The Manuring of Forest Trees 



By Arthur Smith. 



During the past quarter of a century the question of 

 manuring- forest trees has been given considerable at- 

 tention in Europe, and. among other experiments, that 

 of using sewage effluent has been tried. 



Near Berlin irrigating a forest of trees having con- 

 siderable size by a monthly application of sewage 

 water during two growing seasons was a decided fail- 

 ure and it caused the death of many of the trees. A 

 similar irrigation at Gerlitz gave better results. In 

 this case, however, the growth was considerably 

 younger. The city of Berlin has obtained encouraging 

 results by top dressing the soil of coniferous woods 

 with city refuse. 



In view of the long period between the planting and 

 the cutting of a forest the direct application of manure 

 in any form is not Hkely in a general way to prove re- 

 munerative. At the same time the question of helping 

 along a plantation of young trees, especially conifers, 

 is worth considering and in the earlier stages in the life 

 of forest trees growing in poor soil the value of some 

 form of manuring may possibly become an acknowl- 

 edged fact in practical forestry. 



For instance, on poor sandy soils where the nitro- 

 gen content is very small the problem of supplying 

 this necessary plant food in a slowly available form is 

 worthy of consideration. The idea of applying nitrates 

 or other con^mercial forms of nitrogenous fertilizers 

 may be put aside as impracticable both on account of 

 cost and because they are too rapid in action, besides 

 causing an excessive growth of weeds. Alaking use, 

 however, of atmospheric nitrogen by growing on the 

 land some form of the Leguminos?e appears to be feasi- 

 ble and worthy of trial. Upon some sandy soils in 

 Europe lupins have been used for this purpose and 

 good results are reported. Lupins would scarcely be 

 so suitable for this country, as some of the clovers, 

 such as the White Clover, Trifolium repens and Al- 

 syke, Trifolium hybridum. An ideal method would be 

 to plow in a crop of clover the season previous to 

 planting, then sow clover again and plant the trees 

 in the young clover. Failing, this clover could be 

 broadcasted over the ground in the spring. To obtain 

 a stand of clover upon the more sandy soils the ap- 

 plication of some form of iime would be obviously nec- 

 essary. 



It is, of course, well known that the amount of min- 

 eral matter retained in lumber is comparatively small, 

 and, bv the fall of their leaves, trees during their 



growth return to the soil the greater part of the min- 

 eral matter taken from it; this applies, however, more 

 to deciduous species than to conifers. But the main 

 point to be considered is that of giving young newly 

 planted trees a good start and helping them along dur- 

 ing the first few years of their life, when they have 

 the greatest struggle for existence. It is in this con- 

 nection that the value of giving the soil some previous 

 preparation upon the lines suggested above comes in — 

 of course, where it is practicable — as not only is plant 

 food added to the soil in a slowly available form, but, 

 what is of the greatest importance, the early growth 

 is accelerated, being measured b}- feet instead of 

 inches. 



Another means which works to the same end and 

 which is more applicable to the heavier classes of soils 

 is that of keeping the ground in clean cultivation dur- 

 ing the first two or three years of the trees' growth. 

 During the past season the writer has kept about 8,000 

 two-year-old conifers under clean cultivation and an- 

 other block of 5,000 has only had the weeds out and 

 left lying. The soil of the latter is, if anything, better 

 than the former, but the growth of the block cultivated 

 has been more than double as much as that unculti- 

 vated. At the end of July, one more cultivation was 

 given and Crimson Clover sown at the same time. 



Of course, it goes without saying that this more in- 

 tensive system of forestry is impossible everywhere 

 or upon a' large scale of forest planting involving many 

 thousands of acres of mountain land, and, at the best, 

 planting is generally done upon land that is more or 

 less uncultivatable. At the same time I believe that 

 new plantings should have generally more care given 

 to them than is usually the case, especially upon 

 private estates and farmers' wood lots. There are 

 manv situations where some methods of assisting 

 young trees to get a good start are practicable and 

 therefore desirable, and which would, I believe, be in 

 the long run profitable. The conditions connected 

 with the first few years of a tree's life have a tremen- 

 dous influence upon the subsequent results, both in the 

 period when it is fit to be turned into lumber and 

 money, and in the number of board feet which will be 

 produced in a given time. 



If a comparatively small expenditure along the lines 

 suggested will accelerate the one and increase the 

 other in the same time, as I feel sure it would, then 

 surelv it is worth while. 



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