POSSIBILITIES OF THE FARM WOODLOT. (Jl 



to Other kinds for the purpose, although they cannot be expected to 

 make so rapid growth as in more favorable situations. The principal 

 preparation of the ground needed for best results with such plants, 

 which should not be more than five years old, and preferably not over 

 three for profitable planting, Avould be the removal of the sod from a 

 small space, two to three feet square, and stirring the ground with a 

 mattock or grub hoe to loosen it up, after which groups of two or three 

 trees should be carefully set out. The number of plants to the acre 

 would have to be determined by the amount of open space in the wood- 

 lot and no specified directions in this respct are possible here. Seeding 

 may also be resorted to, and here again the removal of small areas of 

 sod, if this is present, must be resorted to, if there is to be any success- 

 ful germination and development of the seed, for the seedling can hardly 

 be expected to compete successfully with the grass, even if the seed gets 

 moisture sufficient for germination. These small seed beds can be quickly 

 made in the more open places and no farther attention need be given them 

 after the seeds are lightly covered with earth. Oaks of several species, 

 hickories and the red maple, as well, probably, as the walnut in moister 

 places, might be established at small expense in this way. On the north- 

 ern slopes of ridges the woodlots are generally more thrifty and the soil, 

 more moist and in better condition, and there it is possible, with some 

 slight encouragement, such as the stirring of the ground at the proper 

 season, to bring about a natural seeding where it is needed, and planting 

 is much more certain to be successful. 



The swamp woodlot next denmnds our attention, and here it is prin- 

 cipally a matter of choice of kinds for the future stand, since if there are 

 already trees present, it is a simple matter to regenerate the stand by 

 removing the old trees and preventing the development of undesirable 

 kinds in the reproduction. Here will grow the tamarack, one of our best 

 conifers for making a rapid growth in very wet soils, the swamp maples, 

 both of rapid growth and furnishing good material for many purposes, 

 the ashes and elms, the basswood and the swamp oaks. All of these 

 species are readily established, and once started, grow rapidly and soon 

 reach such size that they may be used for firewood, poles or posts. Here 

 also may be grown the poplars, including the cottonwood or Carolina ^ 

 poplar, a most rapid grower, and the European or white willow, which, 

 for certain purposes, should be more widely used than it is. 



Lastly should be taken into account the swamps and partly open 

 marshes of which there are thousands of acres scattered over the entire 

 State, and especially in the region now before us. These lands are 

 probably the least productive of any with which our farmer population 

 has to deal. Some few of them, it is true, have the blueberry in them, 

 but as few of our farmers are able to harvest the occasional crop of 

 berries which they yield, even these are of little value. If forestry does 

 nothing else for the State than to make it possible to utilize this type 

 of land for some better purpose than it serves now, it will more than 

 justify the attention it has aroused. These lands are difficult to handle 

 for tree growth, because of the flooding which they receive during the 

 winter and spring, and this is in some degree the cause of the present 

 condition of much of this land. A more potent cause, however, probably 

 is to be found in the other plants which usually grow upon it, and until 

 these can be disposed of in some way, little can be done towards the 

 establishment of better conditions. The bush swamps are much harder 



