Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1914 — OPPORTUNITIES IN FOREST PLANTING FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OPPORTUNITIES IN FOREST PLANTING FOR FARMERS

By ALLEN S. PECK

ORESTRY is but one of the forms of crop production included under agriculture. The woodlot is an part of ______ the farm and an essenfts&S&XtfQi tia * factor in its success. Forest planting is that part of forestry which 7 seeks to restock and per-

desirable timber and to estabsh new forests on treeless areas,

iwhere they are needed for protective jor other purposes. Forest planting Uhould not be confused with tree plantling or arborculture, for these terms K»ver only the planting and care of

trees chiefly for ornamental purposes, •while forest planting indicates the Iplanting of trees in stands of considerable size, in which forest conditions are sought. In the farming districts of the east, 'where almost every farmer has preserved a small bit of the original forest, which he calls his woodlot,- there is very general lack of appreciation of ithe necessity for utilizing these wood!lots to the best advantage, and of the methods by which this may be accomplished. Much may be done by management, which consists largely in careful cutting that will keep the forest cover intact, and In removing dead any dying and inferior trees. Planting, however, is very generally needed in order to hasten the restocking of woodlots with valuable species. One of the fundamental principles of forestry is that the trees In a stand must be sufficiently close together to be mutually helpful; that is, that' their crowns must form a continuous cover to shade the ground and the tree trunks, in order that side branches may be self-pruned and the trees be forced into straight upward growth. Where there are open spaces they should be planted, and where it is desirable to cut a portion of a woodlot clean much time can be saved by planting instead of waiting for natural reproduction. On many farms the tract now occupied by the woodlot would be more valuable for crops, while on the same farm there may be an irregular plat of land or a piece of worn-out or rocky land upon which it would be wise to plant trees. Planting is also valuable to check erosion, or soil washing.

The lands which offer opportunities for planting may be classified into (1) cut-over burned lands, hot fitted tor agriculture, which are not restocking naturally with commercially valuable species; (2) forest lands originally Cleared for agriculture which have since proven unsuitable for this purpose; and (3) farm woodlots. The abandoned farms of southern New England are striking examples of the second class, as are also the lands in

the southern Appalachians, once cleared for farming but now ruined by erosion.

The area of plantation already made in the eastern region is nearly. 93,000 acres, and 85,000 acres of this are about equally divided between the northern tier of states and the central hardwood region. forest planting requires a considerable initial investment, and the cost Is relatively higher than that required to start any otb/sr form of forest work. Therefore protection of the Investment is of the utmost importance, and fire is the source of loss most to be guarded against. Other things that must be taken into consideration are cheap land, a good market, a minimum initial cost, and a low rate of taxation. In the Lake States, which have a southern hardwood forest and a northern coniferous, forest, forest planting is rapidly increasing. The principal species which have been planted are white pine, Scotch pine, Norway pine, European larch, and, to some extent, the more rapid growing hardwoods, such as locust, cataipa, black Walnut, cottonwood, ash and elm. As in the east, woodlots are deteriorating and require interplanting. Excellent trees

for- this purpose are the white pine, the Scotch and Austrian pines, and the Norway spruce. s Except for the early planting in New England, the farmers of Ohio and Indiana have been the first to recognize the value and importance of forest planting. In these two states and generally throughout the central valley district, the practice has been to .plant rapid-growing kinds. For example, in, West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, walnut, locust, sugar maple, red oak, chestnut, and catalpa, have been planted for posts, mine props and timber; in Ohio, black locust and catalpa for posts; in IndJ* ana, black catalpa, and walnut;. in Kentucky, black locust, catalpa, tulip, poplar, maple, and walnut principally for mining timbers and posts; in Tennessee, locust, maple and cedar; in Missouri, catalpa, locust, walnut, osage orange, cottonwood; in Arkansas, locust and walnut. In the central section forest planting has been a part of the progress in agriculture and therefore has been quite extensive in the region of best agricultural development. Nebraska and Kansas lead in the acreage of plantations. About 840,000 acres have been planted within the central region. Shelterbelts are increasing in the newer farming districts of the Dakotas and Oklahoma, and much interest is being shown in forest planting throughout the central section of the United States.

In the western region and the Pacific coast states much of the forest land. ia within National Forests, and forest planting on these lands is chiefly a federal problem. But there are abundant opportunities for private planting in the valleys of southern California and on irrigated lands throughout the region. It is absolutely essential that the people of each state and particularly farm owners, should realize the immense importance of individual effortin providing for a future timber supply. The quantity of land shat can be restored to value through forest planting by the federal government or by the states is in the aggregate Bmall and comparatively insignificant as compared to the great area that must

be forested eventually by private landowners, among whom the farmer stands first and foremost.

Plantation of Hardy Cataipa, Reno County, Kansas.

A 27-Year-Old European Larch Plantation, Dundee County, ill.

Interior of a 50-Year-Old White fine Plantation, near Bridgewater, Mass.

Red Pine Plantation, 33 Years Old, Rhode Island.