AND H O R T I (, U L T U R A L REGIS T E R . 



PUBLISHED BY JOSKPH BllECK & CO.. NO. Oi NOUTH M.411KKT STIUIKT, (AoaicoiToaAt Wa.«hok«.)-ALLKN PUTNAM, KDH'Oll. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY KVKNING, I'EBRUARY IB, 1842. 



two. »t. 



N. E. FARMER. 



For the tiew England K.nrnior. 



)RKST TREES— THEIR BENEFITS TO 



CLI.M.VTE ANf) SOIL. 

 Ir ICniTOR — Sir — In looking over the eastern 

 itie.s of ,Massiicliu3Qtl:>, I have ot\en tlioughl 

 oiir fiireralliers, in clciirinii llie lanJ for culti- 

 >n, did not pursue tiio \vi:«e«t plan, nor tliat 

 ihtlioy would have ndopti'd, liad ihey been led to 

 ider the interests of posterity, instead of their 

 iiiiincHialc ndvantanc. When our ancestors 

 settled in tills country, they probably found 

 and in general far more moist thsn at the pre- 

 dav ; the lorests which cvered the land, not 

 rill;; the rays of the sun to fall upon the ground 

 evaporate the waters, wliich had fallen in rain 

 snow, from the place where they fell, they 

 first obliged to saturate ihe ground, and llie 

 rsbundance was then drained off by the streams, 

 same effect t.ikes place evidently, in an cn- 

 f or partially cleared tract of country, but in a 

 eascil ratio. I'rom these con.siderations, the 

 iti why o'lr ancestors cleared for cultivation 

 ligher portions of land and left the parts which 

 ower in a state of nature, is evident: they 

 d the hills moist enough — the valleys too much 

 > warrant the commcnccnient of agricultural 

 ations. I have ever been of the opinion, and 1 

 : I am sustained by the experience of others, 

 had they pursued a nenrly opposite course, 

 cleared the valleys and left tlie hills to depend 

 for a supply of lumber and fuel, they would 

 greatly bene.itcd the future clirriate of the 

 try, ond in tiio end, seciireil to themselves and 

 ?rity more valuable lands for cultivation ; for, 

 ■e first place, as the country was cleared of 

 brcsts, and the rays of the sun were at liberty 

 feet a greater evaporation of the moisture on 

 jrface, the hills, which were formerly moist 

 gh, became too dry, and the valleys, which 

 formerly too wet, became dry enough for the 

 OSes of agriculture ; and in the second place, 

 ligh lands, which were formerly rich enough, 

 contimieti cropping became exhausted ; where- 

 le low lands, on account of their receiving the 

 necessary to vegetation washed from the higli- 

 nd.s, retain their fertility for a longer period, 

 probably never reach that permnnont sterility 

 h we offen perceive in our exhausted hills. 

 y opinion, the proper distribution of woods as 

 •otcction from destructive winds, cannot be 

 itrongly dwelt upon ; and as the reclaiming of 

 ow, boggy lands is becoming an important and 

 gsary branch of agriculture in the neighboring 

 •ties, I think the recovering of some of our best 

 le elevations of lar;d with forest trees, worthy 

 ttention ol agriculturi.ots, as a means of ame- 

 lion of climate and protection of tender vege- 

 n, a8w^lla3 a profitable investment of time 

 labor ; for experience^ has proved that certain 

 ible timber trees will flourish on lands of little 

 I for cultivation. 

 have perceived with pleasure that in years 



past, preiimiriis hare been olfcred by the agricultu- 

 ral societies of .-oiiie counlies, fur piniitiitions of 

 forest trees; yet, so far as I have observed, peo- 

 ple have chosen for these operations, fields unwar- 

 ranted either by economy or advantage, and have 

 not paid sufficient attention to the selection of trees, 

 besides those situutiniis mentioned, ornamental 

 forest trees can be introduced with advantaire and 



Fiirihf N. E. Karincr. 



PROFITS OF FAIlMlNfJ— ADVANTAGE DE- 

 RI VEI) FKo.M A<iUicri;ruR.\L pacers 



IMPROVEMENT OF HOG LAN 1), ic. 



Mr Pdtnah — Dear Sir — A few years «j>o I pur- 

 chased some lots of land, in the wh.ile JO acrci», 

 that Iny in different places, hut none of it more than 



profit in bells, for the protection of gardens, or- ' ''»""« "'i'" ^"1" uiy dwelling; iiboiii ,'.'> acres <.f a 

 chards and dwellings from noxious winds ; and in """fe"^- l"" '"'''"'""' "" unproductive stale. Be- 



ihese undertakings, with a little allcntion, beauty 

 and economy can be easily combined. The trees 

 that can ho introduced with advantage, in my opin- 

 ion are llie following 



ing engaged in maniifacturinL', "hich I was iinwill. 

 inir to relinquish for farming on so small a kc.iIo, f 

 offered to rent llie land, hut no one would give me 

 5 per cent. o;i the cost, which led me to c«uicliido 



The White Oak ^Qiiercu.i nlbn)—\l adapts itself!""" ' '""• """'>-" » *'■•'<' i"vestinent, and then wished 

 to almost any soil, is of fine appearance, and the "'>' '""<! '"t" n.oney again. I, Imwevr, let it out 

 repute in which its timber is held, is too well known "" "''ares two years, and then began to grow very 

 lo require comment. It grows moderately fast, as ^'^k "f farming, as my crops were light and land 

 in ordinary situations it attains a diameter of 6 or 8 &"■<"*■'"? poorer. I tried to sell, hot found I could 

 inch''S in about 20 years. ""' without n.akini great sacrifice : then came to 



The Sugar Maple (Jlcer sacchnrifenim,) I think "'« conclusion that I would make the best ol n bad 

 is descrvinir of notice, on account of its beauty, I '"""f.""" »"<■ '^X '">' '•"'" "I"" '"farming, without 

 the value of its timber for many purposes, and the | S'ving up my other business. Accordiriirly I pro- 

 fact that, when there are a snflicient number of I <=""=''"'•' "'^^^'^-'^fV ''"P'"^'"*""'^. '■"?»f-"'' '"V '"'"'P. 

 sizeable trees, (he manufacture of sucrarfrom their!""'' "'"> '''° assistance of the N. E Fanner, anA 



the example and advice of my nF.ighbirs, I com- 

 menced operations in the spring of l(5."}7. In order 

 to ascertitin thr; result of iny experiment, I opened 

 an acrxxlnt witii my land, chirgcd every expense, 

 and gawb crcdii for all the products at a (\iir raarkeL 

 price. 



Now, at the end of five years, after summing op 

 both sides of the account, and striking the bhlanco, 

 I find that my land has paid ihe interest of 10 per 

 cent, yearly and a fraction over; besides it is wortU 

 at least 2.j per cent, more than it was five year* 

 ago. Have had no extr loilin iry crops lo boast of, 

 but every kind has generally given a fjir yield 

 with an annual increase. My regular course has 

 been to manure well, which lias been a large item 

 in the account ; and to have help .siilllcicnl to do 

 my work in season and in a proper manner. Have 

 also paid some attention to the application of iiiii- 

 nures, in order to ascertain what kind was best 

 adapted to a particular kind of soil. Have already 

 shown that I was uiiinlcntiimiilly drawn info the 

 farming business, winch I coinnienced wilh much 

 reluctance; but now I pursue it out of choice. 

 Have derived much benefit from the N. K. Fanner, 

 and am convinced thai I had better have paid $10 

 a year fur that or sninc o.her agricnllural paper, 

 than to have been deprived of ils benefits. 



Here I was going lo close, but thought I would 

 just say what I had been about this winter. 



On observing in your paper last fall, some direc- 

 tions for "winter's work," cunclu.led that f would 

 do some things therein pointed out, sliouid Provi- 

 dence permit Accordingly, since seciriiig my 

 Mr Thos. Affleck, of Cincinnati, editor of the harvest, have built a shed to my hor.sc stable, Ui 

 Weslern Farmer, gives nolico that ho shall sail for protect the manure, which also answers other valu- 

 Eurripe ahniit the first of May, and thai he will lake i "''le purposes ; have buill a cellar lo my barn, for 

 orders fi.r tiie purchase of stock, *tc. He proposes ; t'le same purpose; have dng n.iick sufficient for 

 lo stop, and "examine into the state of things in another year's use, and have carted -lOU h.ads of 

 the East," before he embarks. We hope he will j sand on to a bog. 1 commenced on this bog in 

 favor lis with a call.— Ed. N. E. F. I I**''- •' was very soft, and produced nothing of 



sap, becomes an object wnriliy of attention. 



'I'he common Beecii {t'ufrns sylvrtiica,) is a tree 

 of bcaiiliful ajipcarance, easy growth, and althnugh 

 its timber is not so remarkable for durability as 

 some oiliers, yet it is in great demand for particu- 

 lar uses. 



The Shell-bark (Juf^lnns regin,) is remarkable 

 for ils flourishing growth. Its timber is of great 

 repute on account of its durability and strength, 

 and ils wood as an article of fuel, is uiisurpnsscd 

 by any other. The fruit of the Shell-bark also, 

 greatly cnliinces ils value, and for this reason I 

 think it wiirlhy of more attention than the common 

 forest walniii, (Juglaiis alba,) wliicli in other re- 

 spects is ils rival. 



Bui Pines are of all others Ihe most suitable for 

 the re-eovenii;; of our barren liills, as they are of 

 quick growth and flourish well, even on the most 

 inferior soil. Of the pine there are many varieties, 

 the most common and valuable of which, in this 

 climate, are iho W^liite Pine (Pinus shobus,) and 

 the Pitch or Hird Piiie (Piniis resino3a) — the for- 

 mer "f which is of the quicker growth and gener- 

 ally of the hi'ttir iippearance, although the latter is 

 esteemed of greater value for limber. The fore- 

 going I coiisih-r to be the forest trees most worthy 

 the attention of ogriculliirists, as all ihe varieties 

 mentioned cm be easily raised either by trans- 

 plantation or from llio seed. 



The forogoiiig remarks are respectfully submit- 

 ted to your consideration bv an 



Olt.SERVER OF NATURE. 



