76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Foi- the New England Farmer. 

 FOREST TREES. 



Mr. Cole ; Whc!! tliis country was new, but little 

 regard was paid to the preservation of timber ; as 

 the chief object of the settlers was to clear the land, 

 and hasten it as fost as possible into a state of culti- 

 vation. The market prices also of Montreal, and 

 New York, liave made heavy drafts upon us, so much 

 80 that timber, both Ibr buildin.i; and fuel, is becom- 

 ing scarce and dear anioni; us, and now the railroads 

 arc calling for a share of what is loft along on their 

 lines. I have felt aware of this state of things for 

 many years, with the exception of the railroads, the 

 rapid advances of which have surprised us all. ?iIore 

 than twenty years ago my attention was directed to 

 this point by Fessenden's N. E. Farmer, the reading 

 of which was worth more to me than ton times its 

 cost, not oidy on this subject, but a thousand others. 

 Thus, in " foreseeing the evil I hid myself." It has 

 been my practice for mauj' years, to allow the second 

 growth of timber to come along after the axe, whore 

 ve got our yearly supplj' of firewood, and as soon 

 as the young timber is of sufficient size to prune, I 

 cut out such as I please to destroy, and trim up the 

 best and most thrifty trees about six feet from the 

 ground, leaving perhaps from eight hundred to a 

 thousand trees to the acre. I now have seven or 

 eight acres of land in one parcel, producing a dense 

 growth of second crop timbur and wood, from one to 

 seventeen years' growth ; as this timber is all in one 

 piece, it looks most beautifully as far as it has been 

 trimmed up, and thinned out. 



One part of it, about two acres, was cleared in 

 1811; a crop of wheat taken in 1815, then pastured 

 until about 1833, when I discovered little white pine 

 bushes coming up very thick all over the land. 

 These were allowed to stand unmolested by the axe 

 until 1839, at which time \\c thinned out the thick- 

 est of the bushes, and trimmed up the rest about 

 six feet from the ground, leaving about eight hun- 

 dred trees to the acre. Now, on going into this 

 forest, it seems hardly possible that so great a quan- 

 tity of timber could have grown there in so short a 

 time. It is believed that there is more timber now 

 alreadj' grown on this land, than was originally on 

 it, setting aside a few large pines. My intention is 

 to thin out this piece so as to leave about four hun- 

 dred trees to the acre, and trim ii[) at least twenty 

 feet this season. This is what we call upland ; tim- 

 ber formerly was chiclly hard wood. Our lowlands 

 or swamps we manage in the same way, except wc 

 omit trimming, aad let it take care of itself; we cut 

 all clean as wc go. 



I have observed where timber Jn the swamp was 

 originally Cedar and Pine, the second growth is 

 chicHy Tamarack, [the American Larch, Hackma- 

 tack. — En., J some (Jcdar, but no I'ine ; and on uj)- 

 land, where hard wood formerly grew, now some 

 other varieties occupy their places. For instance, 

 one piece, where the hard wood. Beech, Maple, S;c., 

 covered the land, now, after the land was burned 

 over in a dry time, and lire destroyed the. whole, a 

 crop of Pigeon Cherries come up very thick all over 

 the land where a Cherry tree was never before dis- 

 covered. 



In another instance, I observed where the land 

 ■was originally covered by hard wood, White Pine is 

 its second growth, and another, in the place of Pine 

 and Hemlock, Maple has come up in great abun- 

 dance ; I have a lot of these, about three hundred 

 trees, on some less than half an acre, growing most 

 luxuriantly. It is proper to remark, however, that 

 new varieties of timber do not always occupy the 

 land where the original is cut off. An instance of 

 this kind may be seen in Cornwall, a few rods distant 

 fifom my own land, where the timber was all Cedar, 



and all taken off twenty-five or thirty years ago ; this 

 is all Cedar now, and is so thick that a man cannot 

 jjass between the trees in some places on account of 

 their nearness to each other. 



It is believed that fifteen acres of* good wood land 

 properly managed will bo amply sufficient for timber, 

 boards, &c., to keep buildings in repair, and firewood 

 for a farm for ages to come. But I may not have 

 adopted the best plan to accomplish the object, and 

 if you or any of your readers can suggest any im- 

 provemcut on the above plan, you will greatly oblige 

 a constant reader and lover of improvement, 

 llcspectfully yours, 



JOHN M. "WEEKS. 



West Faiwis, near ]\Iiddlebury, Vr., Feb. 7, 1850. 



For the Ncic England Farmer, 

 POULTRY. 



Mr. Coi.e : We well recollect the time when car- 

 rying eggs to market was called rather a small biisi- 

 ness, and called forth sneers from the merchant's 

 wife, the lawyer's spouse, and indeed many others, 

 who by the by were frequently willing, if they could 

 not get them without, to ride round, call at the farm- 

 er's an hour, " purchase a few eggs just for present 

 use," and carry them home themselves. Why such 

 an idea should prevail we never could divine, for it 

 always looked as big to us as selling fishhooks three 

 for two cents, candy for a cent a stick, or measuring 

 tape by the pennyworth. But it is a fact, which in 

 our opinion is now settled beyond all controversy, 

 that there is no stock that the farmer keeps, which 

 pays so well in proportion to the investment and care 

 bestowed as poultry. In order, however, to realize 

 a full prolit, care must be taken in this as in all kinds 

 of business. Hence, in order to have hens lay well 

 in winter, the season when eggs sell at the highest 

 prices, it is necessary to furnish them ^vith a warm, 

 dry room, where the vicissitudes of the weather and 

 storms will not reach them. Some have been so 

 careful in this matter as to dig into the sides of steep 

 banks and form rooms for them there, where they 

 can have proper heat and always a supply of earth 

 for wallowing, &c. These places are secured by 

 doors in front, in which glass may be jilaced to give 

 sufficient light and heat from the sun. In mild 

 weather they may be let out, but in storms and cold 

 the closer they are kept the better. 



Next to bodily protection, food demands attention. 

 It is profitable, and no mistake about it, to feed hens 

 with animal food in winter. In the vicinity of cities 

 and large towns, this can always be fmnished in 

 abundant quantities, and at cheap rates ; warm food, 

 such as puddings or boiled meal, baked or boiled 

 potatoes, is also beneficial. As a substitute for lime, 

 which should always be placed within their reach in 

 liberal (juaiitities, plaster of Paris answers a very 

 good purpose; we have tried it, and secu its effects. 

 Some few weeks since, ivom. some twenty hens we 

 did not get an egg a week ; it occurred to us that 

 there was a lack of lime in the henery, and we took 

 a peck of corn and wet it thoroughly, (if it had been 

 soaked it would probably have been better,) and 

 stirred in plaster (ground) as long as it would adhere, 

 and i)laced this mess before them. Before the corn 

 was coirsumcd we began to have a plenty of eggs, 

 and the laying season is now going on in earnest. 

 E'j'gs are now worth, liore, eighteen cents a dozen, 

 corn sixty-five cents a bushel, and ground plaster 

 seven dollars and fifty cents a ton ; so economists can 

 judge whether the hens will pay for their food. 

 Their manure, for any one who has a garden, will 

 nearly or quite pay for the labor, if carefully saved. 

 Yours truly, 



W. BACON. 



KicHMOND, Feb. 7, 1850. 



