An Ontario Farmer's Plantation 



^\'/lat Oni Ontario Fdrnn r If us Pone In Jinnttifi/ ami Iminnvi Ills Form. 



One of the editors of tlio Farm iukI 

 ('oiiiitry Life section of the Toronto CMolie 

 • lescrilies a visit he* paiil recently to the 

 farm of Mr. Newman Silverthorn, near 

 Siimmerville., Peel County. Ontario. The 

 |iiiies ami cedars fir^-t mentioneil form a 

 lioiiinlary to his larjje farm on the side fac- 

 ing; till" main hijjhway between Toronto and 

 Hamilton. The writer, whose pen name is 

 Timothy Spray, says: 



Motorists and others, who coming from 

 Hamilton by way of Sunimerville and Isling- 

 ton, have occasion to ]>ass the farm on 

 whiih Mr. Silverthorne lives. seMom fail to 

 notice the evergreen facade which extends 

 far to the right of the main road. The 

 farm i.s sitnated on the level toj) of the high 

 ground skirting a tributary of the Etobi- 

 1 oke River, and as far as the eye can see 

 the surface of the ridge is hidden by a 

 wonderful growth of June and cedar. A 

 casual glance is enough to convince the 

 jiasver-by that the forest is not the work 

 of nature. Only tho.-e, however, who take 

 the trouble to go in and talk with the 

 |>lanter will hear the history of the jtlant- 

 ing. 



' .My father built a mill near this very 

 !-|>ot in |S(I9,' Mr. Silverthorn told me, as 

 we ma^le our way along the ceilar-skirted 

 face of the crest. ' There was lots of bush 

 in those days, and the Indians roamed and 

 cam|)ed all over the neighborhooii. After 

 the < leariiig was done and the onhanl had 

 come into bearing it occurred to uu> that 

 a sjtlendid windbreak could be formed by 

 planting small evergreens all along the face 

 of the riclge. I knew where I lould get any 

 • piaiitity of the small seedling trees, so f 

 \\ ent to work. ' 



Setti.ng Oit 1(»,()()() Ti:ke.s. 



' How many did you set out?' 



'About ten thousand trees in all.' (Think 

 of that self-impose<l ta.^k for a man then 

 over sixty years of age.) 'On the wry edge 

 i)f the cliff I plante<l jiojilars, and behinrl 

 them the pines and cellars. The pojdars 

 grew very rapidly. See' — he led the way to 

 a rotting stump of perha{)s eighteen inches 

 iliameter — 'here is the stump of one of the 

 po|>Iars; there is another. Now you can see 

 the line of stumps.' 



'Von removed all the poplars, then?' I 

 H.sked. 



' ^'es, when they were twenty years old. 

 I cut them down to give the other trees a 



«li:inci> and what i|o you think 1 made of 

 tlicni.' Why, I got i.MT s.doil feet of lum 

 I'cr ami (ifty cords of wood from that pop- 

 lar row. ' 



I'l Ks Have I)t).NK Hk.st Ok Ar,i., 



The pojdars, therefore, not only served 

 their turn in the growth of the protective 

 forest, but they also netted .Mr. Silverthorn 

 more than ample return for the work of 

 planting tiiem. Today the visitor ^ees the 

 evergreen growth at its best. All over the 

 face of the hill an<l running for a consid- 

 erable ilistance along the river bank is a 

 den.-t> forest of pine, cedar and o lil l>irches, 

 .lune- woods, etc. The comnuM'cial p(»ssibi!i- 

 ties of such a propositi<jn a-^ e\ergreen re- 

 ti»rc>tation Jire indicated by the pines, which 

 here and there tower above the growth of 

 ci'rlars. Many of thes-e trees are between 

 thirty ami forty feet in height, with a 

 diariu'ter at the ba?e of betNveen lifteen and 

 eighteen inches. That they should attain 

 such a si/e in twenty years' tinu- would be 

 hard to believe were one not aware of their 

 origin and life history. 



Bl'TTKKXtT Row A!,.SO. 



Mr. Silverthorn 's tree-planting was not 

 confined to that portion of his farm which, 

 fronting on a much travelleij highway, is in 

 fidl view of passing admirers. .\s we walk- 

 ed toward the back of the farm and down 

 a well-shaded lain^, he pointed to the rows 

 of stately trees rising high overhead, with 

 the terFe comment: ' Hutternut How. All 

 thoe trees were j>lanted at the same tinu-, 

 ami all are butteriuit.' I'rom the very 

 mariiu'r of his sjieech I knew that he looked 

 forward to no word of jiraise or llattery; 

 he was simply recalling an act of his life 

 which he conj-idered as in no way out of 

 the ordinary. Then came a tramp through 

 the multitinteil maple grove, anil here again 

 the love of my guide for the forest mani- 

 fcsteil itself as he spoke of sylvan wonders, 

 Mich as an oM tree 'four hundred and four- 

 teen years old, by actual count.' 



Mr. Silverthorn, the owner of one thou- 

 sand acres of farm land in the county, is 

 now retired, and no nion- dependent upon 

 his daily toil. He still takes the keenest 

 interest, however, in the affairs of farm life, 

 and with the lioyish wholehcartedness of the 

 real enthusiast delights to show to the 

 stranger the result*- "*" h'- attempt-- :if .i<-o- 

 rative fore.stry. 



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