218 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



There are other considerations which more immediately con- 

 cern the present, and more particularly, generations which are 

 to follow. Fire-wood and timber for the thousand and one 

 purposes for which timber is required, has, on account of scarcity 

 of some varieties, for special purposes, already become a question 

 of considerable moment. 



Hickory wood and timber have diminished in quantity and 

 quality at a rapid rate during the last forty years. For fuel, 

 substitutes can be resorted to, but it is not so easy to find sub- 

 stitutes for all uses to which hickory timber is converted. Spare 

 the young hickories where it is practicable to do so. Do not 

 stop to inquire whether they are butter-nut, pig-nut, or shell- 

 bark, before determining whether to forbear striking the axe at 

 the root of the sapling. Where are the large forests of stately 

 white oaks, through which we used to ramble, gun in hand, in 

 search of game ? They have all been greatly decimated, or 

 entirely cleared away. What is to take the place of those noble 

 oaks ? Are there others growing up which shall in time sub- 

 serve a useful purpose in ship-building ? The answer must 

 be, no ! 



It is a lamentable state, which many well meaning persons, 

 perhaps, have fallen into, that in cutting wood for market, or 

 for home consumption, present good quick returns alone are 

 sought for. 



In conversation with a neighbor recently upon this very point, 

 he remarked that he was looking out for himself, and that the 

 next generation must look out im itself. Aside from his 

 apparent sincerity, one would know he told the truth by the 

 manner in which he slashes into his wood-lots. 



That is not a solitary instance. Some there are who are con- 

 stantly clearing off wood, without waiting for it to grow large 

 enough to split once, because, as they affirm, " it is the easiest 

 way they can get money." We think that landholders 'who 

 neglect the compost heap, and the proper attention which should 

 be devoted to the production of crops in their season, for the 

 purpose of conveying wood to market, as many do, are pursuing 

 a course which will not enlarge their hearts, or stretch their 

 purses beyond the capacity for endurance. 



Thousands of acres* in Massachusetts lie dormant, or nearly 

 so, for what little herbage dares to show its puny spindles and 



