s plantation at
different times during the past ten years, and have now made
their final inspection. The plantation occupies a steep slope
facing the South and covered with a thin coating of gravelly
loam largely mixed towards the bottom of the hill with light
sand. This field in 1877 was a fair sample of much of the
hillside pasture land of the eastern part of the State. It had
been early cleared, no doubt, of trees, and the light surface
soil practically exhausted by cultivation. It was then used
as a pasture, producing nothing but the scantiest growth of
native Grasses and Sedges with a few stunted Pitch Pines.
Land of this character has no value for tillage, and has
practically little value for pasturage. Upon five acres of
this land Mr. French planted fifteen thousand European Larch.
The trees were one foot high, and were set in the sod four
feet apart each way, except along the boundary of the field,
where the plantation was made somewhat thicker. The cost
of the plantation, as furnished by Mr. French, has been as
follows:

15,000 Larch (imported), $108 50
Fencing, 20 81
Surveying, 6 00
Labor, 104 69
-------
Total, $240 00

This, with compound interest at five per cent. for ten years,
makes the entire cost to date of the plantation of five acres,
$390.90.

The Trees for several years grew slowly and not very
satisfactorily. Several lost their leaders, and in various
parts of the plantation small blocks failed entirely. The
trees, however, have greatly improved during the last four
years, and the entire surface of the ground is now, with one
or two insignificant exceptions, sufficiently covered. There
appear to be from 10,000 to 12,000 larch trees now growing
on the five acres. The largest tree measured is 25 feet high,
with a trunk 26 inches in circumference at the ground,
There are several specimens of this size at least, and it is
believed that all the trees, including many which have not yet
commenced to grow rapidly or which have been overcrowded and
stunted by their more vigorous neighbors, will average 12 feet
in height, with trunks 10 to 12 inches in circumference at
the ground. Many in