418 TREE-PLANTING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



vious to planting. Then by planting in the furrows, and inserting the plants 4 feet 

 ■apart in the rows, the whole land will be covered with jdants standing 4 fi'et apart 

 each way. Planted at this distance, 2,1'ZQ plants will be required to the acre. On hilly, 

 rocky land, which is especially recommended for the cultivation of the European larch, 

 and where it is impossible to run furrows, it will be only necessary to open with a 

 spade, holes large enough to admit the roots of the plants, care being faken to set 

 them as near 4 feet each way as the nature of the ground will admit. In very exposed 

 situations on the sea-coast, it is recommended to plant as many as 5,000 trees to the 

 acre, the plants being inserted more thickly on the outsides of the plantations in order 

 that the young trees may furnish shelter to each other. 



It is imperative to plant the larch as early in the season as the ground can be ivorled. No 

 other tree begins to grow so early, and if the operation of transplantiug it is delayed 

 until the new shoots have pushed, it is generally followed by the destruction of the 

 plant. 



The Scotch and Corsican pines can be planted np to the 1st of May. 



Land in condition to grow corn or an average hay crop is suited to produce a profit- 

 able crop of white ash. Deep, moist land, rather than that which is light and gravelly, 

 should be selected for this tree. The land should be plowed, harrowed, and made as 

 mellow as possible during the autumn previous, that the trees may beidauted as soon 

 as the ground can be worked in the spring. 



As soon as the frost is out, mark out the field with furrows 4 feet apart, and insert 

 the trees 2 feet apart in the rows. This will give 5.445 plants to the acre, which, at 

 the end of ten years, must be thinned one-half. These thinnings are valuable for 

 barrel-hoops, &c. 



It is recommended to cultivate between the rows for two or three years to keep down 

 the weeds and prevent the soil from baking. At the end of that time the ground will 

 probably be entirely shaded by the trees, and further cultivation will not be necessary. 



General directions for tree-planting. 



Be careful not to expose the roots of trees to the wind and sun more than is neces- 

 sary during the operation of transplanting. More failures in tree-planting arise from 

 carelessness in this particular than from any other cause. 



To prevent this, carry the trees to the field to be planted in bundles covered with 

 mats ; lay them down, and cover the roots with wet loam, and only remove them from 

 the bundles as they are actually required for planting. 



In planting, the roots should be carefully spread out and the soil worked among them 

 with the hand. 



When the roots are covered press the earth firmly about the plant with the foot. 



Insert the i^lant to the depth at which it stood before being transplanted. 



Select, if possible, for tree-planting a cloudy or a rainy day. It is better to plant 

 after the middle of the day than before it. 



All young plantations must he protected from cattle and other browsing animals — the 

 greatest enemies, next to man, to young trees and the spread of forest growth. 



Directions for procuring young trees. 



Selected plants of the European larch and the Scotch pine, abont 1 foot high and 

 very thrifty, can be imported irom England, and delivered at the railroads in Boston 

 at from $5 to §6 per 1,000, the price varying with the price of gold and the rate of ex- 

 change and freight. Imported plants of the Corsican pine of the same size will cost 

 at present prices about $10 per 1,000 deliverer! in Boston. 



All persons, whether competitors for the society's prizes or not, desiring to import 

 trees of these varieties, can do so by sending their orders to Francis Skinner, Brook- 

 line, Mass., before December 1. Mr. Skinner will transmit all orders for not less than 

 1,000 trees to England, and will see that the trees, on their arrival in Boston, are 

 passed through the custom-house, and forwarded at the least possible expense to the 

 persons ordering them. 



As Mr. Skinner tinclertakes this duty solely from a desire to facilitate tree-planting in 

 his native State, and not for the purpose of any personal gain, he cannot be held 

 responsible in any way by the persons <lesiriug to order through him. 



Mr. Anthony Waterer, nurseryman, Woking, England, with whom special arrange- 

 ments have been made to prepare trees for planting in Massachusetts, guarantees their 

 safe arrival in this country, provided his orders are received early enough to permit 

 his shipping the larch during the months of December and January, and the pines not 

 later than February 15. 



The importation of these trees cannot, in safety, be made after these dates. If it ia 

 delayed later, the plants are liable to heat in transit, and to make a soft, unnatural 



