858 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY ly. isir. 



sTfjsw sjsi'^JE.^ig'aS' ss-o^.^ 252132*0 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1837. 



PAKMER'S WORK. 



Forests, Woodf.and, value of Timber for Fuel, 

 &c. — In ihe current volume of the Now England Far- 

 mer, page 24G, wo published a cominunicdtion from Mr 

 liinley of Euclid, Ohio, in which the writer stales : — 

 " 1 have resided in this part of tlie coitutry for 10 years, 

 and from ray own observation, and from information of 

 those wlio have been iiere for thirty years or more, I 

 am positive that u hen our forests are cut away, tiiey 

 do not sprout as they do in New England. V\'e Jiave 

 no mountains, nor what may be called really poor land ; 

 it is all fit for grazing or the plough ; consequently in a 

 few years, wood and limber will become scarce. As 

 many experiments have been made on the comparative 

 value of the different kinds of fuel, I should like to see 

 in your paper some statements," &c~ We will make 

 some rem.irks on these important lop'ics, and should be 

 happy to receive communications from correspondents 

 who have a practical or scientific acquaintance with the 

 subjects we pr<tpose to discuss. 



In the Massachusetts Agriculuiral Repository, for 

 June 1822, the Hon. John Lowell, then conductor of 

 that work, gives un account of his mode of rearing for- 

 est trees. In 1807, 1803 and 1809, he planted with for- 

 est trees from two to three acres of land, which was 

 barren and unproductive, its whole value per annum, 

 not ton dollars. The trees were while pine, larch, fur 

 balsam, and in the bett-'r parts, oaks of various sorts, 

 maple, beach, ash, elm, locust, spruce, Spanish chest- 

 nut, &.C. 



"The land was about half of it ploughed and kept 

 open with pi'tatops for two years, and then abandoned 

 to the course of nature. The pines were taken up out 

 ofthe forest with great rare, not more than 5 feet high. 

 Wherever I had the cupidity or impatience to introduce 

 a large tree, I either lost it, or it became sickly. In 

 some places 1 planted acorns, and as to ray hard wood 

 forest trees, transplanted from the woods, finding that 

 they looked feeble and sickly wlien they shot out, I in- 

 stantly sawed ihem off at the ground or near it. This 

 required some reaolulion, but 1 have been abundantly 

 paid for it. 



" The result of this experiment is this, that in a pt' 

 r !od of from thirteen to fifteen years, I have raised d 

 young, beautiful and thrifty phintation, comprising al- 

 most every variety of tree which we have in Massachu- 

 setts, which are now (in 1622) from 25 to 35 feet high, 

 and some of which, the thriftiest white pines, actually 

 measure from 9 to 12 inches in diameter. The loppings 

 and lliiniiings out of these trees now furnish abundance 

 of liglil fuel for summer use, and upon as accurate a 

 calculation as I am able to make, I am convinced that 

 the present growth, cut down at the end of 14 years 

 from the planting would amply pay for the land at the 

 price it would have brought. * * 



" I planted the trees in two or three days, and left 

 them to their late ; but I consider two conditions as in- 

 dispensable to success. First, that as to pines of all 

 sorts, and other evergreen trees, they should be put out 

 not more than four years old, nvt pruned, for they will 

 not bear the knife well. Secondly, that as to hard wood 

 Sr;rest trees transplanted from the woods, they should 

 be instantly cut down to the ground or near it. 



" It is only because we have no nurseries of forest 

 trets in New England, that 1 speak of the barbarous 

 nractibC of uansplanling and instantly heading down. 



Young trees from a nursery, would in all respects be 

 prefer.-ible," 



Since the above was written, the want of nurseries 

 of forest trees has been, in a great measure, supplied in 

 this vicinity by the establishments of Winship, Ken- 

 rick and others; and they have rendered it unnecessary 

 to recur to forests for young trees, which, when trans- 

 planted, will suffer and often be destroyed by an 

 exposure to which they have not been accustomed. 



Mr Kenrick gives the following direclions relative to 

 this important branch of culture : 



" Forest trees may be raised by sowing tiie tliorough- 

 ly ripened seeds as soon as thi?7 are gathered from the 

 tree; the smaller seeds but an inch deep or less, the 

 larger seeds from two to three int^hes in depth. When 

 a year old, transplant them into nursery rows, pretty 

 close, shortening the tap root, that they may throw out 

 lateral shoots, and chiefly that they may suffer less by 

 removal at Ihe final transplanting. Never prune off a 

 single limb till the trees are four or five feet high ; but 

 only shorten occasionally, until the last or final trans 

 planting, which raay be done early, while the trees are 

 rather small. In old countries, we are informed that 

 their waste lands and hills, even the barren, rocky and 

 inaccessible, are covered with forest trees, holes of sui- 

 table dimensions being dug through the sod. 



" Their modes and systems of planting are various. — 

 In some places, oaks are first set at an extended dis- 

 tance ; between ihese, other kinds are planted, as the 

 Ash, the Larch, &c , all valuable timber trees for 

 other uses; and the intermediate distances, with 

 another class, and between all, Ashes, or other trees sui- 

 table for hoop poles, are set very thick, that the whole 

 may be well covered ; all these serve as a shelter by 

 the mutual protection they aflord. As soon as the last 

 mentioned are of sufficient size, they are cut out for 

 hoop poles, and thus the first thinning is effected. Af- 

 ter another and suitable period, another class arc cut 

 out, and thus the second thinning is accoraplished ; — 

 and .so on, until finally, the oaks alone are left to take 

 complete possession ofthe soil. These last when fully 

 grown, serve for the constructiim of their ships, bridges, 

 carriages for cannon, and the use of their armies, fiir 

 agricullural purposes, and for all other uses where great 

 strength and durability is required. Even for the doors, 

 wainscoating or floors of their public edifices and pri- 

 vate buildings." — See further, N. E. Farmer, vol. xv., 

 p. 253. 



(To be continued.) 



three years, strongly admonishes our farmers ofthe pro- 

 priety of seeking earlier varieties. The great objection 

 to the early sorts, is, that they are not so productive as 

 the later varieties. This is removed, in case of the 

 Dutton Corn, which will yield a hundred and more 

 bushels to the acre, and is a fortnight earlier in ripen- 

 ing. Perhaps this variety cannot be got in season for 

 this year's planting now; but there are seieral early 

 varieties in this vicinity, which it may be well to plant 

 more extensively than is usual. We have a specimen 

 of corn just about as early as the Dutton, though per- 

 haps not so profuse a bearer, which was raised by Mr 

 L. Nash of this t .wn, last season. It has been cultiva- 

 ted we understand, to some extent in Gill, and yields 

 about sixty bushels to the acre. There are some eaily 

 sorts in Deerfield,. too, and we learn that one gentleman 

 there, obtained a crop from his early corn last year, 

 while his common sort perished — thus, by his providen- 

 tial care, being furnished with a tolerable supply of this 

 important grain, when, by planting none but the field 

 sorts, he would have been destitute. The expciience 

 of past years is well entitled to teach the importance of 

 seeking for varieties that will mature before the early 

 autumnal frost, and that will also produce as much as 

 the late sort. Farmers should prepare for an unfavora- 

 ble season, and then let the winds veer as they may, 

 they may feel confident of reaping wherever they have 

 sown. — Franklin Mercury. 



THE TIMES ! THE TIMES ! 



Do plagues infest .' do wars alarm .' 



Has fell Abaddon bared his arm 

 To hurl destruction's bolts around ? 



Have towns been sack'd by hostile ire f 

 Have cities sunk in fhjods of fire. 



While earthquakes rent the rocking ground .' 



Ah no ! our hanks are forc'd to stop. 

 Old Uncle Sam has shut up shop! &c. 



We were going on with a Jeremiad of this kind, when 

 our type-setter infiirmed us that there was no room left 

 in our columns; and wc were forced to give our effu- 

 sions to the idle north-easter, which is peering through 

 the crevices of our rhymer's cockloft. But, perhaps, 

 there is not more than one in a million of our readers, 

 who has not already read all that is worth reading on 

 the topics of troublesome limes ; and trite tales, twenty 

 times told, are terribly tedious. 



Corn— The failure ofthe corn crop the last two or 



Beet Sugar. — We received last Friday, a small sam- 

 ple of sugar made from the Beet. It is really a beauti- 

 ful article. It is of a light color, perfectly grained and 

 dry. In every respect it appears to be equal to the very 

 best New Orleans or West India Sugars. The sample 

 came from France in a canvass bag, tarred, .-md has re- 

 ceived from this, a slight flavor that is not pleasant ; still 

 the natural flavor can be distinguislied. It may be seen 

 at our office. 



We would inquire if any of our farmers intend to try 

 a patch of ground with Sugar Beet. We incline to the 

 opinion that a market will be found for it in the fall • 

 but if there should not he, the beets are fully equal to 

 any crop that can be raised for cattle. We sincerely 

 believe that farmers will be well rewarded for turnini» a 

 little attention to this topic. There can be no loss to 

 them, unless by the refusal of the earth to yield her in- 

 crease, and if the farmers would get into the way of 

 raising them, there would be in a year or two, a plen- 

 tiful demand for all that would be produced. We hope 

 the ice will be broken pretty freely this Reason — lb. 



Horticultural Society. — It affords us great pleas- 

 ure to call public attention to the advertisement of the 

 Horticultural Society which will be found on another 

 column. If, as some suppose, it started on stills, we 

 hope before long to see it fairly on its legs. 



The advertisement of Mr Brown, who has opened a 

 Seed Agency, in connexion with that owned by the pro- 

 prietors ofthe New England Farmer, at Boston — is also 

 worth the attention of readers in town and country. Mr 

 B. is himself a good gardener, and from the source 

 whence his seeds come there can be no mistake. — JVo- 

 vascotian, Halifax. 



The Precious Metals — We are informed that a 

 manufacturing establishment in this city, during the 

 past year, melted upwards of one hundred thousand 

 dollars worth of silver coin for the manufacture of sil. 

 ver ware. This bears no comparison to ihc quantity of 

 gold abstracted from the currency for the manufacture 

 of g'lld ornaments. — X. 1'. Times. 



