This section is from the book "A Few Suggestions On Tree Planting", by C. S. Sargent.
Selected plants of the European larch and the Scotch pine, about one foot high and very thrifty, can be imported from England, and delivered at the railroads in Boston at from $5 to $6 @ 1,000, the price varying with the price of gold and the rate of exchange and freight. Imported plants of the Corsican pine of the same size will cost at present prices about $10 @ 1,000 delivered in Boston.
All persons, whether competitors for the Society's prizes or not, desiring to import trees of these varieties, can do so by sending their orders to Francis Skinner, Brookline, Mass., before Dec. 1. Mr. Skinner will transmit all orders for not less than 1,000 trees to England, and will see that the trees, on their arrival in Boston, are passed through the Custom House, and forwarded at the least possible expense to the persons ordering them.
As Mr. Skinner undertakes this duty solely from a desire to facilitate tree-planting, in his native State, and not for the purpose of any personal gain, he cannot be held responsible in any way by the persons desiring to order through him.
Mr. Anthony Waterer, Nurseryman, Woking, England, with whom special arrangements have been made to prepare trees for planting in Massachusetts, guarantees their safe arrival in this country, provided his orders are received early enough to permit his shipping the larch, during the months of December and January, and the pines not later than Feb. 15.
The importation of these trees cannot, in safety, be made after these dates. If it is delayed later, the plants are liable to heat in transit, and to make a soft, unnatural growth, which generally causes their death. As the plants will arrive some weeks before they can be planted, importers should provide some accommodation for their reception. The plants must be unpacked as soon as received, the roots moistened, and then heeled into a frame, cold cellar, or shed, in which the temperature will be at about the freezing point, but where they can be guarded from extreme cold and the sun's rays. As a little soil will be required to put over the roots at this time, importers should lay in a supply in the autumn for this purpose, and keep it away from the frost until needed.
American white ash, one or two years old, and about one foot high, can be procured for from $5 to If 10 @ 1600 from the following well-known American nurserymen : Robert Douglas, Waukegan, Illinois; Thomas Meehan, Germantown, Pennsylvania; and the .Lawrence Nursery Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
The following paper on Tree-Planting is reprinted from the Report of the Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1875, for general circulation throughout the Stale, in the hope that its perusal will awaken an interest in this subject among Massachusetts land-owners, and induce them to look on arboriculture as a wise and profitable undertaking.
Thomas Motley, Jamaica Plain, Leverett Saltonstall, Newton, Ed. N. Perkins, Jamaica Plain, Theodore Lyman, Brookline.
B. S. Rotch, Boston, W. R. Robeson, Lenox, Henry Saltonstall, Boston, John G. Cushing, Beverly.
C. S. Sargent, Brookline, II. S. Russell, Milton.
E. F. Bowditch, Framingham, John Lowell, Newton.
5 Pemberton Square, Boston, April, 1876.
[Reprinted from the Report or The Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture for 1875.]
 
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