The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-12-22
TREES GROWING ON
OLD TINE FARMLAND
Forests Creeping Back on Abai1-
doned Farms in Tidewatcr
Virginia.
PLANTATIONS CONTRACTED
PLANTATIONS
Fields Have Given Up to Pine
Seedlings-New Values for
Some Common Woods.
r.spec,al 10 The rimes-p ,spe,cb. 1

special to The Times Dispetch.]
WASHINGTON, D. c., December 81
Forests are creeping back over aban-
doned farms in may parts of the
East When WORKOUT fields can no
longer produce agricultural crops, ma
ture takes them back and clothes them
with trees again to- give them; shade
and rest and slowly restore fertility to
the soil. This is more in evidence fin
the first settled parts OF Virginia, per-
haps, than anywhere else in the coun-
try. for the reason that longer time
has passed since the original forests
were cleared away, and the second
growth has had better opportunity to
take the land.
In James City county. Va. the first
permanent English colony in the United
States was establishe ed 800 years ago.
and in that old county the whole cycle
of deforestation and reforestation may
be studied. The threads OF American
history lead back to the beginning at
jamestown In 1907, when not forest
tree had fallen beneath the white mans
ak.
Agriculture for long period pushed
the forests back, and plantations cov-
cred the country: then the forests came
again and crowded agriculture out a
hupdred years before the Revolution
'''sSSo PiautaIiohS .OCCupltu tue pSSl
parts of Tidewater Virginia. and had
pushed UP the rivers into the Pied
mont region. Continuous bodies OF
cleared land embraced thousands of
acres. Nearly every large plantation
had river frontage and a wharf, and
ships carried the tobacco directly to
Europe and brought merchandise back.
1t would be difficult, perhaps impos-
sible, to determine with approximate
! ,o ion ~ Ill nd
to tie forests in Underwater Virginia
fifty years before the Revolution, bu;
, there can be no doubt that there was
more cleared land then than now.
Written and printed records relating
to the early history OF that region are
fragmentary and hard 10 find, but the
encroaching forests OF second growth
furnish record the truth of which,
none can dispute.
The census record OF the Ola DO
minion is unique.
| Virginia had eleven counties whose
population was smaller in 1890 than
when the first Federal census was
taken century before. in 1870. No
Iother State approaches this record. In
1.-THE whole United States. outside of
Virginia, only six counties had a larger
population In 1890 than in 1890. This
iapplies to counties only whose popula-
, ton was not diminished by cutting off
iterritory to form new countries. Each
| of the following states has one such
county-Maine. Massachusetts, Mary
land North Carolina. South Carolina.
and West Virginia.
Many great Virginia plantations OF
colonial times have contracted under
| the pressure of surrounding forests.
giving UP field after field to the pine
seedlings, until small openings now
mark the sites of former estates. and
all else Is woods-second growth or
third growth.
The ea-,v settlers found a soil OF
great fertility. They drew upon 1t as
though 1t would last forever. It yield
| ed tobacco and cord for generations,
and made fortunes for the planters.
But the result was Inevitable The
soil wore out. "A few patches of land
are pointed out in James City county,
and also in nearby districts. which
! have been under continuous cultiva-
ton for nearly or quite 500 years.
jamestown Island. the site Of the very
I earliest settlement, still produces corn,
/ hay and peanuts. But such places are
few. The majority of the Oldest plan
tations have partly or wholly gone
back to forest.
Forests Advance Into Cleared Land.
In travelling through that region now
It is frequently possible to note the
il successive stages OF the forests ad-
yante into the cleared land. In one
place a body OF timber may consist
of trees a foot in diameter and prob
Il ably seventy feet high. Their even
tops and uniform size show that al
are about the same age. and Indicate
|, that they occupy tho site or former
field where seedlings took possession
after the plow left off Its annual till
age. Adjoining such woodlot an
, other may often be seen. with smaller
and younger trees. suggesting that they
: occupy the site of field abandoned
t at later date. Nearby may be seer
J a still younger stand.
In some localities the even tops 81