ASPECTS OF THE PRESENT FORESTRY AGITATION. 149 



Mrs. Henrietta L. T. Wolcott said she knew ver}' little about 

 this subject except from experience in her own grounds. In 1877 

 her husband bought a farm of four hundred acres. " There was a 

 sandy, gravelh' hill-side directly opposite the house. It was found 

 unprofitable to cultivate that land, and she decided to devote it to 

 trees. Ten thousand little trees were ordered ; they were so 

 small as to come packed in one champagne basket. She asked to 

 have furrows ploughed for the proposed rows of trees, but the 

 whole ground was ploughed. This was a useless operation, and 

 in a sense was discouraging However, she planted all those 

 little trees, but the first rain that fell washed many of them out 

 of the rows. Among these trees were two hundred seedling pines, 

 about two and a half inches high. When the ash and larch trees 

 were four feet high, they were thinned out, some of them being 

 transplanted to afford future shade to the dairy building. In a 

 few years the trees had grown so large they could not be dug up. 

 Some of the larches are now fully thirty feet high. The hill-side 

 is covered and is an agreeable sight. The soil has been greatl}' 

 improved, being now about twelve inches in depth instead of 

 three inches as before the tree planting. Mrs. Wolcott said that 

 in man}' places the work of the Village or Town Improvement 

 Society was largely left to the women members. She recom- 

 mended the planting of trees as a most appropriate work for such 

 societies, but she thought it better to use larger trees than those 

 with which she began. One foot high at least would be small 

 enough. Still, she would suggest that some members raise stocks 

 of trees from seed ; this would give them a choice in the selection 

 of varieties, and they could be used when grown to any desired 

 size. She would also recommend that individuals plant trees, 

 either seedlings of their own raising or purchased from nursery- 

 men. In this way, a great deal could be done to beautify the 

 country, and make it more attractive and pleasant for generations 

 to come. 



Leverett M. Chase regretted that the time did not permit a 

 fuller discussion upon this matter. Professor Rothrock's valu- 

 able paper had covered but a few of the elements in this theme. 

 One is the relation of freshets and floods to the destruction of 

 forests, to which we are compelled to give attention b}' the 

 most disastrous experiences throughout the country. For exam- 

 ple : in Ohio forests occupied 13,991,228 acres in 1853 ; 9,749,333 



