On Iroods, or Plantations of Timber Trees.
The necessity of having a sufficient stock of timber for making husbandry utensils, by which the ground may be cultivated ; for erecting houses, wherein the people may be sheltered from the inclemency of the weather; and for building ships for national defence, and carrying on trade, is so well known, that it is totally unnecessary to say one word on that subject; but it is matter of regret at this time, when we arc likely to be deprived of all foreign supplies, that the quantity of Bri tish timber is daily decreasing, while little attention is bestowed in planting trees for future consumption, so that the nation may be secured in a suitable supply of timber, for the purposes already mentioned. This ne glect arises from the circumstance, that those who plant timber trees very rarely cut them, and can only be cor rected by a legislative enactment, viz. that every landed proprietor shall have such a portion of his property in woodland, leaving it to them to plant such trees as are most suitable for the soil, climate, and situation of their respective properties.
It would be well if the present state of political affairs induced the legislature to take up the subject imme diately, and to provide a remedy such as we have point ed out, otherwise the state of the country may he truly lamentable at a future period, if foreign supplies are wholly interdicted. It is sufficiently evident, that tim ber is daily decreasing in quantity at home; because its price has recently advanced much beyond any alteration in the value of money, which is the sure criterion for ascertaining any thing of this kind. Within the last thirty years, timber has quintupled its price ; whereas the value of corn, the staff of life, has hardly been dou bled within that period. This sufficiently proves, that the quantity of the one article in hand is much below that of the other ; because, had an equal affinity been preserved, the money value of the one would have been exactly the same as that of the other.
The subject is rather of a melancholy nature ; because a deficiency of timber cannot be speedily supplied, like a deficiency of corn or butcher meat, that arc necessary for man's existence; though it is plain, without demon stration, that the longer the cure is delayed, the longer will the nation be deprived of a sufficient supply of tim ber. We arc not disposed to be advocates for cumpul.
sator) measures ; occause we judge, to ordinary cases, that every min ought to be felt to manage private pro tv as Ile pleases; but .Salus •u/ire ma kx being a standaid maxim, occasions us to declare decidedly in fay our of li.gislutive interference, in this instance, espe fully is r are coin ince d that the ordinary principles 'Lill 111:1111,111d, Call/lot operate in the present casi , nit profits tram planting being distant and ildven ti:lou, I laving insisted so fir upon the propriety of legisla tive uteri .relic u, with respect to the planting of say a few dS COVICerlling the methods of plariziog, and toe probable SUCC CSS hiCh nay thence e \\ loin a piat•tatioll of timber is to be formed, the first step ru s-,:try is io fence the ground, that is to be pi:mg:Al. so that cattle of all kinds may be kept front making inroads. The. ground to be planti_d ought to be • • ; letely hillowed on the preciling year, and, if in a • or waste state, two vears' fallowing will he useful. I. wet or ltor,g,,, open drains ought to he dug through all the hollow places, so that superfluous moisture may he i emoyed. These operations being performed, the planting prececd, in executing which, great cure should be taiyen to make the pin- of a proper siz,e; and, in filling them up, that the heat earth he returned near est the roots. A mixture of timber, in the same planta tion, is always advantageous. and thick planting is eligi ble, for the purpose of affording shelter. As the plan tation gets fOrward, attention must be paid to thinning and pruning the trees, removing always those first that arc either sickly or debilitated; and, in this way, and by exercising constant attention in the management, timber triu s v• ill advance with double rapidity, than ,hen neglected and overlooked. It has been aptly said, that much expense is often incurred in planting tret s. vhich is afterwards lost by neglecting to train them up. Trees. indeed, are, m most rises, put into the earth, and then left to themselves to grow or die ; whereas with as with all other plants, the fostering hand of man is indispensably called 1Or in every stage of grow th, oilierwise they will rarely arrive at pt rrection, or make that return to tie owT.er, which may be reasonably ex pected, yv ben the several processes of planting, pruning, and thinning, are duly exercised.