ARBORICUTURE 



251 



The Grciy Birch of New England. 



UNPROFITABLE FORESTS. 



Several causes combine to give the 

 general farmer an impression that a 

 woodlot is unprofitable. 



(1) The manner of planting by na- 

 ture. Birds and squirrels, the great tree 

 planters of the earth, never consider the 

 question of economy for the land owner; 

 their own supply of food is the principal 

 thought. 



(2) When a farmer removes a tree it 

 is with some definite object in view. In 

 •opening a farm, the walnut, ash, oak and 

 .chestnut, which could be split readily 

 into rails, were taken for fencing; sugar 

 trees and hickory were cut for fuel, while 

 the better trees were used for building 

 lumber. Inferior trees were left because 

 •of the difficulty in working them up. 

 As a result, the younger members of th- 

 family, who have now come into posses- 

 .sion, find a majority of the trees in the 

 wood lot to be weeds, or those having the 

 least value. 



In Indiana the principal remaining 

 trees are beech, difficult to split into 

 ■stovewood, of slight value for lumber, 

 •decaying too quickly to be used for posts 



in short, it is an unprofitable tree for 



the economies of the farm or workshop; 

 .a magnificent tree for ornament, a splen- 

 ■did shade, one of our finest forest trees, 

 yet, economically, a weed. 



In New England the gray birch is very 

 abundant, possessing the least value of 

 all trees, yet covering large areas which 

 ghould be growing wliite pine, chestnut 

 or walnut. The scarlet maple is a fine 

 shade tree, but un])rofitable to the land 

 owner — simplv a weed. 



Throughout the South a host of small 

 growths, with bamboo' or cane, occupy 

 space which should be producing oak, 

 cypress or pine. 



It is difficult to classify weeds and use- 

 ful trees, since what may be a weed in 

 one locality may be desirable in some 

 ■other place, but "the predominance of in^ 

 ferior trees in many places creates the 

 impression that forests are. not profitable 

 and should give place to some annual 

 grain or hay crop. 



The lumberman sjcours the country for 

 ti 111 her which possesses the smallest pro- 

 portion of unprofitable forest growths. 

 Jn the redwood region he finds giant 

 trees and but few weeds. Other specu- 

 lators in timber land, since the white 

 pine is nearly gone, buy immense tracts 

 of fir and cedar in Washington and Ore- 

 gon, where the trees are 200 to 300 feet 

 high and stand thickly on the ground, 

 all the space being occupied by one or 

 two kinds of trees. 



The value of a timber tract lies in its 

 being all of one kind, and that of high- 

 est value. Herein is the secret of artifi- 

 cial plantations. P]liininate all weeds. 

 Have every tree of the same timber, with 

 every space occupied, planting in sys- 

 tematic method at proper distance apart. 

 In this manner the wood lot will become 

 the most valued part of the farm. 



THE. FARMERS' REVIEW, 



Of Chicago, is not only a first-class, reli- 

 able paper, but is one of the few farmers' 

 journals that at times gives some infor- 

 mation upon forest topics. Several im- 

 portant articles have from time to time 

 appeared in the Review. 



After all, the farmers of the United 

 States are the ones upon whom must 

 fall the duty of growing forests, and it 

 is to the everlasting disgrace of almost 

 the entire agricultural press that this 

 question is totally ignored, and farmers 

 are unable to obtain information either 

 of the necessity for maintaining forests, 

 the methods of planting, kinds of trees 

 to plant, or the income which may be ex- 

 pected from forest planting. It is time 

 some of the periodicals which go to the 

 farmers exclusively should have some- 

 thing to say upon this subject. 



The object of this magazine is to ex- 

 tend the 'influence of the International 

 Society of Arboriculture and serve as a 

 medium of communication with its mem- 

 bers. 



See inside front cover, Purpose and 



Membership. 



