44 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The groves of which we have spoken may well be stj'led self- 

 made groves, for, excepting the occasional removal of a dead tree, 

 they have received no treatment calculated to hasten their growth 

 or improve the quality of the timber. One noticeable feature in 

 all the groves I have examined is an absence of uniformit}^ in 

 the size of the trees ; though all are nearly equal in height, they 

 are of diameters varying from 10 to 20 inches. Occasionally we find 

 a tree of the smaller size, which has struggled for equality from 10 

 to 20 years, when it was overpowered and its life crushed out by 

 its big and thrifty neighbor ; while the larger trees appear to live 

 out all their days, and rarely die, except of old age. 



The foregoing instances of rapid growth and satisfactory results 

 are not exceptional cases ; they were selected for notice because 

 1 was able to get items relating to their histor}' with greater 

 facility, and more in detail, than I could in the case of other 

 groves. Plantations of pines from 5 to 30 years of age may be 

 found in Norton, Mansfield, Taunton, Raynham, Easton, Ran- 

 dolph, Middleborough, and the Bridgewaters ; all giving promise 

 of remunerative results. 



In investigating this subject I have been somewhat perplexed at 

 the wide range of opinion found to exist in regard to the details of 

 pine culture. One gentleman says the}' should not stand nearer 

 than 10 feet to each other, and should occasionally be trimmed ; 

 while his neighbor asserts that they should be planted verv thick)}', 

 letting nature do the trimming and the fittest survive. Others say 

 that artificial trimming is often followed by death, and always by 

 oozing of the gum or sap, causing dark spots in the lumber, which 

 the tree will never outgrow ; whereas, if the limbs are allowed to 

 fall from natural causes, the wounds that may result quickly heal, 

 and the lumber will be of a better quality. One lumberman asserts 

 that if the tree is trimmed when the sap is dormant no bad or 

 injurious effect will follow ; while his partner advised me, in a sort 

 of confidential manner, that if the trimming is done when the sap 

 is in motion, the wounds will quickly heal without injury to the 

 tree. Who shall decide, when doctors disagree? A difference of 

 opinion also exists in regard to the age at which the pine should 

 be cut, to yield the greatest profit. A gentleman of my acquaint- 

 ance, in whom I place great reliance, having a grove 31 years 

 old, found, by careful experiment, that the growth of the last 10 

 years equalled that of the first 20. 



A point on which all agree is that the j'oung seedling pines 



