The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-08-07

lQlV. Inc WOOD Is uSeu LOT carriages,
and also makes excellent fuel. Trees
of this kind, planted in 1861, grew to
be twelve inches in diameter in ten
years. They are often, however, at
tackled by insects that burrow under
the bark for the sweet sap.
HONEY LOCUST
is an admirable hedge plant and tree
tree of great value. On the river bot
toms of Illinois honey locusts are found
so to 100 feet high, and four feet thick.
DR.. Warder, of Ohio, thinks this tree is
verv valuable on account of its rapid
growth. He sold one acre of locust
fifteen wears old for 81 900. The wood
is much used for paving streets. A
locust in Omaha, planted twelve years
ago, measured 81 inches four feet from
the ground, and is 35 feet high. The
thornless locust is best for locusts and
the thorny variety for hedges.
THE CHESTNUT.
A beautiful tree and favorite with
nearly every one A lot planted in
Mount Pleasant, Indiana, eleven years
ago are now making better return
than the same number of acres in Or
chard. At Dcsmoines chestnut trees
four years old from the seed have borne
fruit They should be set out 1000 to
the acre, and gradually thinned as they
increase in size to 800 to the acre
They will then be twelve feet apart. A
grove of chestnuts may be cut down at
twelve or fifteen years of age, and in
twelve years it will be ready for another
cutting. The sprouts grow more rap
idly than the original tree. The stumps
should be cut low and covered with a
thin layer of earth. Sidehills and rocky
land are best for chestnut cultivation.
The great difficulty in growing this tree
is to get it started properly. Care
must be taken to keep the seed from
rotting or melding. The seed should
bept during the Winter in sand DAM
pened and placed in a cool cellar. In
the Spring plant the chestnuts in rows
three feet apart, and drop the nuts, like
potatoes, six inches apart, covering them
with only half an inch of soil. In the
Fall, before frost, cover the young plants
with a litter of struw six inches deep.
They should be transplanted when one
year old. This tree has always been
considered hard to raise, but it has been
because it was not understood. Treated
in the way l have described, twelve
chestnuts will raise eleven trees.
BOX ELDER.
This tree is considered Western pro.
duction, but it will grow in almost every
State if properly treated. 1t is beau
tiful specimen of forest growth, and to
my eye the handsomest shade tree in
existence 1t will grow fifty feet high,
and if planted thickly be straight
About half the seed are false, and not
over three in ten will terminate, hence
it must be sown very thiekly. Sow in
the Fall in shallow burrows and cover
only one and ahalf inches deep with
earth. The young plant must be pro.
tected during the Fall and Winter with
a covering of straw. Plant them out in
the Spring four feet apart, and they will
grow the first year ten to sixteen inches
l have seen nursery two years old six
feet high, and the plants one inch in
diameter Box elders, eleven years old,
measured thirty inches in circumfer
ence, and were thirty feet high.
Of this tree there are two kinds-the
white or European birch and the Ameri-
can canoe birch. The latter is con-
nected with the legends of our Indians,
and is emphatically tree of romance
and poetry. The birchen rod, too, has
had much to do with our public schools,
and most of our great men have been
soundly thrashed with it when boys.
Both European and American birch
grow to large size in northern ATTITUDES.
When planted thickly the young birch
grows up very straight and graceful.
Who of US when farmer boys have not
cut birchen rod for our line and with
it raised the specklcd beauties from
their native stream? Birch makes ex-
cellent fuel and is valuable for cabinet
work. In northern Michigan the canoe
birch grows to height of seventy feet
Its bark is white and the tree highly
ornamental. Seed can always be Oh
tanned in Wisconsin. The seed-bed
should be light, sandy loan, and the
seed should be covered up lightly and
we'll sheltered from the sun until the
plants are two or three inches high.
HICKORY.
This emblematic tree of America
and the representative of the character
of one Of our greatest men will always
be a favorite with our people, not only
on account of it's valuable nut bearing
qualities and its wood. The shellbark
is the best for planting, either wood or
fruit. If planted for nuts it should be
kept in the nursery until two or three
years old, and then transplanted. To
make it bear early dig under and cut
out the tap-root as close to the surface
as possible For timber and rapid
growth in transplanting, dig the holes
deep and see the tap-root is put in per-