ARBORICULTURE 



A MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



Published in the Interest of the 

 International Society of Arboriculture. 



Subscription, $2.00 per aaniim. 



John P. bnowN, Editor, 1639 Michigan Avenue. 



Volume II. 



CHICAGO. FEBIIUARY, 1903. 



Number 2. 



Forest Needs of Indiana. 



THE requirements of a community, 

 in forests, depend upon the topog- 

 raphy and conditions existing in 

 that province. 



No laws or practices can be formed to 

 suit all portions of a country so large 

 and varied as the United States. 



If the surface be broken into moun- 

 tain ranges, in which rise many important 

 rivers, it is all-important that the forests 

 shall be retained upon the higher moun- 

 tains and more abrupt slopes. 



On extensive plains, where semi-arid 

 conditions exist, large bodies of timber 

 become invaluable to induce rainfall, di- 

 vert the prevailing winds and aid in mak- 

 ing such district of greater value for 

 agriculture. 



Large tracts of sandy soil too poor for 

 successful cultivation in farm crops, and 

 where grasses do not thrive for pastur- 

 age of stock, yet where moisture is not 

 lacking, should at once be reafiforested 

 with such trees as will improve the soil 

 conditions, in order that agriculture may 

 at some future time become possible. 



Vast areas of low-lying tracts, subject 

 to overflow, and swampy, should be re- 

 tained in forest until such time as the de- 

 mand for such alluvial lands will make 

 them of sufficient value to justify the ex- 



141 



penditure of large sums in drainage. 

 And in all these locations the forests 

 should be maintained in large, compact 

 bodies. 



But where agriculture is the chief 

 pursuit, lands owned in comparatively 

 small tracts and highly cultivated in 

 varied crops, with a dense and increasing 

 population, timber lands should be in 

 smaller tracts and distributed throughout 

 the territory. 



In every state the conditions vary and 

 require a diflferent system of arboricul- 

 ture. Pennsylvania and New York have 

 adopted wise systems of forestry, suited 

 to the conditions prevailing in these 

 states. Here rise some of America's fa- 

 mous rivers, and large sums are expended 

 in purchasing mountain lands, which are 

 being again planted in timber. Massa- 

 chusetts has splendid laws governing the 

 forests of that commonwealth. It would 

 be extremely unwise to adopt the same 

 policies in Indiana that are suited to the 

 conditions in New York, Pennsylvania, 

 Massachusetts, Colorado or California. 



Almost every farm in Indiana has more 

 or less waste land upon some portion of 

 ihe tract, which it would be the part of 

 wisdom to retain in timber, and would in 

 time become the most profitable part of 



