236 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Feb. 9, 1831. 



Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin .igricultural 

 Society. 



REPORT ON LOCUST TREES. 



The premiums on Locust Trees were first of- 

 fered by the Society in 1824, to be awarded in 

 1830, upon the four best Plantations of one acre 

 each. Three entries only are made. 



The first, owned by Joseph G. Cogswell, Esq. 

 of Northampton, contained trees of three years' 

 growth, a part of whicli were in the nursery, and 

 the remainder had been transplanted into an or- 

 chard. Those in the nursery were set very near 

 together, and were generally in a flourishing con- 

 dition. With the e^•ception of a few on the out- 

 side of the nursery they appeared to be perfectly 

 free from the borer. Those trees which had been 

 transplanted were on lands which had subsequently 

 been pastured with horned cattle, and liad sufiier- 

 ed much from the animals. The land was light 

 and sandy, a poor pasture, the soil of which seem- 

 ed to be greatly exhausted and worn down. For 

 a more particular description of Mr Cogswell's 

 plantation, manner of cultivation, &c, the Commit- 

 tee would refer to the excellent communication of 

 Mr C. presented them at the time of their examin- 

 ation, not only as a directory for the cultivation of 

 the yellow Locust, but also as a valuable recom- 

 mendation to the farmers of ' Old Hampshire' to 

 cover their light and unproductive soils with a for- 

 est of tlie Locust. 



The second plantation reviewed by the commit- 

 tee was owned by Mr William Clark, Jr, of Nortli- 

 ampton. His trees were grown from the seed in a 

 nursery and transplanted upon a piece of old and 

 worn out pasture land, the soil of which was also 

 light and sandy — too poor to admit ' of a regular 

 cultivation with the plough. His trees have now 

 been transplanted two years and are in a very 

 thrifty and flourishing condition. — Much pains has 

 been bestowed upon the orchard by training, prun- 

 ing, &c, for which the owner is entitled to great 

 credit. With one or two exceptions this orchard 

 has been perfectly free from tlie ravages of tlie 

 borer. The committee annex Mr Clark's statement 

 of the history of his labors in the cultivation of 

 the yellow Locust, from which many valuable hints 

 may be gathered by future cultivators of this for- 

 est Tree. 



The last plantation viewed by the Committee 

 was owned by Daniel Stebbins, Esq. of Northamp- 

 ton. The seeds from which this plantation was 

 grown were sowed in a nursery in May last, and 

 by the careful and assiduous cultivation of the 

 owner, the plants were sufficiently large to trans- i 

 plant in October last, and when viewed by the Com- 

 mittee many of them were ten feet in height. All 

 the trees in this plantation appeared healthy, flour- 

 ishing and perfectly free from the borer. This 

 plantation is on a dry, sandy knoll — unproductive 

 and wholly useless for any of the ordinary purposes 

 of cultivation. Dr Stebbins' statement is annexed. 



The subject of covering the light, sandy and un- 

 productive soils which may be found on many of 

 the farms within the limits of this society will pro- 

 bably be new to some of our farmers. It has how- 

 ever for several years occupied the attention of 

 some of the most distinguished agriculturists in 

 Massachusetts, not only as producing a wood valu- 

 able for fencing, ship timber and other uses, but 

 also because a forest of the locust invariably cov- 

 ers the land with a thick coating of grass. In this 

 way old pastures which were worn out and ready 



to be abandoned have become renovated, and ap- 

 pear with all the freshness and verdure of those 

 on a rich soil. 



It is stated upon good authority that fencing 

 posts made of the Yellow Locust have remained 

 perfectly sound in the ground for forty years. — 

 This being the fact it would evidently be a great 

 acquisition, not only to the farmer for fencing tim- 

 ber, but for railings for public walks — door yards, 

 &c. It is also stated that ' in n aval architecture 

 the shipwrights use as much locust wood as they 

 can procure, because it is as durable as the live oak 

 and red cedar, with the advantage of being strong- 

 er than the one and lighter than the other.' 



The only objection to plantations of the Locust, 

 which has suggested itself to the Committee, is the 

 danger of their being infested by the borer, ' a 

 small winged insect (species of aphides) which at- 

 tacks the tree while standing, penetrates through 

 the bark into the centre of the trunk, and for the 

 space of a foot, mines it in every direction, so that 

 it is easily broken by the wind.' It is believed 

 however that this insect only attacks the trunks of 

 such trees as are exposed to the sun's rays, and if 

 the trees in the nursery and in transplanting are 

 set so near each other as to shade the ground, only 

 a few trees on the outside would be affected by 

 this troublesome insect. 



The Committee have awarded the premiums of 

 the Society as follows : 



1st Premium William Clark, Jr. $30 



2d " Daniel Stebbins 25 



3d " Joseph G. Cogswell 20 



ROSWELL HUBBARD, \ 



JOSEPH STRONG, V Committee. 



SAMUEL WELLS, Jr. j 



October, I3th, 1830. 



JVote. — -The Essex Agricultural committee in the year 

 1824 in their report* say, ' Barren and gravelly pastures 

 may be covered with a good coat of grass by planting 

 and permitting the growth of Locust trees — that care 

 should be taken that horned cattle do not go upon the 

 ground while the trees are young. The committee say 

 that in addition to the gain of feed, the trees grow most 

 rapidly, and no tiinher is in more demand or "f greater 

 value when arrived at maturity. It is doubted whether 

 an acre of land can be made to yield more in the course 

 of 25 or 30 years, without the application of manure, 

 than by planting it with Locuft Trees.' 



To Messrs. Joseph Strong, Roswell Hubbard, and 

 Samuel Wells, Jr. Esq'rs. 

 Gentlemen — I have no new or important facts 

 to communicate on the subject of locust planta- 

 tions, but as 1 have done something with them by 

 way of experiment, I beg leave to state to you the 

 result of the trial. In the spring of 1827, I pro- 

 cured half of a lb. of the yellow locust seed, from 

 which I raised from two to three thousand trees ; 

 since that titne I have twice planted an equal quan- 

 tity, and from the three plantings 1 have now nearly 

 10,000 trees. No preparation of the soil is neces- 

 sary ; that which seems best adapted to them is a 

 sandy loam. The seed should be soaked from 12 

 to 24 hours in water poured on when scalding hot. 

 The young plant, which commonly show themselves 

 within ten days after the seed is put into the 

 ground, should be kfept very clear of weeds, and 

 in dry seasons watered frequently, until they are 

 sufficiently large to shade tlie ground. I have now 

 altogether more than two acres in this cultivation, 

 partly in seed and nursery beds, and partly plant- 

 ed out. Although it is not yet time to reap any 

 benefit from my locust plantations, I am satisfied 



* See Mew England Farmer, vol. in. page 147 



that the light soil of our upland plains can be put 

 to no better use than to grow these trees ; they in- 

 crease very rapidly, more so than any other tret 

 which we can cultivate here, and are not injuree 

 by worms when standing in a thick grove. I ob- 

 serve that the outside trees are frequejitly attack- 

 ed, when no appearance of the insect is discovered 

 on those in the body of the plantation, and havB 

 thought that the insect in its winged state docs 

 not enter where the clear light of the sun does not 

 reach. As to the fact, I have no doubt that large 

 and thick groves of locust suffer very little, but 

 whether there is any truth in the above suggestion. 

 1 am not able to assert. To secure a flourishing 

 plantation of this valuable tree, I believe nothing 

 else is necessary but to select healthy trees of 

 good size for planting out ; to plant them near to- 

 gether, not exceeding four feet, and to keep cattle 

 from the enclosure. With these precautions, in 

 a few years, even on the lightest soils, my own e.x- 

 perience convinces me, a thick forest will be form- 

 ed, and by means of the shade, a fine grass sward 

 spread upon a surface which would olhersvise pre- 

 sent scarce any appearance of verdure. The best 

 proof that I can give of my confidence in the suc- 

 cess of this cultivation is, that I am daily extend- 

 ing it, and propose to appropriate several acres to 

 it the next season ; at the same time, I shall give 

 the white mulberries a fair trial, of which I ha\'e 

 now about 10,000 plants raised from the seed this 

 year. Respectfully, your obt. servt. 



JOS. G. COGSWELL. 



To the Committee appointed to examine and award 

 Premiums on Locust Trees, 



Gentleme.v — My locust seeds were softened 

 in warm water, and planted (in a sandy loam) about 

 an inch deep, and two or ttiree inches apart, in 

 rows three and a half feet distant. The planting 

 was done at leisure times,' in the months of April 

 and May, in 1828. The ground was occasionally 

 hoed, and the plants kept clear of weeds through 

 the season. The height of the trees in the fall 

 would average about four feet, some of them wei« 

 more than six. 



In the spring of 1829, the small trees, (i. e. those 

 which were overtopped by the more vigorous) wers 

 taken up and set about one foot apart in rows by 

 themselves, for the purpose of supplying vacancie* 

 as they might occur in future. Those which r^ 

 mained in the original rows were pruned by tak- 

 ing off all the branches and heading down to where 

 the wood was firm and well ripened. They were 

 pruned again in July and August ; all the young 

 branches (of which there were an abundance) were 

 shortened, excepting one straight leading shoot, 

 which was carefully preserved. The ground was 

 kept clear of weeds through tlie season, and some 

 of the trees attained a height of more than twelve 

 feet in eighteen months from the seed ; the aver- 

 age height was about eight feet. 



In November, 1829, eleven hundred trees were 

 taken from the nursery and planted six and a half 

 feet distant each way, on a piece of dry, gravelly, 

 worn out pasture land, which was ploughed and 

 harrowed for the purpose. (At the above distance 

 1032 trees will cover one acre.) At this planting 

 the trees were divested of all tlieir branches, anil 

 headed down as in the spring previous. — In the 

 summer of 1830, the ground was hoed twice, and 

 the trees pruned once. All of which is respect- 

 fully submitted to your consideration, by your 

 most obedient, WM. CLARK, Jr. 



