JSEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ublUhcil by Joii.n B. Russelt. at the corner o'Contjress juul Lin<Uill Streets, (ciuraiico from Liu.lall Strtot). — Tiioma.i G. Fessenbf.n, Eiiitor. 



VOL. V. 



BOSTON, FIlIDAt, JAP^UARY 19, 1827. 



No. 26. 





nliout ail inoli deep ; or in the following manner, 



whicli is prelbraule. 

 A bed shonU be prepared three or four feet 

 EAR Sin, — In my comiuunicalion of the 16th |wide, after the ground has been well manured and 

 . I promised to answer the remaining 5j)i0{i(;s |tiioroii»hly dug over. Rake toeachside sufficient 

 our Rockingham correspondent, on the cultiva leirlh to lower the bed an incli. Sow the capsules 

 of various forest and other trees. i tolerably thick, as not more than half of them con- 



f the nine species of Maple indigenous to ' tain ary seed ; thfow the. e:.rlh which had been 

 th America, there are two cipinlly produc- Jdra-.vn to the sides, over them and then rake the 

 of sugar. — The .leer Si:ccliar!num — the Rock^ bed level an! smooth. In the spring, after the 

 d or Sugar Maple, oi' the New Kngland State.-;; i'rost ia entirely out of grounil, and the surface 

 t:ie .icer .Vigrum — the Black Sugiir I'ree or ilvy, rake the bed lightly, to ioosen the earth. 

 West. Michau.it* observes, th.\t " in the e.tton ■ | During the remainder of the season the bed should 

 .0 country of Genesee, both species are indis- be kept clear of weeds, and after mid-summer the 

 inuii.itely called Rock Maple .snd Sugar Mmle. I earth often stirred with a small rake. The suc- 

 lis confusion seems to have arisen tYomiijhe I ceeditg spring the plants may be removed to the 

 untry's being settled, principnlly, by emigrjiftti' nu.sc-ry snd set out twelve or eighteen inches 

 3in the Eastern state.s, who frnding the Black -jart, in rows three teet asunder; but the ground 

 jrar tree applicable to the sumc uses with the, lor tiie nursery should be first well manured, spad- 

 her hr.ve given it the same name. The t,<5-> ', cd or ploughed deep, and thoroughly harrowed, or 

 ecips have also been confounded by botarMgtfe." I raked, to make it fine and mellow; — then by a 

 Towards the north, I have observed tbt Black j line make trenches suinciently deep to insert the 

 !;;ar Tree, near Windsor in V^Brroott, on the I roots a little lower than they were in the semina- 

 jpnccticut river. But from its infeiior si'/e, | ry, and commence placing the plants, one by one 

 d itf scarceness, it may be -.v.ferred tliat it bo- ) against the line, at the required distance, first only 

 igs to a more southern cHvaate. Accordingly, i drawing sufficient earth with the hand to the bot- 

 fV'v I'.egrees lower, it 5orms a large paitof the torn of the roots, to support them in an erect posi- 



)liIGINAL PAPEllS. 



FOREST TREKS. 



rests of Gcnesses>, and covers the iinineuse val- 

 ys, through wLich flow the great rivers of the 

 est. In these bottoms it is one of the mosi. 

 nmioi'-ind one of the loftiest trees." 

 I"."?, 'blossom and fruit of the northern Sugor 

 de are thus accurately described, by thi same 

 iniTiiished naturalist. » 



tioii, until the whole trench has been planted, 

 when the remainder of the earth may be filled in 

 with a hoe. After all the rows have been com- 

 pleted, rake the ground level, over the whole of 

 the nursery, which must be kept entirely free 

 from weeds, and slightly chopped over with a hoe, 

 r tlie earth .'stirred with a rake frequently during 



The flowers are small, yellowish and susppA^!|'_e oesson. In the autumn spread compost ma 



by slender drooping peduncles. The seed iS 

 :ained in two capsules united at the base and 

 Liinated in a membranous wing. It ripens near 

 v York in the begiiniing of October, though 

 capsules attain their full siie ei.x weeks earli- 



E.xternally they appear equally perfect, but I 

 e constantly found one of theru empty. Tht^ 

 I is matured only once in two or three years." 

 1 consequence of this last fact, and as the seeds 



he While Maple, [Actr Eriocarpum) and as 

 Red Fh weiing Swamp, or Soft Maple (Arer 

 trum) ripen in May, the period of collecting 

 keys of the Rock Maple, was so little known, 

 my etforts to procure them, during several 

 rs, were unavailing, until 1824, when I receiv- 

 5ome from Maine : but the last season having 

 n unusually favourable for the developement of 



fruit of nearly all our forest trees, and partic- 

 rly that of the Rock Maple, I obtained an 

 nd»nt supply ; and as Michau.x remarks, I fount. 



of each pair of capsules empty, but the other 

 :d with a plump and perfect seed of the si^e oT 

 ea, and when divested of their brown cuticle, 



bright green colour, 

 n tlie Eastern States the proper time for co]- 



ng the needs is from the last of Siptember to 



middle of October, or immedistely after the 

 t autumnal frosts, when they are easily shaken 

 n the trees. They should be spread in the sun, 

 wme dry place for several days and then imme- 

 tely sown, in drills two feet apart, and covered 



North American Sylv», vol. 1, page Q37. 



uure, in which is a large portion of ashes, over the 

 whole nursery, two or three inches deep, which 

 must be spaded in and the ground raked level the 

 following spring : the same cultivation to be con- 

 tinued for three or four years, when the plants 

 will be sufficiently large to set out, as ornamental 

 trees, or for forming a sugar orchard, or wood-lot; 

 for it is best to transplant forest trees, when lot 

 more than four years old ; more especially when 

 they are intended for groves. of timber, or fuel. — 

 Button-Woods and Elms are yutRciently large 

 when thrpe years old, as they grow very rapi-lly ; 

 much more so than the oaks, beeches, or Maples. 

 Nicol assorts, in his Practical Planter, that plants 

 "from twelve to twenty-four inches high, will in 

 any situation or soil, out-grow those of any sue, 

 under eight or ten feet, within the seventh year " 

 Land destined for a sugar orchard or wood lot, 

 should be cultivated for one or two years with po 

 tatoea, or some other crop requiring the earth to 

 be often moved ; and the autumn preceding the 

 spring when the trees are to be set out, it should 

 be ploughed vary deep and left in ridges. In 

 April or as soon as the ground is sufSciently dry, 

 it should be cross ploughed, and thoroughly har- 

 rowed. The trees should be set out four feet 

 apart, in rows eight feet asuuder. Potatoes may 

 be planted between the trees ; but at all events 

 the weeds must be destroyed and the ground kept 

 loose, by shallow ploughing and light harrowing 

 until the trees are of a sufficient t\ze to complete- 

 ly shade it. When the branches begin to touch 

 one another, the trees should be thinned by tak- 



ing ttwtiy -eveii}' second one in each row, which 

 will then J'O sulficicntly large for fuel. This 

 should be rfeper.ted when the branches again meet 

 and as much otieiier and in such munncr as may 

 he found expedient. If it is intended to combine a 

 wood-lot and sugar erchard, it will be necessary 

 at the second and third thinnings to cut down 

 every other rcw and every other tree in the re- 

 maining one.*, wliich will leave the trees, reserved 

 for miking si^gar, thirty-two feet apart each way. 

 But for the latter purpose the plants nuiy be set 

 out in single rows, from twenty-five to thirty feet 

 apart round tlie borders of the fields, which will 

 thus be mucjh more appropriately occupied, than 

 by the niimeious ranges of aspiring brier-bushes 

 and rank weeds, which too generally disfigure the 

 farms, in all jiarts of our country. In either mode 

 of planting, tke frees will be sufficiently large to 

 tap, in from t>venty to twenty-five years, accord- 

 ing to the character of the soil, and the attention 

 bestowed on their cultivation. 



Should it be desired to cultivate the land destin- 

 ed for a Sugar-Maple orchard, and ultimately con- 

 vert it to the purposes of a mowing field, or a pas- 

 ture, it will be best to plant out the trees in the 

 instance from 'Jo to .30 feet apart, each way, and 

 perhaps a greater distance may be preferred ; but 

 it is wise to imitate nature, and plant the trees as 

 thick as they naturally grow, to tlieir full size, in 

 the primitive forests. 



In Great ^ri'ain where the most extensive and 

 successful eVpcriments have been made in rearing 

 forest trees,)the plants are generally set out when 

 t!iree or fou^years old, two to four feet apart, in 

 rows four fe ", ii=tinder, in which nearly all the va- 

 rieties are ii'iieijnixed ; a.io sucii a.-^ are not intend- 

 ed to stand until they attain their full size for tim- 

 ber, are cut out from time to time, and sold as fag- 

 gots, for crates, hooy and hop poles, find numerous 

 other purposes ; but as there is not, as yet, a like 

 demand in this countn,', or the price sufficiently 

 high, for such small trees, it is doubtful whether it 

 would be expedient to plant them thicker thsin has 

 been recommended for wood lots. 



The Muple nas been long celebrated as an or- 

 namental tree, and for the beauty of its wood, 

 whicli was held in the highest estimation by the 

 ffomans. Evelyn in his Discourse on Forest Trees, 

 after e.> tolling the various species, observes: — 

 '' Pliny's description of this lesser Maple,* and the 

 " ancient value of it, is worth the citing." 



"The Maple, in the elegancy and fineness of the 

 " wood, is next to the very Citron itself. There 

 " are several kinds of it, especially the White,t 

 " which is wonderfully beautiful. This is called 

 " the French maple, and grows in that part of Italy 

 " that is on the other side of the Po, beyond the 

 " Alps ; the other has a curled grain, so curiously 

 " maculated, that from a near resemblance it was 

 " usually called the Peacock's Tail." 



"He goes on to commend that of l8tria,and that 

 growing on the mountains, for the best. In the 

 next chapter, he says," 



" The Bruscum, or Knur, is wonderfully fair, but 

 " the Molluscum is counted most precious ; both of 



* Acer Campestre et Minus. 

 t Acer Pseudo-Platanus. 



