Jason Billings Planting Trees

Photo source: Stephen “Jason” Billings’ Ripton Farm, Red Pine Planting. Photographed by A. G. Mayville, July 1957 for U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Dept. V83-11. Title: “Billings checking survival of (his) red pine plantation.”

Jason Billings was born September 17, 1878, so he would have been 78 years old when the accompanying photo was taken.

At the urging of the Soil Conservation Department, Jason and other Green Mountain farmers planted red pine or Norway pine (so named because it was first found near Norway, Maine). The idea was to plant fast growing trees that would stabilize and replenish the soil and provide a timber crop some decades later. This ecology appealed to Jason. He knew that at his age his farming days were almost over, and he didn’t want his meadows to become home to useless brush. Jason was photographed here in July 1957 on his Ripton farm in his so called “Big Meadow,” a year or two after planting the red pine seedlings.

The location of Jason’s home, his sister Agnes’ home, and their red pine plantations are shown in the accompanying map. This note and map were added by Jason’s grandson, Charles Billings, 1/7/2023.