Cost of Evergreen Seedlings. 251 



he is aware of the enormous quantities of plant material which are 

 being used by the farmers in the large States west of New York, 

 such as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, 

 Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. 



For every large concern making extensive plantings in the 

 States he mentions, there are hundreds of farmers in each one of 

 these other States who are planting each year several thousand 

 trees on their farms, around their fields and pastures, houses and 

 sheds and transforming waste land into wood lots. These farmers 

 are carrying out the idea and teachings of true forestry just as 

 much as the large lumber concerns who replant the areas from 

 which they have cut off the timber. 



Mr. Curtis states that the raising of trees for forest planting is 

 a comparatively new industry. There are firms to-day growing 

 this material who were engaged in the same business many years 

 before our Government ever thought of advocating conservation 

 or reforestation. He states that the removal of duty from this 

 class of stock and the assured destroyal of this industry would be 

 attended with no great loss to anyone. I beg to differ with him in 

 that respect. There are many firms who are more or less engaged 

 in this business and the capital invested would run up into the 

 millions. To destroy this industry would bring untold hardship to 

 thousands of families whose breadearner has spent his life in this 

 work and knows no other. 



. Regarding the cost of reforestation material in general, it is 

 true of ourselves and I am sure also of other growers, that for 

 many years we maintained experimental grounds and have de- 

 voted much time, energy and money to the end of being able to 

 lower, if possible, the cost of production of this material, by study- 

 ing the method of treating seed to get higher per cent, of the 

 germination, the combating of disease, etc. The most critical 

 period of a seedling is during the first four weeks after it has 

 pushed through the ground. Numerous diseases are liable to 

 attack them, the most serious being called "damping off." It is 

 only recently that we have been able to combat this disease at all. 

 In all cases where we have been able to lower the cost of produc- 

 tion, by attaining success in getting better germination percent- 

 age, we have been quick to lower the price on our stock. To cite a 

 specific case, by referring to our annual price lists for three years 



