146 



The following interesting paragraph is taken from an 

 essay on Forestry read by Mr. Fay last spring, before the 

 Society of Arts at the Institute of Technology, an ab- 

 stract of which appeared in the "Boston Journal" at that 

 time. This essay ought to be published in full in pam- 

 phlet form. 



" I have been told that within a few clays there was sold at auction 

 in North Easton the wood, chiefly pine, standing on an acre and a 

 half of land for the sum of $225.00, which is $150.00 per acre. A 

 man present at the sale, who formerly owned the place, said that it 

 was just twenty-five years since he and his two boys in one half-day 

 dug up the trees in an adjoining field, where they were scattered 

 about, and set them out. They were about a foot high. Nothing was 

 ever done -to them afterwards. At the time they were planted the 

 land was considered as worth fifteen dollars, or ten dollars per acre. 

 The same farmer planted three and one-half acres about thirty-five 

 years ago, which in the opinion of experienced lumbermen will cut 

 150 or 160 cords of wood per acre, and is worth $300.00 to $350.00 

 per acre on the stump." 



Mr. Chas. S. Sargent has kindly furnished some infor- 

 mation regarding the time of ripening of the seeds of the 

 pines, which is not found in the botanies. He says : 



"In the White and Red pines the scales open in New England in 

 the middle of September, and of course, the seed, or most of it, will 

 fall at once. With the White pine the cones generally drop the same 

 autumn that they ripen, but the Pitch pine retains its cones for years, 

 the manual being wrong in that particular. I do not know exactly at 

 what time the Pitch pine sheds its seeds, but very likely the cones 

 remain unopened until spring. I sent to North Conway for Red pine 

 seeds, and the man found them dropping from the cones by the 10th 

 of September." 



Mr. Sargent also writes : 



"You say 'But the State can remit taxes,' etc. I wish you had said, 

 this State has remitted taxes on land planted under certain conditions, 

 by an act which I drafted last winter, and which has passed both 

 houses and become a law without opposition." 



The importance of these corrections and suggestions 

 will at once be seen upon reading the above note, and I 

 take this opportunity to acknowledge the kindness on the 

 part of those who so promptly sent them, for I feel it 

 adds much of real value to a paper, which, incomplete as 

 it was, has met with a surprisingly warm reception. I 

 trust it may call attention to a subject soon to be of vital 

 importance among us, and stimulate, among those who 

 happen to see it, a desire to obtain and read fuller and 

 more valuable essays and books upon the subject. 



PEABODY ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, November 7, 1878. 



