232 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tering our habitations from bleak winds, and they are objects 

 of beauty the year round. The best of the evergreens for 

 timber and ornamental purposes are the pines, — the white, 

 yellow, Weymouth, Austrian, Scotch, Cembra, all these are 

 hardy. The Norway, white and hemlock are the most desir- 

 able spruces, and each and all are valuable. 



A very important point in tree-culture is pruning. This, 

 if judiciously done, assists trees to early development, and 

 proves a remedy against the large knots so often found in 

 lumber. General rules can be applied, each to produce cer- 

 tain results. The force of growth in young trees should be 

 given to the leading shoot, and strong side branches should 

 be removed in trees designed for timber, but are generally 

 allowed to remain on trees for ornamental use. In pruning 

 evergreens, the limbs should be cut a few inches from the 

 trunk, and on the next year, they may be knocked off. 



In taking the measure of the circumference of some of the 

 trees planted by our own hands twenty and twenty-five 

 years ago, which have been growing in belts and under nearly 

 the same circumstances as far as soil, care and cultivation 

 have contributed to their growth, we are surprised at the 

 comparatively slight difference in their girth. The results of 

 their measure is as follows : Elm, five feet four inches ; Nor- 

 way spruce, five feet three inches ; bass, five feet two inches ; 

 white pine, four feet six inches ; sugar maple, four feet five 

 inches; oak, four feet three inches; European larch, three 

 feet ten inches ; shellbark walnut, three feet nine inches ; and 

 there is but a little difference in their height, averaging forty- 

 eight feet. In estimating the feet of lumber in our trees now 

 growing in belts, which were mostly transplanted from past- 

 ures, solely for the purpose of affording shelter and embel- 

 lishment, we find that we have now growing more feet of 

 lumber than would be required to replace our farm buildings 

 if they were destroyed by fire. Fully realizing the comfort 

 we derive from their shelter, we doubt if we could have the 

 fortitude to cut our trees for timber, unless the want were 

 imperative, although the timber has been cheaply and easily 

 grown. 



We consider our trees absolutely necessary, too, in embel- 

 lishing and sheltering our habitation, the orchard, the crops, 



