FOREST TREE PLANTING. 49 



were sncldenl}' seized with disgust, and war was declared against 

 the offending Ailanthns, resulting in its almost complete extermi- 

 nation. A few trees may still be found, scattered over the Island 

 of Rhode Island, and in some of the villages of New England, — 

 lineal descendants of a despised and persecuted generation. 



The objection to the Ailanthus which operated so swiftly to its 

 discredit disappears quite as quicklj' when it is regarded in the 

 light of a forest tree. The wood possesses many valuable quali- 

 ties. Its specific gravit}' is said to be but little less than that of 

 the Oak, and more than that of the Black Walnut. It is of a pale 

 cream color, admits of high polish, seasons readily' without check- 

 ing, and is a strong, durable wood when kept from the weather. 

 Professor Sargent, to whom I am indebted for much valuable infor- 

 mation relating to the Ailanthus, says, in his " Notes on Trees and 

 Tree Planting,"^ "There ai'e thousands of acres of shifting sand 

 and barren soil along our sea-coast, southward, too poor and too 

 exposed to produce, naturall\-, anything but a scantv crop of beach 

 grass, on which the Ailanthus would thrive, and which, thus cov- 

 ered, would add enormously to the natural products of the country. 

 Such plantations would amply and speedih' repay the original cost, 

 both in direct income and b}' the protection it would afford to more 

 valuable land. Valuable timber, for purposes of construction, 

 might not grow on soil so poor and exposed, but immense quanti- 

 ties of fuel, easily accessible to market, would be produced from 

 land now worse than useless to its owners. On almost ever}' in- 

 land farm there is some old, neglected gravel-pit, or bank, or knoll, 

 too stony and poor for cultivation, which might be profitably 

 planted with the Ailanthus ; and these plantations would provide 

 in a dozen j-ears, more or less, a large amount of valuable fuel, and 

 might be cut, and cut over again indefinitel}', as there seems to 

 be no limit to the power of this tree to throw up suckers from 

 the roots. Or, if permitted to grow from 20 to 40 years, 

 such plantations, costing but little to make, and occupying land 

 good for no purpose but to pay taxes on, would produce a material 

 valuable for industrial purposes, for which a ready sale at good 

 prices could always be obtained." 



Mr. George P. Marsh, in remarking upon the efforts of the 

 Russian government to cover with forest growth the northern 

 coast of the Black Sea, where the loose, sandy soil, to the depth 



1 Read before the JIassachusetts Board of Agriculture ia 1877. 



