FOREST TREES. 25 
still or have recently been covered with woods, the 
feeling once so common, that a forest tree was an 
object to be destroyed rather than cherished, has 
ceased to exist. The States of the Union most 
destitute of timber are taking the lead in forest 
culture, and it may well happen that fifty years hence 
these States will be better supplied with timber than 
those in which it originally most abounded. 
Although the growth of forest trees has never been 
attempted by the great majority of the owners of the 
soil, it is neither difficult nor very expensive. Some 
kinds, the Black Walnut for example, may be planted 
and cultivated with as little trouble as the same 
number of acres of corn. Others must be sown in 
the seed-bed and transplanted. One objection made 
to planting trees for timber is the remoteness of the 
benefit to be derived from it—the long time it takes 
the trees to grow. It is true that he who plants forest 
trees can hardly expect to see them attain full 
maturity, yet he may in many ways derive from them 
great advantage, if not actual profit. Time plods on 
whether the trees grow or not. Groves and belts of 
woodland willin twenty years from planting—perhaps 
in less time—afford shade, protection, fencing, fuel 
and material for many other purposes. The man who 
cannot wait for the trees to grow, will perhaps see 
twenty years or more pass away, and at the last be 
destitute of the woods which might have been growing 
while he was sleeping. : * 
There are in many parts of the country tracts of 
uneven land, generally near streams; which are 
3 
