150 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



from impoverishing they always improve the soil 

 which they retain and by t!ie protection they af- 

 ford from the frost of winter, which sornetiiues 

 destroys tlie herbage, leaving the naked soil ex- 

 posed in summer to the scorching sun, and to be 

 blown into the sea by the winds, as is actually the 

 case there. 



The price of fuel and of ti!id)er is fast advanc- 

 ing annually ; and as soon as these new forests 

 ran be reared, a profitable and advanced sale would 

 be found. The annual consumption of our innu- 

 merable steamboats on our great rivers alone, is 

 prodigious, particularly of the njost combustible 

 kinds of fuel. In passing from New York to 

 Providence, on board one of the boats, I found 

 they consumed 25 cords of pitch Pine, during the 

 passage of about eighteen hours, between those 

 two cities, or at the rate of 4000 cords in 160 

 trips, or in a year. And the number of boats on 

 all our great rivers and lakes which now amount 

 to some hundreds, will soon be augmented to a 

 thousand, and will consume some million cords of 

 wood in a year. 



Forest trees may be raised by sowing tlni thor- 

 oughly ripened seeds as soon as they are gathered 

 from the tree ; the smaller seeds but an inch deep 

 or less, the larger seeds from 2 to 3 inches in 

 depth. When a year old, transplant them into 

 nursery rows })retty close, sliortening the taproot, 

 that they may throw out lateral roots, and chiefly 

 that they may suffer less by removal at the final 

 transplanting. Never prune off a single limb till 

 the trees are 4 or 5 feet high, but only shorten 

 occasionally, until the last or final transplanting, 

 which may be done early, while the frees are 

 rather small. In old countries, we are inforn:ied, 

 that their waste lands and hills, even the most 

 barren, rocky and inaccessible, are covered with 

 forest trees, holes of suitable dimensions being 

 dug through the sod. 



Their modes and systems of planting, are va- 

 rious. In some places, oaks are first set at an 

 extended distance : between these, other kinds 

 are planted, as the Ash, the Larch, &c., all 

 valuable timber trees, for other uses; and the in- 

 termediate tlistances, with another class, and be- 

 tween all, Ashes or other trees suitable for hoop 

 poles, are set very thick, that the whole ground 

 may be well covered ; all these serve as a shelter 

 by the mutual protection they afford. As soon 

 as the last named are of sufficient size, they are 

 cut out for hoop poles, and thus the first thinning 

 is effected. After another and suitable period, 

 another class are cut out, »nd thus the second 

 thinning is accomplished ; — and so on, until fi- 

 nally, the oaks alone are left to take complete pos- 

 session of the soil. These last when fully grown, 

 serve for the construction of their ships, bridges, 

 carriages for cannon, and the use of their armies, 



and for agricultural purposes, and for ;d'. other 

 uses where great strength and durability is re- 

 quired. Even for the doors, wainscoting, or floors 

 of their public edifices and private dwellings. 



The system adopted in some countries where 

 fuel alone is the object, is to cut over the whole 

 ground complete every 20 years, then another 

 growth of timber will startup anew; and the 

 growth of wood and the increase will still contin- 

 ue about the same, while the capital which has 

 been expended, is again recovered, and njay again 

 be applied to new use and purposes. 



In Britain, timber as well as fuel commands a 

 very high price, compared with the price of our 

 own country. The Scotch Larch and the Scotch 

 F'ir, are trees eminently celebrated for the valua- 

 ble timber which they aftord, and also for their 

 rapid growth, they even flourish when jilanted on 

 the poorest ground. And the celebrated politician 

 Lord Erskine, who is reputed also to be eminent- 

 ly skilled in all that relates to plantations of for- 

 est and of timber trees, has asserted from his own 

 experience, that in that countiy, 400 acres of land 

 set out during 20 years, with the Scotch Larch 

 and Scotch Fir, will produce annually, an income 

 of ,£10,000 sterling, or about $44,000 a year. His 

 plan was, to begin by planting 20 acres the first 

 year, and thus to continue planting 20 acres every 

 year, until finally, in 20 years, the whole 400 

 acres will be completely covered. And now the 

 first 20 acres which were planted, are to be cut 

 down and immediately replanted — and thus the 

 same system is to be continued perjjetually. 



It must be confessed, that nothing like this great 

 amount could be expected, or even hoped for, for 

 a long tin^e in our own country ; yet ultimately, 

 we must adopt these systems, — as our forests are 

 rapidly diminishing ; others must be planted ere 

 long, to supply the demand for timber and for 

 fuel. The subject of timber trees, I may reserve 

 for another and future communication. The for- 

 ests which cover the plains and the summits of 

 the hills, are the natural protection and cause of 

 the innumerable springs which arise on their sum- 

 mits or on their sides, as these springs are found 

 to diminish or totally to disappear on the des- 

 truction of the forests. In regard to our 

 Forests, as also in regard to our soil, the same 

 system with us has but too generally been 

 pursued, as has been practiced in all other new 

 countries, from the first settlement of our country, 

 down almost to the present day, namely, to take 

 all and to give none. To exhaust the soil contin- 

 ually, and to restore nothing in return, is the gen- 

 eral mode which is at first adopted in all new 

 countries. To this cause, not less than to the late 

 untoward season, and to the insufJicient encour- 

 agement which is afforded to agriculture, may be 

 ascribed the extraordinary spectacle and position 



