FOREST COMMISSIONERS REPORT. Ill 



nursery and also in the woods in the vicinity. It is too soon 

 to make any definite report on these, but the majority of them 

 have done well, and some species have made very remarkable 

 growth for the first year. Two problems are under considera- 

 tion in this experiment: (i) The winter hardiness of the 

 various species and, (2) the rate of growth of each. 



The poplar cuttings used in these experiments were furnished 

 gratis by the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Forest Service, 

 both branches of the United States Department of Agriculture. 



Poplar wood for pulp is becoming dearer and more difficult 

 to obtain each year, and if poplars can be propagated by the 

 planting of cuttings on ordinary forest sites without any pre- 

 vious expense as to the preparation of the site, it will be one 

 of the best tree crops for the woodlot owner. The rate of 

 growth is much more rapid than is that of any of the coniferous 

 species, and it reaches merchantable size when grown in plan- 

 tations at between fifteen and twenty years. The price obtained 

 for the wood compares very favorably also with that for other 

 pulp woods. 



In the Forest Nursery we now have a valuable asset for the 

 State as well as for the Department of Forestry. It has been 

 of great advantage to the students in silviculture in as much as it 

 gives them excellent practical work in this line on an extensive 

 scale. They are now able to take an active part in every opera- 

 tion, from the collecting and sowing of seed to the packing and 

 shipping of the three-year-old transplants, as well as setting out 

 plantations in and near Orono. The use of student labor con- 

 siderably reduces the cost of production, and as a consequence 

 the trees can be put on the market at a lower figure than would 

 otherwise be possible. That the men also profit by the experi- 

 ence so gained is shown by the fact that several graduates have 

 secured positions with large commercial forest nurseries, and 

 are making a specialty of this line of work. 



The potential value of the Forest Nursery to the State as a 

 whole can not be overestimated, for it means the planting of 

 from 250,000 to 500,000 trees, or the reforesting of from 200 

 to 500 acres per annum for the production of our future supply 

 of timber. 



Respectfully submitted, 



JOHN M. BRISCOE, 



1 November, 1916. Professor of Forestry. 



