WOODLANDS. 241 



alluvial soil. One found on the banks of the Ohio measured 

 17 feet in circumference, at a height of four feet from the 

 ground. Its lofty mottled trunk, its huge irregular limbs, 

 and its numerous pendant balls, in which are compressed 

 myriads of seeds with their plumy tufts that are wafted to 

 immense distances for propagation, have rendered it occa- 

 sionally a favorite. They are often seen on the banks of 

 >ur, rivers where the branches interlock, and sometimes they 

 completely span streams of considerable size. The wood 

 is cross-grained and intractable for working, and the timber 

 is of little use. The great variety of American shade-trees, 

 b<nii deciduous and evergreen, far surpasses that within the 

 same area on any portion of the eastern continent, but it 

 would be transcending our limits farther to particularize 

 them. 



WOOD LANDS. 



There are few farms in the United States, where it is not 

 convenient and profitable to have a wood lot attached. They 

 supply the owner with his fuel, which he can prepare at lei- 

 sure times, they furnish him with timber for buildings, rails, 

 posts and for the occasional demands for implements ; they 

 require little attention, and if well managed, will yield a 

 good supply of forage for cattle and sheep. The trees should 

 be kept in a vigorous, growing condition, as the profits, are 

 as much enhanced from this cause as any of the cultivated 

 crops. Few of our American fields require planting with 

 forest trees. The soil is everywhere adapted to their growth, 

 and being full of seeds and roots when not too long under 

 cultivation, it needs but to be left unoccupied for a while, and 

 they will everywhere spring up spontaneously. Even the 

 oak openings of the west, with here and there a scattered 

 tree, and such of the prairies as border upon wood lands, 

 when rescued from the destructive effects of the annual fires, 

 will rapidly shoot up into vigorous forests. We have re- 

 peatedly seen instances of the re-covering of oak barrens and 

 prairies with young forests, which was undoubtedly their 

 condition before the Indians subjected them to conflagration ; 

 and they have indeed, always maintained their foothold 

 against these desolating fires, wherever there was moisture 

 enough in the soil to arrest their progress. In almost every 

 instance, if the germs of forest vegetation have not been ex- 

 tinguished in the soil, the wood lot may be safely left to self 

 propagation, as it will be certain to produce those trees which 

 K 



