1498 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Indicative of the success of the more recent plantings by the Forest 

 Service are the following records : 555 acres of Douglas fir planted in 

 1920 on the Ranier National Forest in Washington with satisfactory 

 survival on 98 percent of the areas in 1930; a large Englemann spruce 

 and western white pine plantation set out on the Cabinet National 

 Forest in Montana in 1928 with over 500 established trees per acre 

 in 1931; a 33-acre Norway spruce plantation on the Monongahela 

 National Forest in the East, with 98 per cent of the trees established 

 after 4 years; 517 acres of white and Norway pine planted on the 

 Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota in 1.925, with 87 percent of the 

 trees alive in 1931. 



Although State plantings, like those of the Forest Service, are 

 spotty, yet taken as a whole, they are sufficiently successful to war- 

 rant expansion. While no exact data are at hand, it is known that 

 the State planting to date in both Pennsylvania and New York has 

 been more than moderately successful in establishing plantations. 



The record from two counties in New York State is illustrative of 

 what may be expected from careful planting on reasonably suitable 

 sites. In the spring of 1931, three quarters of a million trees were 

 planted on 519 acres in one unit in Broome County. One year later 

 the survival was 82 percent. Five blocks in Chenango County, 

 including 3,806 acres, were planted in 1931, with a survival ranging 

 from 85 to 88 percent in 1932. The plantings on these areas, having 

 passed the crucial first year, should continue to develop satisfactorily. 



Industrial planting, although limited in amount, has, as might be 

 expected, often proved more successful than public planting. This 

 has not always been a matter of better technique but frequently of 

 better sites for planting. The industrials, largely lumber companies, 

 have been planting the choice sections of their holdings which were 

 originally selected because they were the best timber-growing lands. 

 These companies have had little occasion to experiment with the 

 forestation of the poorest types of land because, as a general thing, 

 they have none or if they were so unfortunate they naturally have 

 left them until last. The public agencies, on the other hand, had 

 big areas of poor site land and perhaps wasted too much effort in 

 trying to reforest these areas for watershed or other urgent public 

 purposes instead of gradually approaching the problem through the 

 knowledge to be gained from the more simple task of planting the 

 best first. 



Illustrative of the success of industrial planting is the company in 

 the southern pine region with 28,000 acres of satisfactorily stocked 

 plantations. Survival in these plantations has been very high, being 

 more than 90 percent in most years. 



THE REFORESTATION PROGRAM 



Decision as to the acreage of barren and unproductive land which 

 should be planted in the next 20 or 30 years must be based on (1) 

 the necessity for meeting the requirements of the country for timber 

 products and other intangible services including improved water- 

 shed conditions, (2) the social and economic desirability of putting all 

 land to beneficial use. 



The section of this report entitled " Timber Resources and Require- 

 ments, " has shown the clear necessity for almost doubling the total 



