AXTON PLANTATIONS 

 By B. E. Fernow 



In the absence of an official record of the silvicultural work done 

 by the former New York State College of Forestry at Axton, and in 

 view of the success of this work as exhibited by the various plantations 

 referred to on page 892 of this volume, the following memorandum 

 of detail may be useful as a record for future reference. 



It is based partly on personal memoranda, partly on mere remem- 

 brance. 



There were plantations made under twelve or fourteen different con- 

 ditions. The conditions were : 



1. In old slash grown up with aspen and brush rather open, without 



any preparation. 



2. The same after cutting and burning brush. 



3. Under planting of dense aspen and birch growth, 15 to 20 years; 



after and without thinning. 



4. Underplanting in old hardwood timber. 



5. Cutting lanes in dense 15-year-old aspen and birch and planting. 



6. The same, but thinned instead of cutting lanes. 



7. On poor open sandhill fields. 



8. On grassy old pasture, poor sand. 



9. On raw humus of heather plants. 



10. On wet sour humus soil. 



11. On logged, nearly cleared, and brush-burned area. 



12. Underplanting a conservatively cut area. 



13. A logged area without burning brush. 



14. Scattered open places. 



The planting stock was mostly two and three year old material, seed- 

 lings and transplants (and a few 4-year-old transplants), as the case 

 may be. It was secured for the first (in time) planting from Douglas 

 & Sons, Waukegan, Illinois, and from Heins Sons, Halstenbeck, until 

 the Axton nurseries could be drawn upon. 



The species used were mainly white pine, Scotch pine, Norway 

 spruce ; a few other species in small numbers for trial were also planted, 

 notably red pine, Douglas fir, blue spruce, and Abies concolor, black 

 locust (seeded in spots in the woods) and European larch. 



Except on some special sites, where Scotch pine pure was used, the 

 planting was done in mixture. 



The planting tool used was mainly the grub-hoe or mattock. Some 

 planting was done with Wartemberg iron. 



