22 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
found growing among rocks where no soil can be seen. The 
rock chestnut oak, the black birch, the red cedar, and the 
Hacmatack, rejoice in such situations. As in the case of the 
sands, the experiment has been made, on a large scale, of cov- 
ering bare, bleak hills, with trees. Of the Duke of Athol’s 
successful experiments in Scotland, on thousands of acres of 
worthless, rocky hills, an account will hereafter be given, as 
also of the value of the forests thus created. 
Of sedgy marsh and swamp, too wet and cold to be cultivated 
without extensive and costly draining, many acres in the east- 
ern part of the State have been sown by a natural process with 
the seeds of the white cedar. ‘The seeds, when shed, float upon 
the water, and are carried by spring tides and freshets, and left 
upon the surface of the ground. In the summer, they spring up 
in countless multitudes. They may now be seen in different 
states of forwardness, some of them forming impenetrable thick- 
ets. What has been done, in these instances, by nature, ind! 
cates the process by which similar grounds may be reduced or 
restored to the condition of forest. 
By means of the trees above mentioned, and others, almost 
every acre of the surface might be made productive. Even the 
rocky crown of the sea-beaches might be covered with beach 
plums. 
Much is to be done for the improvement of the woodlands 
now existing. In some cases, they are managed with great 
care. ‘The best means of thinning, pruning, and felling, are 
studied and practised. But, in many cases, indeed in most 
instances, they are left in utter neglect. The consequences are 
often very visible. In the cedar swamps just spoken of, the 
seed-sowing has been so profuse, that plants spring up thick 
enough to almost cover the ground. ‘T'en or twelve may some- 
times be seen on a square foot. These grow up well together 
fora year or two. Afterwards, they seem to be struggling for 
existence. ‘I'he growth of all is retarded—almost stopped. In 
a few years, the strongest overtop the others, which gradually 
die. Still the number left living is far too great for the ground, 
and few of them become fine and vigorous trees. All the side 
branches die for want of light and air, and the top-most shoot, 
