Children's Department 



Devoted to nnparthuj iiifoniiatioii about trees, z\.>oods and forests to boys and girls so that they may grotv to knoxi' 

 how necessary trees arc to the health, wealth and future of their country. 



By Rkistow Adams 



THE SPROUT GROWTH OF TREES 



Wl'". II.W'E seen how new trees are started 

 tlirDiigli seed from the old ones, and how 

 tree growth may be extended from one place 

 t<i another b\- means of these seeds. Seeds, however, are 

 not the only source of new growth, because man_v tree^ 

 are able to send out sprouts or shoots, and thus get 

 started anew. Bv means of this power to sprout from the 

 roots, some trees are able to renew themselves after the 

 parent tree is cut down ; and the forester takes advan- 

 tage of this power or ability, in renewing the woods. 



The capacity to sprout is not shared by all woods, and 

 a.^ a general statement it may be said that the ronc-bcar- 



VUL'.M., I'l.Mv M-;iaJl,I.M.^ 



Tliese are smaller, more delicate and tender than young grass. Even 

 the slightest forest fire means their complete destruction. 



ing trees, such as pines, spruces, firs, and the like can nut 

 and do not sprout from the stump; so that when they 

 are cut down they are gone for good, and can be renewed 

 only through seed. Since seedlings of cone-bearing trees 

 are so tender, being smaller and more delicate in their 

 structure than young grass, the importance of keeping 

 forest fires out of pine woods can be readily seen. Even 

 the smallest of fires just barely burning in the pine 

 needles will set back new forest growth for a great num- 

 Iter of years, possibly ten or more, because most conifers 

 l)ear seeds in abundance only at intervals of several years, 

 and even when such seeds are borne, conditions are not 

 always right for their springing to life. But more will 

 !"■ said of forest fires and of their effects in a later 



article. vSome of the pines have been known ti> sprout 

 from the root after the tops have l>een apparently killed 

 by fires, and though this is not general it has been noted 

 as occuring over the so-called pine barrens of southern 

 .\'ew Jersey, where forest fires have been permitted to 

 run through year after year until now the growth is 

 scattered, and of little value. Northern arborvitae or 

 white cedar sometimes reproduces itself, in the swamps 

 in which it grows, by the process known as layering, 

 liranches on the ground become overgrown with moss, 

 and soil forms about them. These covered branches 

 then send down roots and a new tree may be formed at 

 the tip of the layered branch, with its own root system. 

 Then the branch between the jiarent trunk and the 

 jioint of layering may decay and the new tree take up 

 its independent life. 



Till**, most notable example of the sprouting of 

 conifers is undoubtedly that of the California 

 ,j redwoi.id, one of the largest and tallest trees in 



the wnrld. It sprouts readily from the stump, and there 

 is evidence, even in trees which are full grown and many 

 times as thick as a man's body, that they started as 

 sprouts around a parent tree, which either through ac- 

 cident or decay lost its place in the forest and gave way 



A STAXn OF VOl'XG PIXK rREES WHICH ?IAS SPRr'NC, UP 



XATfRALEV UXDER .SEED TREES, WHICH HAVE BEEX 



EEFT 



An example of how the German foresters take care of their timber and 

 ma'p sure of a new growth to take the place of that which has been 

 used. 



1059 



