The Improvement of the Woodlot 1495 



Evergreens. — Starting evergreens (pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, and the 

 like) and tamarack (larch) by seed spots is not recommended, as there is 

 great danger of failure. It is better to plant trees that have been raised 

 in a garden or a nursery. Evergreen tree seeds are gathered early in the 

 fall and are not sown in the garden until the next spring. They may be 

 kept over winter in bags hung in a cool, moist place. The successful 

 raising of evergreen trees in the garden requires considerable experience, 

 and it is not usually wise for the busy farmer to attempt to raise them from 

 seed unless he wishes to do a good deal of planting, making it worth while 

 to learn how to raise the trees.* It will probably be better to buy them 

 from a commercial nursery or from the State. The State Conservation 

 Commission at Albany sells trees at cost, as long as their supply lasts, 

 to persons who wish to do forest planting in New York State. 



Two-year-old pine seedlings may be used for planting if the trees do 

 not have to fight with heavy sod or with other adverse conditions; if 

 conditions are unfavorable, three-year-old pines should be planted. 

 Three-year-old spruces and hemlocks may be used where the conditions 

 are good, four- and five-year-old trees where they are bad. Trees that are 

 three years old or more when finally planted, should have been trans- 

 planted once in the garden. 



Large-seeded hardwoods. — With large-seeded hardwoods (oak, walnut, 

 hickory, chestnut, beech) and with locust, the seed-spot method is usually 

 best. If the seeds are destroyed by animals, or if for any reason the trees 

 fail to start well, it may be necessary to sow the seed in the garden and 

 to plant the trees when one year old. The former method is successful 

 in most cases. All the above trees have large roots, and considerable 

 expense is saved by avoiding transplanting. The seeds should be gathered 

 in the early fall ; the locust seed may also be gathered later, as the pods hang 

 on the trees for a long time. The seed should not be sown until 

 spring, except white oak, which should be sown as soon as gathered. 

 Locust seed can be kept over winter in bags hung in a dry, cool place; 

 acorns and nuts should be buried in soil. The latter can be done by 

 digging a pit outdoors in a well-drained spot, placing the nuts in the bottom 

 in a layer two to four inches deep. It is well to cover acorns, chestnuts, 

 and beechnuts with six inches to a foot of leaves, straw, or hay, and this 

 again with the soil that was thrown out of the pit. A pit about one foot 

 deep is convenient for these seeds. Hickory nuts and walnuts should 

 be left so near the surface that frost will get at them, and the cover of 

 leaves or straw should be omitted. The outside of the seed should be dry 

 before placing it in the pit, otherwise it may heat or mold. A sand or 



♦Persons wishing to raise evergreen trees from seed, or to collect and take care of evergreen tree seeds, 

 should send for Bulletin 76 of the United States Forest Service. " How to Grow and Plant Conifers in the 

 Northeastern States." This bulletin, which is by Mr. C. R. Pettis, Superintendent of State Forests of 

 New York State, may be obtained free, as long as the supply lasts, by writing to The Forester, Washington, 

 D. C. No copies of the bulletin can be distrilsuted from Ithaca. 



