508 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



Some of the first plantations established between 1899 and 1905 cost 

 from $30 to $17.50 per acre. The following table shows how the cost 

 of planting was reduced by the introduction of practical planting tech- 

 nique and an efficient organization of the personnel : 



Average number of Cost of planting Cost of planting 



Year trees per acre. per acre. per M trees. 



1906 2,655 $27.97 $10.77 



1907 2,055 15.04 7.12 



1908 2,080 8.73 4.20 



1909 2,625 11.09 4.26 



1910 2,265 13.09 5.51 



1911 2,170 11.71 5.35 



1912 2,035 13.81 6.72 



1913 1,940 13.17 6.34 



1914 1,465 8.66 5.88 



1915 1,545 8.43 5.48 



1916 1,325 6.10 4.60 



1917 1,455 7.91 5.44 



1918 1,480 10.81 7.35 



1919 1,640 14.31 8.64 



This table shows that forest trees may be planted now with our 

 practical technique and efficient organization almost as cheaply as in 

 the pre-war period when lower prices prevailed. The average cost of 

 planting the 22,168 acres with more than 33 million trees was $9.22 

 per care or $6.05 per thousand trees. All these figures include the cost 

 of the planting stock, transportation charges, preparation of planting 

 sites, forester's time, ranger's time, and planting labor. It seems to 

 follow that planting may still be done economically if the technique used 

 is practical and the organization of the personnel efficient. 



ARE PLANTATIONS REASONABLY SAFE FROM FIRE? 



The planting of forest trees was held up materially during the early 

 days of the practice by the belief that plantations could not be protected 

 adequately from forest fire, and consequently it might not be recom- 

 mendable from the point of economy to expend from $5 to $10 per 

 acre in reforestation. In 1909 a forester was assigned to the Penfield 

 S#te Forest, and because of the belief prevalent in the locality that for- 

 est fires are inevitable and sure to recur at short intervals, he was 

 afraid to plant trees in 1910, in spite of the fact that he was surrounded 

 by many acres of desolation in urgent need of reforestation. A year 

 of work in the community convinced him that the situation was im- 

 proving, but yet he did not have the courage to undertake planting. 

 The areas of desolation with which he was continuously surrounded, 

 however, gave rise to a compelling desire to begin building up the 



