105 



ty, besides being as productive a farm as the character of the 

 soil would admit. A visit to this spot would satisfy any farmer 

 of Mr. Fay's judgment and skill in practical husbandry, and 

 would well repay the man of taste and the lover of natural 

 scenery for the time he might spend there. Linmere is to- 

 day the best and most characteristic memorial of our departed 

 co-laborer and friend. Those stately trees planted and reared 

 by his hand, that now shade the broad avenue to his late 

 mansion, and wave their masses of foliage at various points 

 around it, remind one by their vigor and healthfulness of the 

 ■words with which he ends one of his Essays on Forest Trees, 

 printed in the Society's Transactions. 



" Indeed," he says, " as compared with the life of man, the 

 tree which he plants soon assumes a superiority over him* 

 From his tender nursing it springs into existence and becomes 

 his shelter and protection and will continue to shelter succeed- 

 ing generations long after he is gone and forgotten. The tree 

 under which Washington stood when he first drew his sword 

 to take command of the army at Cambridge, is still vigorous 

 and flourishing as ever, while all of that gallant band of pa- 

 triots have passed away." 



So great and so enthusiastic was his interest in forest trees, 

 that INIr. Fay offered, soon after his connection with this So- 

 ciety, a large standing premium for their cultivation in the 

 county. His wish was to see our roadsides lined with shade 

 trees, our naked hills clothed to their tops with woods, and 

 our waste lands turned to some profitable use by planting them 

 with trees for timber and fuel. 



Mr Fay also gave his attention to sheep husbandry, at an 

 early day, convinced of its many advantages to the county, 

 especially as a means of renovating its deteriorating pastures. 

 For this purpose he selected the Oxford Downs and experi- 

 mented with them for many years and with a strong faith iu 

 their adaptation to our soil and climate. It matters not 

 whether in this belief he was right or wrong — the question 

 of the best breed for New Englund being still a mooted one — 

 14 



