THE TREES OF AMERICA. 7 



double its contents of timber, and of course increase its value in' a much greater 

 ratio. Another foreign writer mentions a growth of two hundred acres of wood, 

 which was three times cut over in twenty-four years, producing in all fifteen 

 hundred dollars of our money, when, had it been allowed to stand from the first 

 an equal number of years, it would have produced, at the very lowest valuation, 

 thirty thousand dollars. We shall see from this how much care and judgment 

 should be exercised in the cutting down of our forests. But we hope to pursue 

 this subject further in the future. The editor of the Horticulturist, a publication, 

 we would remark, which ought to be in the hands of every family in the country, 

 furnishes us with some facts which are of so much interest to all, that we shall 

 avail ourselves of this opportunity, to present them to our readers. It seems 

 that the supply of many kinds of wood, which are necessary for mechanical pur- 

 poses, is becoming so imcertain, as to make it a matter of serious inquiry, what 

 is to be done, in our own day, to meet the demand. It is proposed to plant the 

 sides and embankments of railroads, canals, and public roads, with locust, Avhite 

 oak, chestnut, hickory, and larch, which would, in a few years, not only add 

 much to the beauty of the country, but create a supply, sufficient, if properly 

 managed, to meet an immense annual demand, and yield a very large profit on 

 the first investment. This is a subject of so much importance to every one, 

 whether small or great, in our country, that, although it may seem to some a 

 little out of place in a work of this description, we shall pursue it still further. 

 State governments should at once take this matter in hand, and thus do as much 

 as is in their power to remedy past neglect. No public road or canal, of any 

 kind, over which these governments have control, should be constructed, without 

 making the planting of the borders with trees, and their after care, imperative 

 upon those who have the management. Had this been done early in the history 

 of these enterprises, says the author quoted above, " in the Southern States there 

 would now have been an ample provision of live oak timber, and in the North- 

 ern of white oak, locust, &c., for national and private purposes." 



"By planting the acorns, or seeds, scarcely any cost would be incurred; but 

 it can be shown by practical men, that, at present prices, a mile of seedling 

 oaks, one year old, planted ten feet apart, — which would give for both sides of 



