AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



9 



PUn.MSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH M.iRKET STREl:?, (AGKicuLTunAL WAnEiiousE.) 



xvin.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 27., 1831). 



CNO. ai' 



AGRICULTURAL, 



For the New Eiigla?iil Farmer. 



LEST TREES— THEtR I.MPORTANCE— 



SOWING THE SEED. 

 R CoLM.4..\ — \Vhen we witness the rapid dimi- 

 mof the primitive forests of New Enjfiand, and 

 :t upon the intense rigor of our winters and 

 ncreasing demands upon our woodlands for 

 purposes than that uf supplying fuel for an in- 

 ing population, wo cannot but be anxious, in 

 If of those who are to come afler us, as to the 

 whence they are to derive one of the most 

 isary articles to tlieir coinfoitable existence — 

 timber for fuel and other purposes. We are 

 aware that our fears are deemed foolish by 

 , for they point us to our groves, whose " tall 

 ees" have long- since passed away, and to our 

 tains, whose rugged sides and "airy tops" al- 

 bid defiance to the vandal excursions of the 

 an, and exclaim, " tlie growth is greater than 

 insumption." This however is not the fact ; 

 r groves are hardly sufficient to shield poets 

 .1USC3 from a summer's sun, much less to .pro- 

 hem from the cold winds of winter, wiiile oar 

 tains are literally exhibiting the appearance 

 many mighty Sampsons, shorn of their beau- 

 locks, with tha Philistines still gathering 

 ,d, to take the last remnant of tlieir strength 



9 are led to these remarks by an inquiry in 

 oaper of October 2d, as to the best manner of 

 ,g the seed of forest trees, a process which, if 

 .ssful, we have no doubt may ho profitably om- 

 1 in covering many lands which are almost 

 iess for other purposes, with a growth of tim- 

 le increase of which would give a rich per 

 ge, and in a course of years become valuable 

 If and when taken off, leave the lands in 

 state for cultivation. 



knov/ of no better way of aiding nature, tlian 

 serving her process and conforming our opera- 

 thorelo as nearly as possible, 

 nee when we see a forest spring up and grow 

 y, we may well examine the condition of the 

 1 wliich its rudiment vegetated. 

 9 find on examination, that trees which spring 

 fences have the most rapid growth of any in 

 lands. An obvious reason may he ofifercd 

 t is so. Such places are usually the richest 

 of our fields — quite too much so to allow them 

 overrun with thorns and thistles, and their 

 ty continues to increase by loaves being de- 

 ii beside them, as long as the old fence con- 

 s. We give one example of a. tree — an oak — 

 1 sprung up on our own premises, and whicii, 

 ir own convenience, wc have sawn down since 

 iquiry of your corre.3pondent r-eached us. On 

 ination we found it contained nine cortical lay- 

 nd W-.3 fourteen and a half feet high. It must 

 originated from an acorn, as there is no sinii- 

 ee in many rotls. It must have been sliglitly 

 ed, unless the squirrels buried it deep. It had 



a fine light soil, which we deem important to the 

 successful vegetation of all seeds. 



Your correspondent inquires liow chesnuts should 

 be sown. We have never sown any, for we have 

 a plenty of the timber without, and a prospect with 

 good management, of its continuation from self 

 sown trees. We can tell liim how nahire sows 

 I them. The land on which chesnut grows in the 

 forest is generally light and free from grass and 

 weeds. The fall of the fruit and leaf is about the 

 same time, and from beneath its covering of loaves, 

 the fruit the next spring sends up a new tree. We 

 would not, however, recommend this covering of 

 leaves in open fields, lest they blow away and leave 

 the fruit bare, or if they remain, they become so 

 dry as to prevent germination. A slight covering 

 of mould must supply their place. 



Tlio lamented Jndgc Buel, whose praise is in 

 the mouth of all good farmers, and w!io, thougli 

 dead still speaks and must long speak to us by the 

 practical precepts he has given, says — (vide N. E. 

 Farmer, vol. viii. page 104) — "On the 28th of May 

 1627, I repaired to the banks of the Hudson with 

 an assicitant, and collected seeds of the soft maple, 

 some species of the elm and of the butlonwood, 

 which were then fallings — the latter of the preced- 

 ing year'S' growth. Thoy were planted the same 

 da}', very thick, in beds of mould. They immedi- 

 ately ufew end the plants attained some si/e that 

 year. Last week [the article is dated Nov. 28, 

 1S29,] I transplanted some of the maples for orna- 

 mental trees, which were from ten to fourteen feet 

 high. Some of the buttonwoods were ten and the 

 elms six or seven. This in thirty inonths from the 

 time of planting the seed.',' Judge B. then goes on 

 to state his process of planting out three hundred 

 more of these trees, which he obtained from "a 

 space less than six feet square," and transplanting 

 them at a "space of about four and a half feet," to 

 form a screen on the side of a freld, which in fifteen 

 years he supposed would do to cut for fuel, and 

 would continue to renew jfeelffit for the axe, by 

 sprouts from the stumps once in fifteen years. He 

 also stated that the expense of his trees thus far 

 did not exceed, .S3. 



Your inquirer says that he planted his trees on 

 grass land, some of which is dry and solid, the rest 

 meadow, — all favorable to the growth of wood, 

 large forests having grown there in time back. 



Is it not probable that his land has become too 

 solid.' an evetit which will take place where long 

 cultivation is followed, by the exhaustion of the 

 fine vegetable mould, which is important in accele- 

 rating the growth of young forest trees. Did not 

 his thrifty yoting trees of natural growth, in t.'ic 

 north end of the field, start up while the land was 

 yet new, perhaps by an old stump, or by an old 

 fence, or did they start up in grass land ? 



If we wished to plant the seeds of trees of any 

 kind, we siiouM pursue the plan of Judge Buel — 

 prepare us a seminary of good vegetable mould, of 

 such size as we thought best, then we should gath- 

 er our acorns, chesnuts and walnuts, or other seeds, 

 when they fell from the trees, and sow them inme- 

 diatdy and libtralbj, broadcast. At a suitable time 



wo would transplant them — a ceremony whiclvmay 

 be rapidly passed through, and we should be very 

 sanguine of success. This may look to your iu- 

 quirer like a roundabout way ot getting \to the icoo:l, 

 but we would rather t<ike it than to meet with a 

 disappointment similar to his, for in this way the 

 trees starting from a soil congenial to their habits, 

 would be healthy, M-hich would enable them to push 

 forth more vigorously in his land, dry and solid, 

 than though they iiad originated there, plants of 

 slow aqd sickly growth. 



Since we are on the subject of trees, which it 

 appears is quite a hobby witli us, we ask leave 

 again, as a suitable season for the operation is now 

 on hand, and as the hurrying season of the farmer 

 is past, to call the aliention of your readers to trans- 

 planting. Last spring, we all paid our highway 

 tax most cheerfully, in anticipation of smooth roads 

 to pass over in our bu.siness and pleasure excursions 

 during thq|Season. We have been more than com- 

 pensated f^^the few shillings assessed against us, 

 by the luxury they have brought. JVtxt spring the 

 tax must he repeated — it ever has been, and must be 

 still, and it will be choerfully paid as long as good 

 roads are in repute. 



We propose another tax or rather a donation, for 

 the benefit of ourselves and the traveller, which if 

 once well discharged, will need no repetition for 

 ages ;— :-it is nothint^ lets than transforming all our 

 highways into beautiful avenues. And would each 

 town in "Old Massachusetts" appropriate the same 

 amount of labor in effecting this object which 

 they have given this year to repair roads, the object 

 would be accomplished, and " Old Bay" would set 

 an example to her sister States in no way reproach- 

 ful of that which she set them in the days of the 

 Revolution. We are happy to see that in many 

 parts of Berkshire, they are beginning with new 

 zeal, especially to fill iho greens and vacant places. 

 May the work become a contagion, and spread un- 

 til it has extended into every lane and by-(iorner 

 of our country. 



Y'ours, truly, Vv''. B. 



Mount Osceola, JVoi: 4,' 183'J. 



WORCESTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



Judges of Swi7ie. 



William Lincoln, Worcester, Chairman; Avlc- 

 mas Lee, Templeton ; Nathaniel Rand, Lancaster ; 

 Ebonezer D. Ammidon, Soutlibridge ; Otis Adams, 

 Grafton; Charles Sibley, Barre ; Abel Whitney, 

 Harvard ; Vv''arren Hunt, Douglas. 



REPORT. 



The advancement of the Society in prospcritj' 

 and usefulness may be measured by the progress of 

 improvement among the swine. In 1833, twenty- 

 seven of the must interesting of all the animal ra- 

 ces, graced the festival of the farmers of Worcester : 

 in 1S39, cightyone have honored the husbandman's 

 holiday with their presence; — in J8.33, there wore 

 only two boars at the show ; in 1839, eighteen liavo 

 been present; — in 1833, six competitors entered in- 



