12 



the trees are to remain. If sowing is adopted, the land, ex- 

 cept on sand barrens, must be well prepared. The general 

 practice abroad is to sow the seed in beds, as beet or onion beds 

 are prepared with us. The Germans speak of the seedlings 

 while in the nursery beds as "in the school," and this phrase 

 happily suggests how they should be treated. The aim is here 

 to start, harden, and root the young plants in a small area 

 where they can be sheltered with brush or otherwise from the 

 scorching sun, and watered if need be in case of drought. 



If the seedlings are to be put out close by the garden, they 

 may be planted direct from the mother bed at the end of one or 

 two years. But when they are to be removed to any distance 

 or planted as forests, they should be transplanted at the end 

 of the first or second year and planted for forests one year 

 later. The larch and Scotch pine are usually planted perma- 

 nently, two years from sowing in beds and one year from the 

 planting, that is three years from the seed. The direction 

 is constantly repeated to let the trees grow up very thickly for 

 a few years^ as they will at first thin themselves on the 

 theory of the survival of the fittest, and after the fifth year 

 the value of the poles will pay for the further thinning re- 

 quired. When planted, the rows should not be more than 

 three feet apart, and the plants stand two feet apart in the 

 rows, giving some seven thousand to the acre, varying with the 

 kind of trees. At the outset the trees are planted more thickly 

 in Europe than in America. 



Will it pay the average farmer of Connecticut to plant 

 trees ? Certainly not if early profit is essential. The answer 

 depends on various circumstances, such as the size of one's 

 farm, its soil and situation. But in an ordinary Connecticut 

 farm of from sixty to one hundred acres and upwards, I answer 

 yes. If you are looking ahead and seeking an investment for 

 future profit, " trees will make dollars, for they will grow in 

 waste places where nothing else can be profitably cultivated. 

 A soil too thin and rough for cereals may be favorable for 

 trees. Hillsides and plains exhausted and worn out by the 

 plow have often been reclaimed by planting forests. Ravines 

 too steep for cultivation are the favorite seats of timber, and 



