THINNING PLANTATIONS. 97 



been done, many more were blown down the very 

 first storm that occurred, and an opening having 

 been made by the wind, the whole plantation in a 

 short time became a complete wreck, so much so, 

 that when I came to the place, I had the whole 

 cleared off and replanted. 



From what has here been stated, it will appear 

 evident that there is a great loss sustained by every 

 proprietor who allows his plantations to be mis- 

 manao;ed, either from not thinning them, or from 

 over-thinning them ; and the result may be reckoned 

 the same in both cases. 



Upon many estates, I have often regretted to see 

 plantations of considerable extent, and of perhaps 

 forty years' standing, with the firs all overtopping 

 and crushing down the hard-wood trees. From the 

 appearance of such plantations, it was evident 

 to me, that they never had been thinned : the 

 hard-wood trees were miserable-looking things, and 

 not more than ten or twelve feet high, striving for 

 existence ; while the firs, which, of course, grew 

 more rapidly, were more than thirty feet high, 

 and of a broad spreading habit, from having been 

 widely planted among the hard wood : and in this 

 state many plantations have been allowed to grow 

 up, under the false impression that the firs were of 

 more value than the hard wood for the sake of 

 shelter. 



^ow, I beg to ask if any circumstance could be a 



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