree that carries its size so uniformly well as the Scotch 

 larch ; and, in relation to its durability, of course we have not 

 had time in this country to know how long it will last, but 

 it is well known in England. They have built men-of-war 

 of the Scotch larch ; and they put that timber in the docks 

 at Liverpool, where it has outlasted two sets of oak. I have 

 no doubt that the Scotch larch, on rich land, — or it may be 

 on poor land, — is as well worthy of the attention of tree- 

 growers as any tree that we have, for purposes of timber. 



I think you know, Mr. President, the fondness I have for 

 trees. I have spent a good deal of my lifetime in planting 

 trees. I do not regret a single day or hour that I have ex- 

 pended on the public grounds where I have been, or on my 

 own grounds, in planting trees for ornamental purposes, that 

 hereafter will be worth something for any purpose for which 

 they may be desired. Among these trees, perhaps, there 

 are none better than the ash, the hickory and the oak. But 

 in planting the ash, you must select a soil with considerable 

 moisture. It is no use to plant the ash on dry soil. It must 

 be a deep and retentive soil, with considerable richness, in 

 order to have the ash thrive. Under these conditions it is a 

 tree well worth planting, because we know the ash is worth 

 something after it attains the size of perhaps four inches in 

 diameter. And then there is the oak. Perhaps no statelier 

 tree grows, or a tree that is more beautiful in its foliage in 

 the autumn. George Sumner, the brother of our late Sena- 

 tor Sumner, when visiting Russia, went to St. Petersburg, 

 called on the American minister, and said he was desirous 

 of seeing the emperor. The minister informed him that it 

 was a very difficult matter for a private citizen to gain 

 audience with the emperor, l)ut ho pressed him so hard that 

 finally he said he would learn if it was possible. A day or 

 two after he was informed that the emperor would be very 

 glad to see Mr. Sumner, and his carriage would be at the 

 minister's residence at such a time. Mr. Sumner was in 

 readiness and went to the palace, and there was presented to 



