orrt 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



FEBRUARY IS, 18»T. 



[FortheNfw I'.n.land Farmer.) 



PLANTATIONS OF FORESTS AND OF TIHIBER 

 TRBBS. 



OSAGE OBANGE, {macluTa iiuratitiaca,) climate, soil. 



I am induced at this time to write on tlie sub- 

 ject of our Forests and our Timber Trees, by an 

 article whicli I lately saw in that exi'ellenr publi- 

 cation, "T/if Cultivator," which is edited by Judge 

 Buel, at Albany. In that publication he remarks 

 that " the Osage Orange is tender, even more so, 

 than the Morus Multicaidis.'" He then proceeds 

 to state, as evidence, that with him, the Osage 

 Orange had invar'nbly been killed down every 

 winter. His observations in regard to this tree 

 were probably elicited by an article written by 

 tne, and wliirh I saw reiiublished iti some of the 

 public journals of Albany and elsewhere, concern- 

 ingihistree, wircrein I had asserted that the Osage 

 Orange is iiardy, as it had endured, uninjured, the 

 rigor.s of the last seven winters, near Boston. 



How shall we reconcile the truth of both these 

 statements, which are so directly opposed, except 

 it be by a reference to some very material differ- 

 ence of climate, between Boston and Albany, al- 

 though both are situated nearly, if not precisely, 

 in the same parallel of Latitude ? This difference 

 of climate, I shall shortly and briefly proceed to 

 shew : stating also, all the materia! evidence on 

 which my assertion was founded. 



Here stand the trees of the Osage Orange, in a 

 bleak and exposed situation, the living witnesses 

 of the truth of my assertion. For so far as I can 

 know, there are no others of any considerable size 

 in the .State, except only at the Botanic Garden in 

 Cambridge. Both .my trees stand on the hill 

 where I resiile — the one in a Northerly exposi- 

 tion, the other WeslerVy and Northerly. The one 

 measuring seven inches in circumference, and the 

 other eight inches near the graund. The one ten 

 feet high, and the other eleven feet. Here they 

 stand, and where they have ever stood since the 

 spring of 1829, without any protection, and yet 

 uninjured dm-ing all our late most unusually rig- 

 orous winters ; and I invite any one to see tlicni : 

 the soilrather springy and loamy, the foundation 

 a hard pan. My supplies of this tree have gener- 

 ally been very limited, as 1 always purchased most 

 all for the supply of my orders ; and I had never 

 lost a tree by winter. 



Yet having in December last, read the account 

 and the sweeping assertion of Judge Buel, all 

 which was perfect news to me, and reflecting that 

 on some grounds of mine in a lower situation, I 

 had a few thousands of these trees, whicli I had 

 purchased last spring of Mr D'Arras of Philadel- 

 phia, and reflecting that these trees were at that 

 time young, and but of a single summers growth, 

 and being received and set out late in a bad sum- 

 mer, I concluded as the tree was yet very rare, 

 that prudence dictated caution. It was not till 

 the present winter had set in, and the ground was 

 hard frozen, that I caused horse manure, (a prac- 

 tice not unusual,) to bespread around their trunks 

 and over the roots of all, leaving their whole tops 

 quite exposed : as we know by experience, that 

 even in this climate, the young trees of but a sin- 

 gle summers growth, of the Cherry, the Quince, 

 the Plum and the Pear, and some other kinds, re- 

 quire protection during the first winter, on a soil 

 rendered defenceless by cultivation, and we never 

 leave them exposed till the second winter, when, 

 if strong and well rooted, they require no more 

 protection. 



'i he fact seems to be, that llie climate of Al- 

 liaiiy is subject to extreme and killing colil during 

 winter, from ils posilion, which is quile unlike 

 that of Boston. I have never sought uarticnlarly 

 in our journals to ascertain the extreme degree of 

 cold of that city, but only do recollect, that times 

 have been nam-d, when the thermometer had de- 

 scended 1o 24° below zero, at Albany ; and 1 think 

 as low as 30* below zero, at Troy, which is but a 

 few miles above Albany. 



My attention was recalled to this subject, by 

 Mr Douglas, an intelligent gentleman from Al- 

 bany, who called on me last winter, who spoke of 

 the excessive cold of the winters of Albany, when 

 compared with ours, allhou:rli both are in similar 

 latitudes. Also, by a letter from Judge Buel him- 

 self, an extract of which is recorded in the New 

 England Farmer for August, 1829, wherein he 

 has stated as follows : — " The past winter has 

 been dreadful to our Cherries, Plums and Pears. 

 We probably lost 5000 in our nursery alone. The 

 Peach and Plum blossomeil poorly, and the fruit 

 as well as that of the Cherry and I'ear, have been 

 almost totally destroyed by insects and by frost." 



Again, last summer, and during two or three 

 days while 1 sojourned at Hartford in Connecticut, 

 I became acquainted with E. W. Bull, Esq. of that 

 city, a most respectable and intelligent gentleman, 

 and an accurate observer. He stated to his cer- 

 tain knowledge, that the whole valley of the north 

 river, was another and different climate from ours 

 at Boston, and subject to the most intense and de- 

 structive cold during winter, and especially above 

 the Cattskill Mountains. He mentioned, in proof, 

 the evidence of Mr \\ ilson, wlio is the partner of 

 Judge Buel in their extensive nursery establish- 

 ment. Mr Wilson had stated to him, that they 

 were nearly discouraged as to the cultivation of 

 the Cherry tree, so liable were they to be des- 

 troyed by their winters. Mr Buel also stated to 

 his own knowledge, that the whole valley of the 

 Connecticut, from Canada downwards to the sea, 

 was another and different climate from ours at 

 Boston. He mentioned as evidence the destruc- 

 tion of the Pear, Peach and Cherry trees on his 

 own estates, within the limits of that city, part of 

 which I witnessed. 



I saw also in the summer of 1S35, at Mr Ly- 

 mans, in Manchester, near the Connecticut River, 

 where a whole nursery of Cherry trees of 3 or 4 

 years growth had been killed by the previous win- 

 ter. Also, 1 received a letter in the spring of 1834, 



from Mr Welles of Glastonbury, lower down 



the liver, stating that in the preceediug winter, 

 many of his large bearing trees of the .^pple, 

 Pear and Cnerry, had been cut off and destroyed 

 entire. 



Mr Joseph Davenport of Colerain, Mass., and 

 a .critical observer, also has informed, me, that 

 during his frequent travels up and down the Con- 

 necticut river road, in 1836, he had ©bseived in 

 particular situations in Northampton, that many 

 of the Mountain Laurels, (^Katmia laii/olia,) and 

 also the Buttonwoods, had there been killed by 

 the previous winter. Similar destruction he had 

 also witnessed in various places along the road, 

 on the west side, both above and below Spring- 

 field Bridge, in tlie Cherry trees, the Pear and the 

 Apple, and particularly the Peach trees, whose 

 destruction in certain situations was complete, 

 caused by the severe cold of the previous winter. 



This intense degree of cold, is caused by the 

 I position of the vallies of these rivers, which all 



run from the North, or in the diivctionfrom Can- 

 ada due South, to the ocean. And tiie prevailing 

 winds throughout the vallies of these rivers is sel- 

 dom across the stream, but in their lougitud.nal 

 direction, up or down. This direction they ac- 

 quire by the reflection of the winds as they strike 

 the sides of the hills and mountains, causing them 

 to flow lip or down the valley, over the extensive 

 plains, and the surface of the waters, where they 

 can pursue their course freely, without obstruc- 

 tion. These winds bring down during the win- 

 ter, from high uorihern regions, and from other 

 climes, a degree of cold the most destructive, and 

 the climate of Canada let loose, escapes, finding 

 free (lassage through these main channels. 



The copious exhalations from these great riv- 

 ers by day, descending by night on the hills, roll 

 down by their superior gravity, descending and 

 resting on all the low plains and vallies, causing 

 also the destructive frosts of summer. 



This may ssrve to account for the excessive 

 cold which is experienced throughout the whole 

 valley of the Connecticut River. At Windsor, 

 Vt., the thermometer has during the present win- 

 ter, fallen as low as 30° below zero. And at 

 Northampton, two years since, it was observed as 

 low as 33" below zero. Thus at Lancaster in 

 this State, on the low plain, on the river Nashua, 

 the thermometer was observeil by Mr Breck, to 

 descend, two years ago, as low as 35*^ below zero. 

 This unusual and excessive cold produced a de- 

 struction alike extraordinary, Lancaster is situa- 

 ted on a very large and beautiful plain, hemmed 

 in on two sides by hills, with an extensive open- 

 ing to the North. Yet on the neighboring hills of 

 Mr Wilder in Bolton, and but two miles distant, 

 the thermometer indicated a. climate of -a far mild- 

 er character during winter. 



Franconia, in New Hampshire, is not very re- 

 mote from the Connecticut, hut on another river. 

 This place is subject during winter, to a degree 

 of cold the most excessive, from ils peculiar posi- 

 tion, and exposedness to the cold winds of the 

 North, which here concentrate their forces be- 

 tween the gorges of the neighboring hills. Dur- 

 ing the present winter, the thermometer has fal- 

 len as low as 38'^ below zero, at this place, but 

 this is not very uncommon ihere. In some other 

 winters it has been observed to descend as low as 

 40° below zero. Our climate is modified mate- 

 rially by its proximity to the ocean and from va- 

 rious other causes. The climate of a country, 

 and especially on extensive plains, may be much 

 ameliorated during winter as well as summer, by 

 plantations of Forest trees, particularly Uy those 

 of the evergreen class. And I find that most for- 

 eign writers have explicitly enjoined, that all gar- 

 dens should be screened from cold winds on the 

 exposed sides, either by hills or by ranges of for- 

 est trees compactly arranged, but not so close but 

 that every tree may preserve its branches entire 

 from its summit to its base. 



I wfluld wish to call the attention of our land- 

 holders to the cultivation of forest trees, either for 

 the purposes of timber or of fuel. I have often 

 been struck with the appearance of desolation, 

 which is exhibited in the aspect of our hills, whose 

 bald summits form a prominent feature in the 

 landscape, in all the older settisments of our land. 

 The forests covering the summits of these hills, 

 like the human hair which crowns the summit of 

 the head, would constitute the greatest ornament 

 of the country. Shorn of these, they are despoiled 



