14(> 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Nov. 28, 1829. 



■^rr 



ment ; who, let the price and deinand for timber 

 be \vhat tliey may, ought to mark every tree 

 which wears the apijenraiice of decay. If tlie de- 

 mand lie hrisk, and the price high, he ought to go 

 two steps furtiier, and mark not only such as are 

 fully grown, hut such also ns arc near perfection." 

 In trees, as in the human species:, there are three 

 stages, youth, manhood, and old age. In the pe- 

 rioil of youth, the growth is rapid ; in manhood 

 tliat growth is matured ; and in old ago it begins 

 to decay. 



Tlie most profitable season for foiling timber is 

 at what may be thus termed the begiiming of 

 liianhood. After that time, though tlie tree may 

 appear sound and healthy, its annual increase is 

 so little, that it would be more profitable to cut it 



plantation, and we will subjoin Bome directions 

 for raishig that very valuable tree. Hunttr^s JVoies 

 on Evetyn^s Sylva, give the following as the best 

 mode of raising the oak : 



Having the grouiid properly jtrepared (by break- 

 ing it up and reducing to a fine tilth, either by 

 potatos or repeated pluughings) and having a suf- 

 ficient (piantity of acorns, all gathered from the 

 most vigorous, healthy and thrifty trees, proceed 

 to the setting them in the following manner. In 

 the month of February or March, let lines be 

 drawn across the grounil for the rows, at the dis- 

 tance of four feet from each other ; but if this be 

 thought too great an interval, the rows may be 

 made three feet, in which case the acorns must 

 be put down at a greater distance from each oth- 



down and replant. The number of years that a er. Tlien having sticks properly rounded to make 

 tree may stand before it arrives at this period, j the holes, (a common dibble) plant the acorns in 



must vary in difterent soils and situations ; but the 

 period itself may be easily ascertained, by the an- 

 nual shoots, the state of the bark, and by taking 

 the circumference of the tree at the same place 

 for two or three successive seasons, and compar- 

 ing the difference. In the view of profiting from 

 timber produce, it is of great consequence to cut 

 down plantations at maturity. Many trees will 

 stanil half, others a whole century, after they are 

 full grown, appear quite licallfiy, and at the same 

 time, make little or no increase of timber. But 

 there are particular cases, arising from the nature 

 and state of the markets, where it may even be 

 more profitable to cut timber before it is arrived 

 at its full growth. 



ON FOREST TREES. 



CoiUiHW^d /torn page 138. 



The following notices of the Chesnut may form 

 an useful addition to the remarks on the same sub- 

 ject, given in our last number. 



M. Micliau.'L states tliat " th« European chesnut 

 would be a valuable acquisition to many parts of 

 (he United .Stales. This tree produce^ the nuts 

 called Marroiis tie Lyon, which are fuiir times as 

 lar"o as the wild chesnuts of America, and which 



the rows at ten inches asunder.* Let them be 

 put down about two inches below the surface, and 

 see that the earth be properly closed upon them 

 to prevent mice or crows from injuring the seed. 

 In some places it is customary to sow acorns after 

 the plough in furrows, but where the ground hap- 

 pens to be stiff, great care should be taken not to 

 cover tlie seed with too thick a fiirrow. 



" The first year after planting the acorns the 

 weeds must be kept down by hoeing and hand 

 weeding, and this must be done early in the spring 

 before the weeds get so strong as to hide l\e ten- 

 der plants, which would occasion many of them 

 to be destroyed in cleaning. It is niso the cheap- 

 est as well as the neatest husbandry to take weeds 

 down before they grow too large ; for tliough the 

 ground may require an additional hoeing in the 

 spring, yet the weeds, being hoed down when 

 young, a man may hoe over a great quantity in a 

 day. Weeds cut in their tender state immediate- 

 ly die. Whereas when they are old and strong, 

 they frequently grow again, in a short time, es- 

 pecially if rain ibllows soon after, they ])erfect 

 tiicir seeds, and thereby injure the vvliolo jilanta- 

 tion. 



"The second year of their growth the common 



;<re sent from the vicinity of Lyons to every part i plough may be made use of to cultivate and keep 

 iif Europe ; they were "formerly exported also to j the ground clean." The author then jiroposes a 

 the West Indies. Kentucky, West Tennessee, and ( nursery in the same field to supply deficiencies. 



in, though they will grow exceeilingly well 

 clays of all kinds, and in sandy soils, in which last! 

 the Jinest f^ained timber is productd." 



The author then investigates some disputedl 

 points relative to the culture of oaks, and inquires! 

 which of the different modes of raising them pro- 

 duces the most timber, from the acorn, the seed 

 bed or the nursery. He decides in favor of ^(an(- 

 ing the acorn in the place where the tret is to grow, 

 and Mr Hunter adds, that- whoever will look at 

 the woods which were soit'n, and compare them 

 with those which were planted from nurseries, will 

 not hesitate a moment to doclare in favor of Eve- 

 lyn's ojiinion. 



When it is wished to raise wood merely for 

 fuel, it is recommended to suffer it to grow as thin 

 as it will, and it is said that it will become suffi- 

 ciently thinned of itself as it grows larger ; but 

 where oaks or any other trees are raised for tim- 

 ber, they ought to stand further apart, in order tu 

 have their growth rapid, and the timber firm and 

 durable. No cattle should be admitted into the 

 jilantntion till the trees are beyond their reach ; — 

 and at no time whatever, when young successive 

 growths for fuel are intended. 



the upper part of Virginia, anil the Curolinas are 

 particiiiarly interested in the introduction of this 

 species, ft already exists in the nurseries of Phil- 

 adelphia and New" York, and it is only necessary 



and continues : 



" Having thus given directions for the raising of 

 wood, I proceed to their future management. — 

 And first, the rows being four feet asunder, a 



ID iirocure a few stocks to furnish grafts for young , the plants two feet apart in the rows, they may 

 wild chesnuts transplanted from the woods, or , stand in this manner for twelve or finirteen years, 

 reared in the nursery. vvhen every second plant may be taken out and 



'■ The chesnuts may be grafted by inoculation j sold for hoops or poles. After every second plant 

 .ir the insertion of a shoot. Tiie comraou nuth- [is taken away, let the roots of tliose taken away 

 od IS by lopping a branch of the wild tree, rciuov- i be grubbed up to give the remaining plants more 

 iu"- a girdle of the bark near the end., from an m.h | room freely to extend their roots. The phmts 

 !o three inches wide, and replacing it by anothi r | beiug now four feet apart each way, they will re- 

 from a liinliof the cuhivated stuck of correspond- j quire no more thinning for seven or eight years, 

 in"- diameter. The lower edge of the new cover- 1 that is till they are twenty years old ; vvlieu the 

 in° is exactly adjusted to the natural bark, but a | healthiest and most thriving trees must be marlied 

 iiol-tion of the liinb is let't exposed above, which is ' to stand for timber, and the others cut down for 

 ■ down so as to fiirm a species of tent or! poles, and their roots left to produce future undcr- 



scrapeii 



dressing, and the whole is jirotected from the 

 weather by a coating of clay."— .Vofrt American 

 Sylva, vol. iii. p. 13, 14. 



The Oak. It appears by the description of 

 our corresimndent that oak is one of the sorts of 

 limber, which is the natural growth of the soil in 

 the vicinity of the field in which he proposes to 

 cultivate forest trees. We may of course pre- 

 SHtue that oak would flourish in his contemplated 



WOO<1. 



" The oak will grow and thrive in almost any 

 soil, if properly planted, though it cannot be sup- 

 posed that their success will be equal in all jilaces. 

 A rich, deep, loamy soil is what oaks most delight 



* The acorns, should either be preserved in sand lill ihfy are 

 planted in spring, or planlei! in the fall sson after Ihey are ripe. 

 It ihey heconie quite dry after being gaihered. ihej- are apt lo 

 lose ih« power of vegelaiion. S«e page 102 of the prweui ro\. 

 of^'. E. Facmtr. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



CANADA THISTLES, &c. 



Mr. Editor, — Your correspondent "Rnstieus" 

 seems to be amused by the method suggesled in 

 vol. vii. No. 3 of your paper, for destroying Canada 

 thistles with coarse salt. As a further amusement, 

 I would recommend bis putting in practice his 

 theory of "mowing them off two or three times in 

 a season," or, if he wishes to be still farther amus 

 ed, I would recommend his adopting Dr. Deane's 

 method, suggested in his Fanner's Dictionary, ot' 

 pulling tliein up by hand, (especially if be performs 

 the work without gloves) and I think he will find 

 both these expedients about as successful as that 

 of the boy who attempts "catching birds by put- 

 ting salt on their tails." 



Your correspondent inquires what I would 

 charge, "for imtting my theory in successfiil prac- 

 tice on an acre of thistles ;" he is informed that 

 this is not mere theoi"'}-, but that I have destroyed 

 them with brine and without even cropping — nor 

 do I believe the cropping essential. As to the 

 expense, I should suiipose a horse load of salt, 

 which I have seen sold at the wharves for one 

 dollar and fifty cents, being salt that had been 

 used for salting imported bides, would be suffi- 

 cient to destroy the thistles of at least half an acre, 

 and a man would perform all the labor requisite 

 in three hours. 



I have seen the method of mowing them seve- 

 ral times in a season, practised several years in 

 succession in Ipswich, where they abound ; and 

 could perceive no other effect than a tendency to 

 prevent their spreading. As to j'our correspon- 

 dent's jihilosophy of defoliation, to destroy trees 

 and plants, it may be correct as it respects some 

 species ; but pray what will he charge to come 

 and destroy by this process an acre of my barbe- 

 ry bushes, blackberry vines, or of the various kind? 

 of bushes that infest our low lands .' These I 

 have cut in the heightb of their vigor, without 

 ranch effect, but have seen the same killed with 

 salt without much trouble. I doubt much if the 

 common willow would be destroyed by divesting 

 it of its foliage, at any season. If cutting a plant 

 so tenacious of life as the thistle, will kill it, how 



