64 



The whole expense did not exceed four dollars, and for this I 

 now have a beautiful and thrifty grove of pine trees, averaging 

 from eight to ten feet in height. 



Alfred H. Metcalf. 



Franklin^ September^ 1856. 



In connection with the foregoing Report on Forest Trees, the 

 Trustees have thought it would subserve the purposes of the Society 

 to reprint a portion of the admirable Report therein referred to, 

 " On the Trees and Shrubs growing naturally in the Forests of 

 Massachusetts." 



" The object of this Report," says its author, George B. Emer- 

 son, Esq., "is to describe the trees and forests of Massachusetts, 

 to set forth their importance, their general and particular rela- 

 tions, uses and properties, and the modes by which they may be 

 preserved, propagated and improved." 



It would be fitting to our purpose to reprint the whole of Mr. 

 Emerson's Introductory Essay on the uses and improvements of 

 the forest. But the space it would require forbids. We have, 

 therefore, taken the liberty to select such parts of it as best com- 

 port with our design ; while we again urge upon every one who 

 can obtain it, the careful study of the whole. 



It will readily be seen that the value and usefulness of this 

 Report are in no degree diminished by the natural and social 

 changes which have taken place since its pubhcation in 1846. 

 The only material difference between its applicabihty to that peri- 

 od and the present, is in the statistics by which the author mea- 

 sures the worth and the uses of the forests. The increase which 

 has accumulated in the quantity of wood consumed for fuel and in 

 manufactures and the arts, is truly astonishing ; and the fact 

 should serve to impress most strongly upon the mind of every 

 farmer the importance of attending to his forest trees. 



We shall present a table of statistics, showing the present use 

 and value of wood, drawn from a source similar to that of the one 

 made use of by Mr. Emerson, in the preparation of his Report, 

 exhibiting the facts, in part at least, as they existed at the close of 

 the year ending June 1, 1855. 



