REPORT ON FOREST TREES. 33 



there for one or two years, wlien he can place them in their future 

 resting-place. In doing so, he can sow them as thickly as he would 

 peas, in quadruple rows, a foot or so apart and an inch deep. 



And here it may be well to remark, that great care should be 

 used in selecting not only the acorns of valuable species of oaks, but 

 also from large and vigorous trees. The care used in this respect, 

 will amply repay the trouble. Of the species of oaks to be recom- 

 mended, of course the white oak stands first, and in good soils it 

 grows rapidly. We wish, however, without excluding any but the 

 red oak, which is useless as a timber ti;ee, to call the attention of our 

 farmers to the Chesnut and Rock Chesnut Oak, the latter of Avhich 

 grows upon the poorer soils. We think these oaks have not received 

 the attention they deserve, both for their beauty, as well as for their 

 value as timber. They resemble more than any of our oaks, the 

 best English oak, and we predict that the time will come, when they 

 will stand side by side, at least in reputation, with the white oak. 



In the estimate which we have given of the result of an oak plan- 

 tation, we are aware that the profit seems too large to comport with 

 our common experience of the value of land covered with wood. 

 But it must be borne in mind, that the land of this nature, which we 

 are in the habit of valuing, is of the natural growth, and most fre- 

 quently the growth from the stump of a previous forest. We must 

 also recollect that the wood lands which we are accustomed to look 

 upon, have never received care and attention, more especially in 

 thinning at proper intervals. To cultivate a wood plantation suc- 

 cessfully, requires the same degree of care and attention in thinning 

 out, as an onion, carrot or beet bed. If the trees are left to strug- 

 gle with each other for the mastery, the vanquished will die, while 

 the victors will suffer severely from the effects of the struggle. We 

 shall therefore say a few words upon this subject, although we write 

 under a painful sense that we are becoming tedious. The objects 

 to be attained by thinning, is so to regulate the distance of the 

 plants, that they will not interfere with each other's growth ; and for 

 this purpose, it is necessary that each plant has sufficient space of 

 ground and air for the spread of its roots and branches, proportion- 

 ate to its size at any given stage of its growth. To accomplish this 

 properly, requires constant attention. It is highly injurious to thin 

 so much at one time as to leave the trees remaining exposed to a 

 greatly increased degree of heat and cold , as Mr. J. Brown re- 



