1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



285 



country shall be more famous for rural beauty 

 than for the wealth of her many cities." 



RAISING SEEDLING EVERGREEN 

 AND FOREST TREES. 



Many farmers complain — and very justly 

 too, we think, in some cases — that the profits 

 on their productions are too small. How this 

 can be obviated would be somewhat diffi- 

 cult to tell i but how to save some of the 

 money which they do get, can be made clear. 



We are acquainted in several agricultural 

 towns, where from one to two thousand dol- 

 lars have been paid out in each of them, in a 

 single year, for young trees of various kinds. 

 Every one of those trees might have been 

 raised by the farmers of those towns, at a cost 

 not much exceeding the freight on them, from 

 the places where they were grown. A con- 

 considerable portion of the trees referred to 

 as purchased in these towns were evergreens, 

 and including some forest trees. Almost any 

 amount of these can be raised by any farmer 

 who has a wood lot, and raised at a cost 

 which any thrifty farmer could afford to incur. 



Go into the lot and select a spot Avhere the 

 forest trees are of hard wood, pretty large 

 and tall, and where the branches overhead 

 meet thickly enough to screen the spot from 

 the direct rays of the sun. Rake away the 

 dry leaves, and stir the surface a little with 

 an iron- tooth rake. Scatter seeds of the 

 maple, elm, birch, arbor vita^, pine, sjiruce, 

 or any other small seeds, and with a slight 

 touch of the back part of the head of the 

 rake, draw a little of the soil over them, not 

 exceeding one-eighth of an inch. This should 

 be pressed down a little, so as to bi'ing the 

 seeds into contact with it. 



If seeds of the walnut, peach or chestnut, 

 have been properly preserved through the 

 winter, — that is, kept in moist soil and away 

 from frost, — they may be planted in a portion 

 of the bed and covered about one inch deep. 

 If, however, squirrels are in the neighborhood, 

 they may find and eat them, if not watched 

 pretty closely. The small seeds will not be 

 molested by them. If the seeds sowed are 

 good, they will nearly all come up and grow 

 thriftily. In such a place, they are in their 

 natural habitat ; they find a rich soil, one that 

 is easily permeated by their roots, have plenty 

 of light, moisture and air, but are screened by 

 the high, overhanging branches from the di- 

 3 



rect rays of the sun. "Weeds will not be very 

 likely to appear among the young plants, but 

 if they do, they must be carefully taken away. 

 Managed in this way, it is surprising what a 

 number of plants may be produced on a 

 square rod of ground. It is not necessary to 

 sow the seeds of each variety by themselves, 

 but to scatter them Indiscriminately over the 

 patch. 



Attempts are every year made to raise ever- 

 greens and hard wood forest trees in the open 

 ground, but usually with very poor success. 

 In tlie way described above, they may be pro- 

 duced in great abundance, and together with 

 the raising of fruit trees at home, would en- 

 able the farmer to retain in his pocket or de- 

 vote to some other purpose, the thousands 

 of dollars which are annually paid out for 

 trees which he can cheaply produce for him- 

 self. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



What 1 know of Farming : A aeries of brief and 

 plain Expositions of Practical Agriculture as an Art 

 based upon Science : By Horace Greeley. 



"/Amomj 

 That where the spade is deepest driven, 

 The best fruits grow." — Johv G. W/iitHer. 

 Now York: Published by the Tribune Association. 

 Boston : A. Williams & Co. 1S71. 335 pages, price 

 $1.50. 



We may presume that everybody knows that 

 Mr. Greeley published a series of fifty-two essays 

 on "What I know of Farming," in the New York 

 Tribune during the year 1870. These essays are 

 now otfered in a neat book form, with an introduc- 

 tion, a very full alphabetical index, and the follow- 

 ing characteristic dedication : — 



To the Man of our Age, who shall make the first 

 Plough propelled by Steam, or other mechanical 

 Power, whereby not less than Ten Acres per day 

 shall be thoroughly pulverized to a depth of Two 

 Feet, at a cost of not more than two dollars per acre, 

 this work is admiringly Dedicated by The Author. 



The preface to the volume was written Feb. 3, 

 1871, the day on which the author completed his 

 sixtieth year, and he closes the book with the 

 avowal of his "joyful trust that these essays, slight 

 and imperfect as they are, will incite thousantls 

 of young ftirmers to feel a loftier pride in their 

 calling and tal^e a livelier interest in its improve- 

 ment, and that many will be induced by them to 

 read abler and better works on agriculture and the 

 sciences which minister to its efficiency and impel 

 its progress toward a perfection, which few as yet 

 have even faintly foreseen." Notwithstanding all 

 the jokes which have been cracked in agricultural 

 papers at the expense of the author of "What 1 

 know of Farming," we have no hesitation in ad- 

 vising our agricultural friends, particularly the 

 younger portion of them, for whom it was more 

 especially written, to read the book carefully. 

 Though they may not endorse all the views of the 



