Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1874 — Notes on Forest Trees. [ARTICLE]

Notes on Forest Trees.

After the farm and garden seeds are all in the earth, it may be well to look about and see if there are not some other matters which are likely to be neglected through oversight or want of the requisite knowledge. There are few things which add more to the appearance or value of a farm than a goodly supply of ornamental and useful trees; and this is especially true in scantily-wooded regions, whether upon the prairie or in long settled and denuded of their original forests. We believe that the scarcity of trees in either instance is owing in a great measure to the want of practical information in regard to.raising forest-trees from seed. Many persons suppose that all our native trees ripen their seeds in autumn, and that to talk of raising needlings at this season is not well timed. But in this they err, because the seeds of some of our most valuable species of indTgenous trees ripen, even in the Northern States, between the first and the middle of June, and these must be sown soon after or they will fail to germinate. The silver and red maple and American weeping elm are wellknown examples of this fact; and, as we write, the seeds are coloring and showing early maturity. If gathered as soon as ripe and sown under a thin layer of earth they will produce plants two or three feet high before the seeds of closeAydfllicd"Species will be ripe in the fall. A few weeks' delay in attending to this very trilling matter of gathering the above-named seeds at the proper time will cause a loss of one year in the growth of the trees; and it is to these little delays that we may charge the barrenness, in appearance at least,?of many a country" home.

The first frosts of autumn loosen the seeds of the sugar maple, and the various exotic species which are so extensively planted in the streets of many of our cities and villages. The seeds of all these trees, as well as those of the ash, linden, tulip tree or whitewood, liquid amber, and similar kinds, both indigenous and exotic, should be preserved in and during winter and sown in early springs There are several good reasons for preserving seeds of hardy trees in sand, through winter, instead of sowing them in the f all, as would seem to be more in harmony with nature, the most important of which are: 1. Protection against vermin of various kinds, which subsist for a portion of the year upon these seeds. 2. If the seeds are sown in the open, unprotected fields they are subjected to a greater degrCfe of coldand more frequent changes of temperature than where they fall in the forest and are there covered with leaves; 3. The soil becomes very compact over and about the Seeds during the winter and spring, thereby retarding, if not frequently preventing, the growth of the young, tender plants. That the artificial* processes practiced by oiy nurserymen and others .are far superior to the strictly natural one is readily proved by results; for not one seed ifi a thousand which fall from the parent tree in” the forest grows, while the reverse of this is true when art steps in to aid and protect. We call especial attention to this point, because' fiiany writers upon arborculture are very particular to advise taking “nature” as a guide in raising all kinds of trees from seed, which may, in the abstract, be well enough; but in generai practice a man might as well wait for nature to cover him w-ith a suit of broadcloth as to provide him with choice fruits or trees through any strictly natural process. The war of races, as exhibited among both plants and animals, is ill suited to supply the wants of civilized man; hence the employment of art to thwart here, and encourage there, in order to produce the desired results. The hardshell nuts, like the black walnut, butternut and hickory, may be planted as soon as they fall in autumn, where the trees are to grow, but the safest plan is to put them in boxes of soil or sand and set out of doors until planting time .the following spring. The proper conditions for preserving their vitality unimpaired are a low temperature and moisture sufficient to prevent shriveling. The soft-shell nuts, sueh as acorns, beechnuts and chestnuts, are far more difficult to preserve than those above named: still, if gathered as soon as they are thoroughly mature, dried for a dhy or two, and then packed in or barrels of pure,

mpist sand, they may be kept sound until the following spring. The main thing to be observed'is to place the vessels containing these huts in as cool a position as possible, as, for instance, on the north side ofsome building, banking up. the boxes or barrels at the same Aime with earth. We have frequently kept the common chestnut in this manner, arid also buried in a dry bank in the open ground. But none of the soft-shell nuts will withstand any considerable amount of drying, although a few weeks’exposure to tlie atmosphere of a room without fire will not do them any jujTThere is still another elass' of tree seeds very different in character from either of the above, those with a hornlike.covering, as seen in tlie common locust and threc-thorned acacia. The vitality of most of the seeds of this kind remains unimpaired under ordinary cir/mmstances for many years'; hence very little attention is paid to conditions be.yond that of keeping- them dry. Their oily nature prevents shriveling, but the shell or horn-like envelope becomes very hard with age and impervious to moisture under the conditions in which they are usually placed in -the soil; hence they fail to germinate, although really sound, and their vitality very slightly impaired. To soften or open the pores of the outer coat of such seeds they should either-be subjected to severe cold or considerable heat. If placed in the sand pits during winter, and where they will freeze, the required softening may be secured; but if this is neglected, a hot bath will answer nearly as good a purpose in the spring. The best way to apply the heat is to mix with about equal parts of pure sand and then apply boiling.water sufficient to cover allj ana let it cool, after which place the whole in a warm room or in a sunny spot on the side of a building or fence, examining frequently, and as soon as sprouts appear sow in a carefully-prepared seedbed. We have one more pretty extensive family of trees, the seeds of which require different treatment from either of those already mentioned, the evergreens of various kinds. The seeds may be kept dry in bags or boxes through winter, and will grow quite freely when sown in warm,"moist soil; but shade to the young seedlings is a desideratum that cannot be dispensed with in our climate. This may be supplied in ‘almost any manner to suit the convenience of the grower, but it must neither be too dense nor too thin, but just sufficient to prevent the direct rayls of the sun reaching the plants without entirely excluding the light. These conditions must be maintained -during the greater part of the first season, and water applied whenever required, to insure vigorous growth. Evergreens may be grown as readily from seed as deciduous trees, but require more attention. We are certain that if our farmers would only try, taking the above brief hints as a general guide, they might find raising forest-tree seedlings both a pleasant and profitable occupation. — N. Y. Suh.