1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



437 



tations, every one is aware of the necessity of avoid 

 ing uniformity in their arrangement, and a great 

 deal of skill is required to avoid it. But the error 

 which is most apt to be committed, is that of 

 blending the different species of trees too equally. 

 If a hundred trees are to be set out on a knoll, 

 •with the intention of forming them into a pictur- 

 esque group, the planter perhaps will select twenty 

 trees of five different species, and mix them in 

 such a manner as that there shall be in no part a 

 predominance of one kind. A careful observer 

 will find that nature never blends her trees, or any 

 other plants, in this way. He will observe that in 

 one wood the majority of the trees are pines, with 

 an occasional oak, maple, lime, or some other spe^ 

 cies dotted in among them ; in another wood the 

 general growth consists of oaks, or of beeches, in- 

 terspersed with occasional individuals of other spe- 

 cies. We seldom find a native wood, in which 

 there are several species of trees so equally blend- 

 ed, that, we cannot perceive at once the predomin- 

 ance of one kind. 



Hence, in making a plantation, if we would give 

 it a natural appearance, we should be as careful to 

 avoid a thorough intermixture of species as lo avoid 

 regular rows, or any other kind of uniformity in 

 their arrangement. A good rule for our guidance 

 would be to decide in the first place whether this 

 or that species should predominate. Suppose the 

 white pine be selected for this purpose, the whole 

 tract should be planted with white pines the first 

 season. On the next season fill all the vacancies, 

 occasioned by those which are dead or injured, with 

 trees of such other species as may be desired. 

 When the plantation has grown to a good size, it 

 will be a fine wood, with a very pleasing and appar- 

 ently spontaneous intermixture of deciduous hard 

 wood trees. 



A few remarks may be added in relation to trees 

 near our dwelling-houses. It is not true that we 

 cannot have too many trees in these situations. 

 Indeed it would be unquestionably better for the 

 health, if there were not a tree within twenty rods 

 of our habitations, than if they entirely surround- 

 ed and overshadowed it with a dense grove that 

 shut out the sun, and preserved a constant damp- 

 ness in and around the house. All shade trees 

 should be planted at such a distance from the 

 house, as to afford each tree room to expand to its 

 fullest dimensions without overhanging or reaching 

 any part of the house, leaving ample space for the 

 sun to shine upon the roof and the walls, and to 

 dry up all the dampness occasioned by dews or 

 rain. A disagreeable coolness and chilliness of the 

 atmosphere is always perceptible, as soon as the 

 sun begins to decline, around a house, and at the 

 open doors and windows of a house that is sur- 

 rounded with a dense growth of trees, during all 

 the season while they are in leaf. 



In a somewhat crowded village, with narrow 

 streets, we are obliged to plant trees very near our 

 dwellings, or dispense with them altogether. For 

 such situations those species should be selected 

 that run up tall and slender, without much spread 

 of their lateral branches. In this respect the Lom- 

 bardy poplar surpasses all other trees in the known 

 world, and is unquestionably the best tree to be 

 planted in narrow enclosures. Trees of this spe- 

 cies are sometimes partially winter-killed ; but so 

 vigorous in their growth, that if the decayed limbs 

 be removed the gap will \>e immediately filled. 



They have a dense and beautiful foliage, unsurpassed 

 in the liveliness of its verdure and in its balsamic 

 and healthful odors, and charm the ear at all times 

 by the musical fluttering of their leaves. The 

 Lombardy poplar is likewise, beyond all other trees, 

 a favorite resort for our familiar singing birds. 

 The nests of the common robin, the vires, the sum- 

 mer yellow bird and the indigo bird are constantly 

 found among their branches, which, on account of 

 their dense and peculiar growth, afford them unus- 

 ual facilities for building and concealing their nests. 

 A great deal of senseless ridicule has been cast 

 upon this tree ; though it is indeed the only tree 

 that o\ight to be planted in the narrow streets and 

 enclosures of some of our villages. 



At a sufficient distance from the house to allow 

 the sun to shine freely upon every part of it dur- 

 ing a portion of the day, too many trees are not 

 likely to be planted. It is only in close proximity 

 to the house that they are injurious. The sun's 

 rays should never be obstructed from our windows 

 by foliage. The house should be shaded by win- 

 dow blinds and not by trees, which should only 

 be near enough to enable the inmates of the house, 

 in the hot days of summer, to take shelter under 

 them without inconvenience, and to afford them an 

 opportunity, from their windows, to listen to the 

 singing birds, whose melodies are one of the prin- 

 cipal charms of the mornings and evenings, in 

 spring and early summer. 



DRENCHING HORSES. 



Messrs. Editors : — A few days since, I had a 

 very fine stable horse taken suddenly ill. Sup- 

 posing him to have the colic, I gave him a dose of 

 salts and had him freely exercised. I then left 

 home, supposing he would soon find relief, but 

 when I returned three days later, he was very sick, 

 breathing with great difficulty, and running from 

 the nose a bloody mucous. Being no jockey I did 

 not understand the nature of his disease, and sev- 

 eral medicines being recommended, I gave him 

 about half a pint of watermelon seed tea. While 

 drenching him, he became so sick that I thought 

 he would fall. I let his head down, and almost, if 

 not the entire dose came from his nose with a great 

 quantity of the same bloody corruption. He re- 

 mained very sick, and within half an hour was dead. 

 I opened him, and found his lungs, with the excep- 

 tion of a portion, as hard as a piece of liver, with 

 indications of the bloody matter, which I traced 

 the entire length of his windpipe. It was, therefore, 

 pronounced inflammation of the lungs. From his 

 having been to all appearances in perfect health 

 trhi-ee days before his death, and the general pro- 

 longation of the disease, I have drawn the conclu- 

 sion that a portion if not all of his first drench w 

 taken into his lungs, causing instant inflammation 

 and death. 



If some of your readers, more experienced in 

 such matters, would give their opinion through 

 your valuable paper, I have no doubt but it would 

 be both valuable and interesting to a great man)-, 

 as I feel confident there are more horses killed than 

 cured in drenching. — JV. Green, in the Valley Far- 

 mer. 



A Simple Cure for a Snake Bite. — Mr. 

 Jno. Andrews, of this district, informs us that a 

 few days since he was fishing ; he had with him a 



