1871. 



XEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



189 



Another piece had been cropped by a tenant until 

 buckwheat would not grow more than six inches 

 txigh. In 1S69 It was plouglied and sown to buck- 

 wheat, the feeble growth ploughed in when it was 

 at Its best, and anotlier crop of buckwheat sown, 

 ilus also was turned in and winter rye sown. This 

 was turned in in 1870, and was followed by another 

 cropof buckwheat which was a heavy gi-bwth and 

 was turned in. In 1871, another crop will be put 

 ui and the result of this method will he ascertained. 

 Ine soil of this piece is rather light. 



The pine grove that first tempted ^Ir. Saffbrd to 

 buy the tarm has been thinned out and is making 

 a rapid growth, and will be valuable propertv in 

 years to come. •' 



For the M'w England Farmer. 

 PREMIUMS FOB GROWTH OF FOREST 



TREES. 



I noticed by an editorial article in the 

 Farmer of November 12, that you do not think 

 It necessary to encourage, by premiums, the 

 cultivation of forest trees. 



The propriety of offering premiums for the 

 encouragement of any branch of farming is a 

 question I do not propose to discuss at" this 

 time. I only wish to say that I believe that in 

 many sections of New England, wood and 

 tnnber are among the most profitable crops 

 produced by the farmer. One of the reasons 

 why It is profitable, is because it grows so 

 spontaneously. I could show you a field of 

 three acres, over which I rode horse to plouo-h 

 among- potatoes thirty years ago, that is no'w 

 well covered with a growth of white pine trees 

 that look very much like saw logs. I am 

 sure that the trees arc the most prolftable crop 

 the land ever produced. 



At the time the lot was last ploughed, there 

 stood near the northwest corner a few old 

 pmos. These bore seeds and the wind scat- 

 tered them over the field. On that part near- 

 est the old trees the young pines came up 

 thickly and they have grown straight and 

 smooth. On that portion farthest off from 

 the parents, the growth is quite thin and the 

 trees have too many limbs to ever make the 

 best of timber. 



I could show you hundreds of farmers in 

 the towns of Franklin, Bellingliam, Wrentham 

 AttIeboro\ Walpole and Foxborough in this 

 State, and in Cumberland and SmTthfield in 

 Khode Island, who would find it very difficult 

 to pay their taxes were it not for tiieir annual 

 crop of wood and timber or charcoal. 



On such land as many of us find ourselves 

 located, we should have little work to do 

 through the winter months were it not for the 

 wood lots. 



If our lands were all as good for dairying 

 as some m the Middle States, perhaps the care 

 o_t cattle through the winter would give suffi- 

 cient employment, so we should not eat up in 

 winter all we had saved in summer. With 

 such land as we have, undrained swamps 

 sandy plains, and rocky hills, let us be very 

 thankful that we are obliged to "fight against 

 o 



I the encroachments of tlie forest" on cultivated 

 land. Let us cultivate a few of our best acres 

 I well, and let the balance of the farm come up 

 I to wood if It will, and even encourage it by 

 [ ploughing the old pastures and sowing seeds 

 [ ot the pines and birches, and perhaps also 

 chestnuts and oaks, in some localities. 



Wiien people ask me what to do with old 

 pastures that are all run out and are comino- 

 up to pmes, maples, or birches, I tell them tS 

 stop mowing down the brush, and encourage 

 the growth of the valuable wood. 



I know an old farmer who is quite handy 

 with a slate pencil, who claims that a youn^ 

 white pine^three feet high in a good location 

 is worth a "ninepence" to grow for timber, 

 ihere is room m an acre for a great many such 

 ninepences. 



_ Now that portable steam saw mills are com- 

 ing into such general use, it does not so much 

 matter whether a wood lot is near a good water 

 power as it did formerly. Do not discouracre 

 the growth of forest trees, for they may be 

 counted as the best friends of many a farmer. 



en 7 -, .„ ^- ^^ • ChEKVER. 



hhddonville, Mass., Dec, 1870. 



Remarks.— The article alluded to by our 

 con-espondent has been criticised by a' con- 

 temporary in a spirit and tone that precluded 

 any notice on our part. To our correspondent 

 we would say that we did not intend to "dis- 

 courage the growth of forest trees." We 

 were simply questioning the expediency of 

 offering such large premiums as that of one 

 thousand dollars, the award of wliich sum to a 

 single individual we were commenting on. 

 The idea expressed by Mr. Cheever, that tim- 

 ber is profitable "because it grows so spon- 

 taneously," was the basis of our remark that 

 we "think there is no great need of special 

 encouragrment of tree planting among us." 

 On most of our New England soil, trees spring 

 up spontaneously, if permitted to do so. Thep 

 are thus springing up all over the country. 

 We rejoice that it is so. We are thankful 

 that "our lines" were not "cast" in a treeless 

 country ; that our hills, unlike those in portions 

 of the old country, clothe themselves with foli- 

 age, and that, generally, witliout the laborious 

 process of planting. We say, generally ; be- 

 cause we believe there may be some pine plain 

 and other "free" soil land so far exhausted by 

 tiUage as scarcely to be able to start a tree 

 unassisted, and where it might be advisable to 

 plant the seed. Hence while we fully endorse 

 the suggestions of our correspondent' as to the 

 expediency of growing and caring for forests, 



