1G8 AGRICULTUEE OX TUE RHINE. 



io cover with its branches an area of 346 square feet. 

 A tree of 120 years' growth 65 feet in height covers 226 

 square feet ; one 90 years old spreads over 132 square 

 feet. The beauty of a tree of this kind consists in its 

 perfect soundness and vigour, and the finest specimens 

 are found in forests in Germany, where the trees afibrd 

 each other protection against the cold winds. Hardy as 

 the oak and fir appear when their growth is flourishing, 

 yet the dangers they encounter are various. A severe 

 winter often destroys whole acres of seedlings or of young 

 plants. The wind in an exposed situation may tear off a 

 branch, whose stump remaining jagged catches the rain, 

 and beginning to rot, the decay penetrates into the core. 

 Lastly, an orifice made in the bark by a small puncture 

 when the tree is young, lets in moisture at an advanced 

 ago, and when the thaw sets in after the winter frost 

 the splitting of trees that have suffered in this manner 

 causes a report like that of a musket. 



The effect of the sun upon trees that have grown in 

 the outskirts of a wood is described as very curious. 

 They are said to twist in the direction of the sun's course, 

 and to be less compact and hard in grain than the rest. 

 Trees growing in a northern aspect are always preferred 

 for building uses. 



Respecting the yield ])er acre of forest-land in Ger- 

 many, our readers are already aware that it is difficult to 

 obtain precise information. Not only do the estimates 

 of growth and of the periods at which trees can be felled 

 with the greatest advantage differ, but the prices are so 

 various as to bid defiance to all attempts to find an 

 average value. In some parts scarcity of fuel raises the 

 value of small wood and clearings; in others, the de 



