36 AGE OF PINE TREES. [CHAP. XXII. 



was curious to know how many years it would take 

 to restore such a forest if once destroyed. The first 

 stump I examined measured 2 feet 5 inches in di 

 ameter at the height of 3 feet from the ground, and 

 I counted in it 120 rings of annual growth ; a second 

 measured less by 2 inches in diameter, yet was 260 

 years old ; a third, at the height of 2 feet above the 

 ground, although 180 years old, was only 2 feet in 

 diameter ; a fourth., the oldest I could find, measured, 

 at the height of 3 feet above its base, 4 feet, and pre 

 sented 320 rings of annual growth; and I could have 

 counted a few more had the tree been cut down even 

 with the soil. The height of these trees varied from 

 70 to 120 feet. From the time taken to acquire 

 the above dimensions, we may confidently infer that 

 no such trees will be seen by posterity, after the 

 clearing of the country, except where they may 

 happen to be protected for ornamental purposes. I 

 once asked a surveyor in Scotland why, in planting 

 woods with a view to profit, the oak was generally 

 neglected, although I had found many trunks of very 

 large size buried in peat-mosses. He asked if I had 

 ever counted the rings of growth in the buried trees, 

 to ascertain their age, and I told him I had often 

 reckoned up 300, and once upwards of 800 rings ; to 

 which he replied, &quot; then plant your shillings in the 

 funds, and you will see how much faster they would 

 grow.&quot; 



Before reaching Chehaw, we stopped to dine at a 

 small log-house in the woods, and had prepared our 

 minds, from outward appearances, to put up with 

 bad fare ; but, on entering, we saw on the table a 



