Jan. 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



Timber— The American Chestnut. 

 TimbiT growing is a subject tlKit con- 

 eoiiccrns ever}' inliabitant of tliu great IMiss- 

 issippi valley. Providence, though always 

 wise in her provision for the well being of 

 the human family, has not seen fit to dis~ 

 tribute to every man's wants, just as man 

 would seem to have it; a striking example 

 of which is to be seen in the vast extent of 

 our treeless prairies ; and the greatest ob- 

 stacle which now impedes their settlement 

 is a lack of timber, and there is no other 

 feasible way to supply that lack in time to 

 come, except to grow it. The facilities for 

 transportation, lioivever good, eaiinotlor any 

 considerable time to come, supply the thou- 

 sands and millions that will ere long inlialiit 

 the broad prairies of the West, with tim- 

 ber for mechauiciil purposes, to say noth- 

 ing of fencing, fuel, &c. Should the facilities 

 for transportation keep pace with the de- 

 mand, the fact stands out in fearful demon- 

 stration that the sources from whieli our 

 supply is now drawn will at no very distant 

 day be exhausted. 



It has been estimated by a careful observer, 

 "that the pine timber within the limits of 

 the United 

 States and ac- 

 cessible terri. 

 tory will be 

 exhausted i n 

 less than fifty 

 years. Already 

 inunense ((uan- 

 tities of pine 

 lumber are be- 

 i n g imported 

 from the Caua- 

 das and find 

 way to Eastern 

 markets, and 

 .vet scarcity 

 increases, and 

 prices r i s e.— 

 Every variety 

 of timber com- 

 posing Ameri- 

 can forests is 

 alike d i s a p- 

 pearing ; and it 

 requires no 

 prophetic ken 

 to foresee what 

 is to be the 

 fearful destitu- 

 tion a century 

 hence, if no 

 measures are adopted and prosecuted vigor- 

 ously to supply by art what hitherto has 

 been so abundantly supplied by Divine Prov- 

 idence." 



A Michigan lumberman estimates tliat, 

 taking the ratio of consumption of the pine 

 lumber from the pineries of Michigan for 

 the last five years, the whole of those mighty 

 forests will be well nigh exhausted in ten 

 years. 



LEAP AND BLOSSOM. 



These facts are startling, and the 

 ([ucstion naturally arises, " From 

 whence sliall come the supply of 

 timber for future generations?" — 

 The only rational answer is Forest 

 CuLTuuE. This settled, what va- 

 rieties of forest trees shall we grow ? 

 Of tliedeeiduous trees, the Chestnut, 

 Black, White and Hickory walnuts. 

 White and Sugar maples, White ash. 

 Elm and the Birch are all very de- 

 sirable, and may be easily grown 

 from the seed. Among the number, 

 the Chestnut stands pre-eminent in %'i'ii\ 

 our estimati(m. There is no tree '( 



that can be reproduced from the seed 

 more readily, or that possesses so 

 many valuable qualities. For posts 

 or rails the timber is invaluable, as it is almost 

 imperishable^ We have seen fence rails of 

 it in new England fifty years old from the log 

 and apparently as sound as ever. The tree is a 

 rampant grower, re-prodnctive and produces 

 a most valuable and profitable fruit. No 

 other forest tree possesses the re-productive 

 power of the chestnut. A chestnut forest 

 may be cut at any age and it will reproduce 

 itself in six to ten years. We have seen 

 sprouts pushed up eight to ten feet in a sin- 

 gle season from the stumps of trees cut the 

 previous winter. 



now TO GROW THE CHESTNUT. 



The seed should be gathered when it drops 

 from the burr and mixed with three parts of 

 sandy loam to one of the nuts, and stored in 

 a cool cellar for the winter. Fall plantiug, or 

 burying out of doors exposed to the frost, 

 is unsafe, though attended with success some- 

 times. The loam should be just moist enough 

 to retain the natural moisture of the 

 nut, so that the meat will not shrink 

 from the shell. The nuts may be 

 boxed up fresh from the burr and 

 kept two or three weeks with out 

 injury before packing in loam. 



NXJRSERY GROWING. 



For nursery growing, (which, by 

 the way, we totally ignore,) plant 

 eight to ten inches apart in rows 

 four feet apart. The plants, when 

 young, are tender, and liable to in- 

 jury from a hot sun. The best pro- 

 tection is thorough cultivation of 

 the soil to induce a vigorous growth, 

 thereby increasing the vital power 

 of the plant, and enable it to resist 

 the eflects of great heat. Late in 

 Autumn turn a furrow on either side of the 

 row up to the plants— hilling them up four 

 or five inches. In winter they wiU kill down 

 to the surface line, but if well buried uj), the 

 plant will send up a new shoot from below 

 for the future tree. 



FOREST GROWING. 



For .standard timber, or forest growing, 

 lay off the ground as for coi-n and plant the 

 nuts four feet apart each way, and put a hill 



THE BURR OPENING. 



of potatoes between them one way. The 

 potatoes will serve to .show the rows in cul- 

 liv;iting. The second year, plant potatoes or 

 beans the other way, and continue alternat- 

 ing those crops until the trees are too large 

 t ) admit of a crop. When large enough to 

 be of service in fencing, thin out by remov- 

 ing alternate rows each way— leaving the 

 trees in squares of eight feet. If a large 

 growth and a permanent grove is desired, 

 when the trees begin to crowd, repeat the 

 thinning out by again removing alternate 

 rows — leaving the trees in squares of sixteen 

 feet. Where hops are grown we do not see why 

 the Chestnut may not be profitably grown for 

 poles. Where grown close together, as in the 

 nursery row, the trees run up very sraight 

 and slender. If well cared for, five or six 

 years growth will make a good hop-pole. 



We would not advise transplanting the 

 chestnut, for, after some years of most tho- 



THE BURB OPENED. 



rough trial, w« are fully eonvineed that 

 there is no economy in doing it, but on the 

 other hand absolute loss. In flie first place, 

 the tree does not like removal !>om tlie sc^d 

 bed. In the second jdace, we do know that 

 the chestnut maj' Ije grown from the seed to 

 a larger tree in four year.s, than a two or 

 three year old transplanted ti-ee will attain 

 in six years. AVe may be step]iing upon the 

 toes of some nurserymen in niaking tlu'.se 

 statements, 4)ut duty to those for wiiom we, 

 write demands the truth™-f/(« whole truth, 

 liinch where it may. 



