192 



must be made of such a character that the landowner may secure the 

 needed supply of seedlings, true to species and at a reasonable price. Under 

 firesent conditions this is practically impossible. Nurseries as at present 

 organized deal in forest trees mainly to supply the demand for street and 

 ornamental planting. The placing of an order for a given species running 

 up into tlie thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of seedlings is practi- 

 cally impossible except perhaps in tlie case of lilack locust and catalpa. In- 

 deed it is not probable that nurserymen would care to undertake to meet 

 such demands. The cost of collecting the seed, the additional area and 

 labor involved, taken in connection with the fact that such orders could 

 only be expected occasionally and that there would he no possible method 

 of estimating the average annual demand for each of the species, would 

 make such an enterprise one of very doubtful profit luider favorable con- 

 ditions and of very certain and large loss under unfavorable conditions. 

 Tills means the establishment of a state nursery or nurseries, by the State 

 Board of Forestry under expert direction, from which needed material for 

 future plantings may be secured. 



The experimental work at the reserve has gone far enouirh to indicate 

 what species should be encouraged in reenforcement and new plantings, to 

 demonstrate tbe best time tor planting as well as the liest inetliod of plant- 

 ing, to show clearly enough the proper care and treatment after planting 

 and to furnish a fair estimate of the expense involved in a correct prac- 

 tice. It is well within the law under which the board was created, that it 

 should now take the next logi<al step, namely, tiic lurnisliing oT suitable 

 material for such plantings at practically the cost of production. Under 

 the very best conditions from 3 to G per cent, is the best di\idend that can 

 be expected in forestal entei^prises, so that any marked increase in the 

 initial cost precludes all possibility of prolit. The distribution of this ma- 

 terial shcmld bo carefully controlled. It should Ix- suitiilied only for affoi-- 

 e.statioii or the reenforcement of existing wood-lots and never for street 

 or ornamental pui-poses. The experience of the state nurseries in Con- 

 necticut, Massachusetts, and other states shows that this control offers no 

 difficulty and that a demand is met which the luirserymen cannot meet and 

 do not care to meet. Indeed it has been shown that since the establishment 

 of state nurseries the sale of forest tree stock by nursei'y lirnis has largely 

 increased, although it may be questioned whether the relation is a causal 

 one. It is certain that the Board of Foresti-y by establishing,' sn<ii mirseries 

 would accomplish nnidi in the way of improving existinLr wood-lots and in 



