;«TOM_ 
VOL. XXXII. No. 15 
WHOLE No. 1341. 
PRICE SIX CENTS, 
82.05 PER YEAR. 
[Entered aecordlna to Act ol Congress. In the year 1ST5, by the Rural Publishing Company, In the Office of the Librarian of CouKrena at WushlnKton.] 
w the ailanthus United Stat?s Government would uofc pur- 
Dorer, but as no- chase Western oak timber and plank for 
ain has done it, ship building till they were Induced to make 
uiso of mixing a the experiment, in the year 1835, by the 
ic. locust at the Grand Island Lumbering Co., from white 
ing, I thought it oak grown on the island in the Niagara 
Jake the export- River. Hinee this, 1 believe, the Government 
fever, before my has continued to largely supply itself not 
>wn to ascertain only from t.lie forests of western New York, 
e ailanthus is a but from those of Upper Canada, North 
We know this, Ohio and Michigan. I recollect, in 1837, cut* 
ntirely avoid the ting a considerable quantity of white oak 
measure worm, timber for the Government, from a lot of 
sstruotive to the forest land 1 then owned on the Niagara 
rees in our cities River, a few uiUpb above Buffalo. Since this 
er attacked the I became a manufacturer of plows and other 
nay have stood agricultural implements to a large extent in 
, the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and 
mie of the West- we much preferred Western to Eastern 
the larch, locust white oak for plow beams and other imple- 
their rich lands merits, it was equally tough, non-elastic, 
g as when grown entirely free, from knots and shakes, and con- 
the very richest sequently cut up more economically, and 
THE EUROPEAN WEEPING BIRCH 
The word “weeping” applied to the beau¬ 
tiful tree* shown in our engraving, is too 
strongly, and wrongly suggestive of school¬ 
boy flagellation. This isn’t that kind of a 
tree, m. the lieiula Penduht which, espec¬ 
ially •from birch, is much better translated 
“drooping” than “weeping.” Our common 
birch is the Betula A Iba, also called pnpulifo- 
lia, and is frequently planted as an ornament 
in cemeteries. The drooping variety is much 
more beautiful, and as it is perfectly hardy, 
should have the preference. The fragraney 
of birch foliage is well known, and it is quite 
possible that like some other fragrant wooded 
trees It possesses valuable medicinal quali¬ 
ties. The sap of birch fermented with sugar, 
makes a pleasant and popular summer drink, 
and in olden times was much used for this 
purpose. 
PURCHASING TREES IN THE FALL 
The advisability of fall planting of trees 
depends so much upon circumstances that 
we could not recommend it for a general 
practice in ail localities and soils. But we 
do advise those who intend to plant trees in 
the spring to purchase them this fall. For 
the hardy deciduous kinds it is better 
to have them dug up at this season and 
heeled in, even if they are not taken from 
the uursory until the time arrives for plant- 
because the wounds made upon the 
roots will have time to commence (he heal¬ 
ing process which must ensue before new 
fibers are agaiu emitted. There are, Jhow- 
ever, more important considerations than 
these for securing whutaver nursery stock 
one desires for planting in the spring, during 
the autumn mont hs especially, by those who 
have to obtain it from a distant locality. 
I he procrastinating habit has become so 
general among the masses that very few per¬ 
sona ever engage or purchase anything until 
the time arrives for actual use, or necessity 
brooks no further delay, then it is done in 
haste, which admits of little display of wis¬ 
dom or discretion in selection, in the gen¬ 
eral rush of business which eoines upon the 
nurserymen in tlie spiting ovfiryfchiug from 
tiie digging, labeling, packing and shipping 
must, through necessity, be done in a hurry, 
and no matter how well trained the work¬ 
men, or skillful the foremen or proprietors, 
mistakes and some slighting of the various 
operations are likely to ensue, and all in con¬ 
sequence of the general practice of pur¬ 
chasers waiting until the last hour before 
sending in their orders. If the trees are to 
be transported to any considerable distance 
a few days’ delay during transit might cause 
their ruin, owinir to the season of orrnwth 
VALUABLE FOREST TREES 
In an excellent article under this head in 
the Rural, page350, I am glad to see you 
recommend the planting and cultivation of 
the more solid and enduring species of forest 
trees, in preference to the soft and spongy. 
It is true that the latter generally have the 
most, rapid growth, still, if I were planting 
trees to be used for my house fires alone, I 
should prefer the hat'd, solid kinds to the 
soft and spongy, as the former does not bum 
out near so fast as the latter and while burn¬ 
ing they give out much more heat. Thus 
the longer time it takes to grow hard wood 
is more than compensated by the extra heat 
given out by it during consumption. Then 
for boards, planks and timber, except under 
cover, few of the soft, rapid-growing trees, 
if any, will endure as long as the hard, and 
they are not near so strong for timber sup¬ 
ports. I can name the chestnut as lasting 
long for rails, and for fence posts also, if the 
outside of tliat part which is set in the 
ground is first charred; and yet this is a 
rapid-growing tree, and the wood is soft. 
There are a few other kinds of trees of near¬ 
ly similar qualities, which may perhaps an¬ 
swer equally well for such purposes. 
The difference in growth between the 
hardest and most enduring, and the softest 
and most perishable of forest trees is not so 
great, I apprehend, .-is is generally imagined. 
For years past 1 have planted a good many 
locust and red cedar trees on my farm to 
grow up for timber, and at the same time I 
have set out a considerable number of the 
abele, willow, ailanthus, eatulpa and silver 
maple for the purpose of getting quick shade 
and shelter. 1 fiud that the first two above 
mentioned grow about half as fast as the 
latter. In fact, the red cedar in poor, sandy 
loam has grown as fast os Norway spruce 
and the different kinds of pine, while the 
locust shoots up as rapidly as the various 
species of oak and hickory. 
To guard the locust against the borer I am 
trying the experiment of mingling the ailan¬ 
thus with it in my planting. I was led to do 
this by observing a long row of locust trees 
on a farm aNjut three miles trorn my own, 
which are very thrifty, upwards of 60 feet 
lu hight, aud have never suffered from the 
borer. Among them are a few ailanthus 
trees. Several hundred yards from these is 
another long row of locust trees, apparently 
of the same age as the above. No ailanthus 
trees are near them and they are badly 
EUROPEAN WEEPING 
lands this may be the case, but on lands of 
moderate richness I doubt it. The same 
used to be asserted of white oak, and the 
was much more easily planed, sawed and 
shaved. 
On the richest bottoms of the Ohio black 
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