FORESTRY ON THE COUNTRY ESTATE 



By Warren H. Miller, M. F. 



Editor Field and Stream 



IV. Tree Troubles thought of. With the approach of 



ITVT rr-uTT ji ^ c ^ . ^+^ civilization, the settlement of country, 

 N THE woodlands of a country , ' f -i ^ ^.t, u-ii- fc 

 estate owner, forestry partakes of r u- j j A • ^ j i- 

 many of the characteristics of park ^^ °^ .^o^? birds and the mtroduction 

 culture, as opposed to lumbering, in f foreign msect life for which our own 

 , 1 . , 1 • I- • I 1 , -11 1 °' forest regime had no specinc remedy, 

 that the individual tree will have more .■, . ° ,1 • r 4. i/- 

 1 , ■] -4. A ^ ^ the tree troubles m our forests multi- 

 care bestowed upon it and more money i- j r ^ j -n- r j n u 



, , •, -f -4- • -r 4.1, 4-ui. plied fast, and millions of dollars have 



spent to save it if it is ailmg than the r ' . - -r: • 1 4.1, j c 



lumberman could ever afford to spend. ^^^/^ .^P^^^ m artificial methods _ of 



To him a tree attacked by borers or ^^stormg Nature s balance and trying 



caterpillars is just non-merchantable ^^ ^ave^ our native trees from utter 



stock, to be left standing or else used destruction. With the passing of the 



for skidways or construction work. To birds went our great feathered army of 



the estate owner, however, his chest- tree cleaners; with the introduction of 



nuts, hickories, pines, hemlocks, oaks the railroad and the factory came vast 



and maples are the glories of his forest, clouds of black soot, tainting the air 



and he will go to considerable expense and clogging up the respiration of our 



to save a fine specimen, knowing well tree leaves, so that it is almost impossible 



that if it dies he will not live to see it to travel along the right of way of any 



replaced by another like it. big commuting railroad and see any- 



These lines are therefore written more thing but dead and dying trees, killed 



for the man who proposes to keep every by the train soot. And then, in the 



fine tree in his forest thriving and health- irony of fate, while it has proven impos- 



ful, than for the commercial forester sible to make imported silk worm moths 



who is mainly concerned with exploiting and other valuable insects thrive here, the 



the timber. The usual forest remedy for harmful sorts, such as the gypsy and 



most insect and fimgus epidemics is browntailed moths, increase and mul- 



to cut down and sell at once all the tiply here wholesale! To restore the 



infected trees, also cutting down and original plan on which Mother Nature 



leaving trap trees, which are forthwith got along comfortably enough, the 



burnt at the proper time to destroy the owner will see to it that a big, thriving 



insect life they contain. Such a course bird colony is attracted to his forest, 



would at once deprive the man owning a by bird houses, feeding, and rigid pro- 



smaU tract of woodland of a large num- tection; that the forest is cleaned and 



ber of the trees which form a noticeable thinned so as to promote vigorous 



part of his forest, and which could ill growth in his trees; that spraying appa- 



be spared without rendering the place ratus is used on infected trees too valuable 



unsightly and leaving many dangerous to be cut down, and that parasites are 



gaps in the forest cover. For him, then, imported, imder directions of the U. S. 



the spray and tree-surgery methods, in Bureau of Agriculture, to fight insect 



order to save and keep standing the epidemics. He will need all these 



fine growth that he already has. resources to insure a fine forest growth, 



In general, 'the best way to reduce for, while Nature had a vast amount 



tree troubles is to put your forest in a of decayed wood to contend with, man 



condition of maximum health, with the today has constant invasions from with- 



full complement of bird, animal and out his premises of every sort of fungus 



insect life which nature had ordained and insect wave which sweeps over the 



and maintained for thousands of cen- country, which more than balance the 



turies before tree j troubles were ever advantage gained by having a clean 



