404 FORESTEY EEPORT OF GEORGE B. EMERSON. 



in its primitive conditiou everywhere abundant. Mr. Emerson in liis 

 report remarks : 



In the naiTOW breadth of Massachusetts, the species of native-timber trees are more 

 numerous than are foucd in any kingdom of Europe. We have uine largo oak trees, 

 three pines, tvro wuluuts, two elms, two spruces, two cedars, besides the beech, the 

 chestnut, the hornbeam, the lever-wood, the tupelo, the hoop-ash or nettle tree, the 

 tulip-tree, the plane, the bass, the locust, the hemlock, the lir, the hackmatack, the 

 cherry, the holly, several pojilars, many willows, and a large number of smaller trees. 

 Besides these it is found that all the valuable trees of Middle and Northern Europe 

 flourish here as if they were native, and in some instances even surpass our native 

 trees in the rapidity with which they grow. It thus appears that our soil and climate 

 are perfectly well adapted to all kinds of wood which are found in temperate countries. 

 It is only necessary to understand the character and habits of each, and to choose suit- 

 able soil and situation.^ 



In speaking of the profits of cultivation this author says -^ 



On nearly every farm in Massachusetts, more land is under cultivation than can bo 

 profitably "manag'ed. Many acres now in tillage might, with great advantage, be 

 turned into forest, and the labor and manure which have been spread upon them be 

 used in the better cultivation of the remaining acres. AU that portion of every farm 

 which is hilly or very stony, and all that does not readily bear good crops of corn aud 

 grass, may be, at comparatively little expense, sown with the seeds or set with the 

 young plants of the most valuable forest-trees. The sowing or the planting should be 

 very liberal, the young trees, when close together, protecting each other, and the 

 poorer ones, when the plants become too close, affording excellent fuel, and serving, 

 as they grow largo, many important purposes. In this way a valuable permanent 

 wood-lot might be added to farms the owners of which are now obliged, at large cost, 

 to get their fuel from other sources. « # ♦ 



The most impracticable of our rocky hills were originally covered with trees. Suf- 

 ficient portions of them remain in that state to show that all might, with a little pains, 

 be redeemed to a profitable use. There are several kinds of trees which require very 

 little soil ; some of them need little more than a foothold in the earth. Several oalcs, 

 birches, and pines are often found growing among rocks where no soil can be seen. 

 The rock-chestnut oak, the black birch, the red cedar, and the hackmatack rejoice in 

 such situations. * * * On sedgy marsh and swamp, too wet and cold to be culti- 

 vated without extensive and costly draining, many acres, in the eastern p;irt of the 

 State, have been sown by a natural process with the seeds of the white cedar. The 

 seeds, when shed, float upon the water, and are carried by spring tides and freshets, 

 and left upon the surface of the ground. In the summer they spring up in countless 

 multitudes. They may now be seen in dilTerent states of forwardness, some of them 

 forming impenetrable thickets. "What has been done in these instances by nature, 

 indicates the process by which similar grounds may, by art, be reduced or restored to 

 the condition of forest. By means of the trees above mentioned and others, almost 

 every acre of the surface might be made productive. Even the rocky crowns of the 

 sea-beaches, might be covered with beech-plums, pine trees, and birches. 



Much is to be done for the improvement of the woodlands now existing. In some 

 cases they are managed with great care ; the best means of thinning, pruning, and 

 felling are studied and practiced. But in many casi s— indeed, in most instances — they 

 are left in utter neglect. The consequences are often very visible. In the cedar- 

 ewamps just ^oken of, the natural seed-sowing has been so profuse that plants spring 

 up thick enough to almost cover the ground. Ten or twelve may sometimes be seen 

 on a square foot. These grow up well together for a year or two. Afterwards they 

 seem to be struggling for existence. The growth of all is retarded— almost stopped. 

 In a few years the strongest overtop the others, which gradually die. Still the number 

 left living is far too great for the ground, and few of them become fine and vigorous 

 trees. All the side branches die for want of light and air, and the topmost shoot, 

 never sufficient to form a shapely tree, is left alone. The same thing takes place in 

 beech groves. Ten or twenty times as many plants spring up as can be sustained. 

 They go on together vegetating, but hardly growing. I know instances of beech woods 

 which have made little perceptible growth for twenty years. * * * The remedy 

 is obvious. Every year, from the first, they need to be thinned. For the first few 

 years the plants removed are of no value except for transplantation for fuel. After- 

 ward they are of use in innumerable ways ; the young cedars, larches, and chestnuts, 

 for stakes and poles ; hickories for walking-sticks; oaks and ashes for basket-work ; 

 lever-wood and hoop-ash for whip-stocks aud levers; all of the five latter for hoops. 

 The products of the thinning will thus obviously far more than repay the labor, even 

 if this were not necessary for the welfare of the remaining trees. 



1 Trce» and Shrubs of Massachusetts, 2d ed., i, 21. '^lUd., 25, 27. 



