1867, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



23 



of the old homestead, come up to the New 

 England Faumer office and tell us the other 

 side of the stow. 



CUIiTURE OP FOREST TREES. 

 The late war gave occasion for great inroads 

 upon nearly all the timber lauds of New Eng- 

 land, and especially upon its forests of white 

 oak. ^^Iiether near a raih-oad, or not, scarce- 

 ly a farm has left standing upon it the giant 

 oaks that have given it grandeur and value 

 through two or three of the generations just 

 passed. Their oaks now float upon the waters 

 of all the seas of the world, and are wrought 

 into the powerful engines of destruction that 

 protect our coasts and command the respect of 

 all foreign naval powers. 



The great extent of manufacturing through- 

 out all New England, has also drawn upon our 

 forests until they are nearly exhausted in all 

 its more thickly-settled portions. There is 

 scarcel)- any conceivable implement, or article 

 of machinery, that is made of wood, but what 

 is manufactured among us, from a lucifer match 

 to the mast of a ship or her keelson. The an- 

 nual growth has not kept pace with the enor- 

 mous demand, and consequently our forests 

 are reduced, and manufacturers are forced to 

 seek supplies far off and at greatly increased 

 cost. 



It is time to look at this matter considerate- 

 ly, and do something to secure future supplies. 

 What shall it be ? 



1. We must protect and manage better the 

 young forests we noio have. 



This may be done by enclosing them with 

 substantial fences, so as to keep cattle from 

 browsing and breaking do^vn the young trees. 



Another point is, to commence a thinning 

 process at an early period and continue it for 

 many years. Foresters of great experience in 

 England state that "more plantations are ru- 

 ined from neglect of thinning, than from any 

 other cause." If the trees are allowed to 

 stand many years without any thinning, the 

 soil becomes exhausted, and the trees over-top 

 and destroy each other, and the stems of the 

 survivors are drawn up so tall, and so feeble, 

 that they will not be able to support their tops, 

 after dead and decaying trees are removed. 

 It will be impossible to preserve forests of that 

 description and maintain the selected trees in 

 a healthy condition. 



Whether pruning our forests is advisable. Is 

 a mooted (juestion. We have put it to many 

 excellent fanners without gaining any well-es- 

 tablished opinions. At a meeting of the Con- 

 cord, Mass., Farmers' Club, which we recently 

 attended, several statements were made by 

 gentlemen owning and managing forests, all of 

 which went to show that forests may be man- 

 aged with as much advantage to them as to 

 apple or pear orchards. One statement, by a 

 careful and entirely reliable farmer, was that, 

 on a piece of land which he plowed and plant- 

 ed with com 19 years ago, the yellow pine 

 trees standing on it now will give 40 cords of 

 wood per acre on a portion ot it that had been 

 carefully pruned. On another portion not 

 pruned, the growth is not near so heavy. The 

 pruning was done in mid-winter. 



Thinning and pruning must be commenced 

 early to become successful, and pruning must 

 be done with care. In cutting off a branch the 

 blow must be upioard. If struck down, it will 

 break the fibres of the wood and extend it into 

 the body of the tree. The use of the saw is 

 better than that of the axe, though the work 

 may not proceed so rapidly. 



If proper attention is paid to the trees when 

 young, but little artificial pruning will be re- 

 quired in training timber trees. Nothing should 

 prevent the light and air from freely reaching 

 the strong side branches of the selected trees. 

 If these side branches become too luxuriant, 

 and make too much shade, they may be short- 

 ened in by cutting them off just above a live 

 secondary branch. 



2. We must make forest plantations, and 

 cidtivate them for their timber. 



It is a fortunate circumstance for us in New 

 England that there is scarcely any portion of 

 our land, except swamps and large tracts of 

 meadows that are allowed to be flowed, that 

 are so poor and unproductive as not to admit 

 of improvement, provided trees suited to the 

 quality of the soil and the nature of the cli- 

 mate are selected, and the proper modes of 

 treating them are practiced. Most of our 

 rocky hUls are admirably adapted to the gi-owth 

 of trees. The rocks themselves afford nutri- 

 ment, probably potash, and other salts. Roots 

 know where to find these and will cluster 

 around them, sometimes covering them with a 

 complete network, and acting as so many little 

 pumps, sending supplies to branches that are 



