354 The Ruffed Grouse 



existing woods. ) Black locust, basswood, ash, tulip and others may 

 well be included in the planting although of little food value to 

 grouse. These should be handled as nursery-grown seedlings, usually 

 one year of age. Occasional clumps of conifers may also well be 

 planted among the hardwoods. 



The Shrub Border. The advantages of a border of shrubs along a 

 woodland margin have aheady been noted. The best way of insur- 

 ing a good shrub border on new woodlands is to provide for it 

 in the planting (see Plate 53B). This should be arranged on the 

 edges that are to remain next to an open field, road, or other open 

 area. 



The width of the border will depend upon the desire of the owner 

 to provide this type of cover. At least twenty-five feet of the bor- 

 der is needed as a matter of good land use between fields and woods. 

 Beyond this minimum any extra width of shrubs is largely a matter 

 of planning for more game food cover. On public lands it may be 

 desirable to plant borders up to a hundred feet in width, using as 

 much as ten or fifteen per cent of the area. Planting of the taller 

 shrubs and small fruit-bearing trees should be at standard five to six 

 foot spacing. These species are most useful in the part of the border 

 next to the forest tree species. Here they will get plenty of light 

 for good fruiting, yet will not be in the way of the lower-growing 

 shrubs. The smaller shrubs may be placed next to the open field 

 and can be planted three to four feet apart. The rows may be the 

 same spacing. 



By using lower shrubs on the outside, and slightly higher species 

 in each successive row, we may develop a graduated border that 

 will serve to protect the woods from drying winds, and the crop 

 field or pasture from the shading effects of the high trees and the 

 food and moisture competition of the tree roots. 



Since a major purpose of the shrub border is to furnish summer 

 and fall food, we should select shrubs that best serve this use. Those 

 that are among the better grouse foods and are also practical to 

 propagate and plant are listed on the next page. As a general rule 

 it is well to use at least four species in each border. Most successful 

 of these species for planting are bittersweet, swamp rose, silky dog- 

 wood, graystem dogwood, hazelnut, bayberry, nannyberry, black- 

 haw, and highbush cranberry. 



