Growing Locust in Hungary 107 



farming. An experiment station, with nurseries and a school 

 for forest rangers, is maintained, and efforts are made to find 

 other tree species suitable for the locality. Here and there 

 Willow, Austrian Pine, native Ash and Oak are made to grow, 

 but as a rule, the land fit for other hardwoods is wanted for 

 farming, and Pine is less productive than the Locust. Thus 

 Locust is the preferred tree, and it meets every requirement so 

 well that there is no strong inducement to plant others. Besides 

 the Government plantations, there are many others, some quite 

 large, on private land. The Agricultural Department does 

 everything it can to encourage tree planting and distributes 

 freely every year between five and six million Locust seedlings. 

 In 1899, one hundred and fifty thousand acres of pure Locust forest 

 had been established, and the plantings since must have brought 

 the total to at least two hundred thousand acres. I have been 

 unable to find any late ofiicial figures. 



The cultural methods practiced in Hungary are little different 

 from those employed here. The value of the tree's sprouting 

 power is fully recognized and is always taken advantage of. In 

 establishing plantations on new ground, root sprouts from re- 

 cently cut-over stands are sometimes used, but, as a rule, nursery- 

 grown seedlings are preferred. The trees produce fruit early 

 and almost every year. The seeds are gathered in the pods and 

 put in sacks. When the pods are dry the sacks are beaten 

 to release the seeds. The seeds are usually treated with boiling 

 water, dried in sand, and planted in beds in the spring. The 

 seedlings commonly grow to a height of two to three feet during 

 the summer and are set in place in the field in the fall of the 

 same year. Fall planting is preferred because that season is 

 moister than the spring and becau.se labor is freer. In planting, 

 the trees are set in triangular holes 18 inches wide on a side, and 

 24 inches deep. These holes are dug piece-work for $1 per 

 thousand, though that figure and the whole cost of making the 

 plantations-about $5 per acre-must be referred to the low wage 

 that prevails. The rows are usually made from 5 to 6 feet apart 

 and the trees spaced 3 to 5 feet in the rows. Sometimes the 

 seedlings are set 10 to 12 feet apart and when well grown, say 

 three years old, a plow with a sharp cutter is run midf ay 

 between the rows of trees in both directions. This severs the 

 roots that have filled the unoccupied ground and causes a thrifty 

 crop of sprouts to spring up. Theoretically it is a pretty good 



