104 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



US to plant nut-bearing trees, and those of the ash family, 

 suitable for the western market. 



One cause of the decline in our ship building interests, is 

 due to the destruction of our once noble forests of oak, pine, 

 and hackmatack. Most of the timber now has to be procured 

 from the Chesapeake, thereby greatly' increasing the cost, 

 and rendering it impossible to contend with the cheap iron 

 tonnage of foreign powers. 



In view of the above facts, I commenced planting a forest 

 in 1871, taking ten acres of worn out land that had been 

 cropped till it would not gi-ass over. I ran a fence around it 

 as a protection against cattle and sheep ; I plowed about 

 three acres in furrows, two abreast, and about six feet apart — 

 planted with red oak acorns at the rate of about one bushel 

 per acre. They sprouted and were coming up finely, when the 

 crows discovered them and made a thorough sweep, taking 

 every one. I then sowed it with the seeds of the common 

 white cedar (arbor-vitjB). Being entirely ignorant of the 

 mode of cultivating the tree, it was with me simply an ex- 

 periment, as I did not know that any one had ever planted 

 any of the seeds before. The next spring they came up 

 finely, but being exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, 

 seven-eighths of them perished ; but there are enough left to 

 grow, as I planted them very thickly. They should be sowed 

 in the shade of grass or small bushes, to protect them from 

 the scorching heat of the midsummer sun. The seeds are 

 easily gathered, b}^ holding an inverted umbrella under the 

 tree and whipping the boughs with a rod. 



I next planted two acres with the seeds of the white pine, 

 in the same manner that I did the acorns, and they are doing 

 well. The cones should be gathered about the 20th of Sep- 

 tember, and spread on hay-caps in an open loft ; when dry 

 they can be shaken out easily. If the gathering is delayed 

 till the 10th of October, the seeds will have nearly all 

 dropped out. 



I did not feel like giving up to the crows, so I planted two 

 acres more with acorns, in the following manner : I took a 



