FOREST TREE PLANTING CAMPS 



395 



Eleven planting camps were operated on as many forests during 

 the spring of 1916. Out of a total of 5,492,020 trees set out on all 

 the State-owned land, 2,781,540 were planted by men and boys re- 

 ceiving their board and lodging in camps. The location and general data 

 concerning these camps follow : 



Number of 

 Trees 



State Forest Planted 



Black Forest 559,900 



New Bergen 411,050 



OleBuU 381,200 



Blackwells 355,300 



Stuart 318,400 



Caledonia 209,450 



Hopkins 150,640 



Nittany 149,200 



Sinnemahoning 141,400 



Two smaller camps 105,000 



Total 2,781,540 



^ Includes cost of plants. 



2 Men supplied food which was prepared in camp. 



Planting plans have been prepared for all the State forests of 

 Pennsylvania, which now number fifty-two. A large number of these 

 plans contain recommendations in favor of a still further extension 

 of the practice of planting from camp. This growing tendency prompts 

 the writer to describe their main features and problems, record the 

 most important operating experiences of the past, and discuss their ad- 

 vantages and the questionable tendencies which are developing in con- 

 nection with them. 



Some of the planting sites are located in rather populous regions, 

 while others are situated miles from the nearest human habitation. 

 The labor supply in remote mountainous regions is usually very limited, 

 and foresters in charge of planting operations, as a rule, experience 

 considerable difficulty in recruiting full planting crews. The Black 

 Forest State Forest comprises 30,000 acres, of which area 34,000 

 acres are barren or covered with a growth of bird cherry, aspen, ferns, 

 and weeds. This entire acreage must be planted. The present supply 

 of labor available for tree planting within a radius of 10 miles could 

 not plant this area in a hundred years. In the midst of the forest is 

 a forest community consisting of one forester, two forest rangers, 

 one s^ame warden, and their families. Towards the east from this 



