BARNSTABLE SOCIETY. 153 



constructed on the principle of a corn planter, with which a 

 man and a horse can plant six acres in a day. The machine is 

 simple in its construction, and cost less than five dollars. It 

 operates well on all lands where it is advisable to plant the 

 pitch pine. The cost of the seed, and planting with the machine, 

 is less than one dollar per acre. 



Growth, profit, 6^0. The first three or four years, the growth 

 of the pitch pine is slow ; but when it is planted, or comes up 

 in old fields, its increase in size for twenty years will average, 

 for each year, one foot in height, and one third of an inch in di- 

 ameter. The value of land suitable for planting the pitch pine, 

 is not usually estimated at over two dollars per acre, and it is 

 frequently sold for one. The cost of an acre planted will not 

 exceed three dollars. Where wood is worth three dollars a cord, 

 standing, if no accident happens to the trees, the value of the 

 annual growth, for twenty-seven years, may be safely estimated at 

 one dollar for each acre. This rule will not apply to pine wood 

 lands, for the growth there is not half so much as in old 

 fields. 



But there are drawbacks that must be taken into the account, 

 before the balance of the profit and loss sheet is struck. Interest 

 on the capital invested, the risk of fire, and the greater risk of 

 destruction from the ravages of the speckled caterpillar, or pine- 

 tree worm. It is only a few years since these pests first made their 

 appearance in this region. Their ravages are principally con- 

 fined to pines growing on lands formerly cultivated. Whenever 

 they appear, there are myriads of them. They completely cover 

 the branches, and, in a few days, strip the tree of all its foliage. 

 Their name is legion. Very few trees survive their attack, and 

 if they live, their existence is sickly, and their growth is stinted. 

 Their ravages, thus far, have been confined to the light, sandy 

 soil. Last year, almost every tree on a twelve-acre lot of mine 

 was destroyed by this caterpillar. Others suffered also. This 

 year, they have again made their appearance, and, in some 

 places, the ground and trees are literally alive with them. If 

 their ravages are not stayed, it is not advisable for any one to 

 plant the pitch pine, particularly on light soils, and in the vicin- 

 ity of places where the caterpillar has made its appearance. 



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