ARBORICULTURE 



43 



rows and given good culture during the 

 season. 



By the following autumn they should 

 have attained the hight of i8 to 24 

 inches, and may be transplanted. 



In regions of frost no seedling trees 

 should be planted in autumn as they are 

 liable to be heaved out by frost and de- 

 stroyed. Heel in the seedlings until 

 spring, covering the roots carefully with 

 fine earth. 



The soil should be thoroughly pre- 

 pared as for a corn or other crop, plow- 

 ing and harrowing well. It is preferable 

 the trees should be set J yij feet. While 

 this is too close for a permanent forest it 

 is best the trees should be thus close for 

 a few years, when three-fourths should 

 be removed, leaving the trees 14x14 

 feet. 



We prefer to mark off the ground one 

 way by light furrows seven feet apart, 

 and then cross-furrowing as deeply as 

 possible. 



Two men operate together in planting, 

 one carrying a bunch of trees, the other 

 a shovel. A tree is placed upright at 

 the intersection of the furrows, and held 

 there while two or three shovelfuls of 

 earth are thrown about the roots. If not 

 too wet, the man firms the earth about 

 the roots and passes on to the next in- 

 tersection. Two men will then plant 

 two acres in a day, often more than this. 



For three or four years the ground 

 may be utilized by planting corn or other 

 crops between the rows of trees. No 

 vines, however, should be so planted. 



The same cultivation should be given 

 the trees in a newly planted forest as 

 would be given a field crop. The greater 

 the care and better the cultivation given, 

 the stronger growth will the trees make, 

 and quicker returns to the owner. 



We prefer the distance of 7 x 7 feet 

 for a majority of forest trees at the be- 



ginning, thinning promptly whenever 

 they indicate that greater space is re- 

 quired for the roots. 



QUERCUS ALBA. 



"For years we have been trying to in- 

 troduce the white oak into Colorado as 

 a hardy tree of commercial possibilities, 

 but we are not bragging very much 

 about the success accomplished -Aow^ 

 this line. As a matter of fact it is a 

 very difficult matter to introduce and 

 acclimate the alha quercns in this coun- 

 try, and we often think that the job will 

 have to be given up. It is exceedingly 

 difiicult to obtain the seeds in sound con- 

 dition. Acorns of white and several 

 other species of American oaks naturally 

 start into growth as soon as matured in 

 autumn, making roots several inches 

 long before freezing weather if they lie 

 on or are buried in the soil. The leaf 

 sprout does not appear until spring." — 

 Exchange. 



There need be no trouble in obtaining 

 fresh acorns if precaution is taken to ask 

 for them early enough in the season. 

 Millions go to waste and are fed to swine, 

 but no one can afford to collect acorns, 

 walnut and perishable forest tree seeds 

 unless they are engaged in advance. 



However, the more elevated portions 

 of the Rocky Mountains are not at all 

 suited for the oak. 



Even the dwarf oaks which grow at 

 as great an elevation as 7,000 to 8,000 

 feet are frost bitten so frequently as to 

 make them stunted, seldom reaching 

 more than fifteen feet in height. Pos- 

 sibly in the valleys the white oak might 

 be acclimated. The same report comes 

 from England. The white oak does not 

 succeed there. It is a splendid tree, and 

 experiments should be continued. 



