484 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



grows rapidly, and affords timber of much value. From the 

 habit of sprouting from the stump, and its great tenacity of life, 

 it needs no renewal by planting, after it is once established. 

 The yellow locust, where exempt from the attack of the borer, 

 is highly valuable, and particularly so from its thriftiness on 

 sandy land, and the fertilizing effect it produces on the soil. 

 On this account it has been made very useful in open planta- 

 tions in increasing the growth of grass. 



On blowing sands, and the most bleak and exposed situa- 

 tions, as sea-beaches, &c., the silver poplar will flourish. It 

 gi'ows with more rapidity than almost any other tree, and from 

 its habit of sending up shoots from its roots, which in their 

 turn become trees, it is admirably suited to the locations 

 alluded to. 



The proper planting of trees would redeem from unsightly 

 and desolate barrenness thousands of acres, would add greatly 

 to the beauty of the country, and render the land devoted to 

 cultivation more valuable from the protection afforded against 

 winds. In fact, as a means of enhancing the value of landed 

 property by utility and ornament, it is a measure of the great- 

 est consequence. 



Having appropriated to trees the land which cannot be prof- 

 itably cultivated, the next point will be to devote the remainder 

 to those crops which will give the best return. And here it 

 should be borne in mind that we have not only to regard the 

 competition of other sections in the selection of the land, but 

 that point should be kept equally in view in the choice of crops. 

 "We must consider what is most needed here, what can be most 

 readily produced, and what is obtained with most difficulty from 

 abroad. 



Bulk and weight, rather than the pecuniary value of articles 

 regulate the cost of transportation. The actual cost of trans- 

 porting a ton of hay a thousand miles, is as great as that of 

 transporting a ton of wool the same distance, while their actual 

 value bears no proportion. 



With you, hay and grass are, and probably will continue to 

 be, the most important articles of farm produce. Domestic an- 

 imals are essential to supply the wants of a community. Here 

 the horse and the ox are required for labor, and the cow is 



