618 Transactions of the American Institute. 



such value for wood and for its saccharine products, it is no uncom- 

 mon thing to see whole groves of the second growth swept away by 

 the ax, and often where the land is of little value for tillage ; whereas, 

 in a few yeai's more, after the winds and other causes liad extermi- 

 nated the maples of the forests, these groves would have become line 

 sugar orchards, yielding an anjiual and constantly increasing product 

 of more value tlian the best crops otf the same ground, while the 

 growth of the timber merely would have paid an interest of at least 

 twenty-five per cent on the value of the land. I have some rough 

 land that has been chopped over, and is now well stocked with a 

 second growth of maples. These are to be carefully thinned and pro- 

 tected from the growth of other wood. I want these groves for orna- 

 ment as well as profit, and as the disappearance of the old forests pro- 

 gresses these groves will be more and more appreciated, as enhancing 

 the value and looks of the farm, while eventually they must increase 

 the attachment of my children to the homestead. A tract, though 

 ever so well farmed, yet denuded of its groves and forests, is wanting 

 in the evidence of a high civilization. This looking only to immedi- 

 ate profit in dollars and cents is simply a species of barbarism. A 

 wise and comprehensive regard for utility M'ill find gratification in 

 the preservation of groves, and in planting by the wa3^side, shade and 

 ornamental trees. Utility is always the handmaid of true refinement. 



Early Spring the TiiiE to Prune. 



Mr. Theron P. Parker, Byron, 111. — At your meeting on February 

 2d, you ansM^er the question of Mr. Hicks, of Pennsylvania, in 

 regard to the best time to trim apple trees. You say " the best time 

 to prune apple trees is the latter part of winter or March.'' This 

 exactly accords with my view of the matter, yet you did not tell us 

 why. With your leave, I will try to supply that deficiency. At 

 that time the sap is in the roots of the trees, and if the useless limbs 

 are taken ofi' at that time, when the sap passes into the limbs in 

 April and later, it will all pass into the parts remaining to promote 

 growth and fertility. And the wounds made by taking off the limbs 

 80 near the time of the upward fiow of the sap, little or no dryness 

 and cracking will occur. Let me illustrate. If thistles or other 

 noxious weeds are cut when in full leaf, they are nearly or quite 

 killed ; two or three cuttings will use them up entirely. If done in 

 the right time they are deprived of tlieir vitality. The early part of 

 my life was spent where all the farming laud was reclaimed from the 



