CHAPTER XVI 



ESTABLISHING FORESTS BY PLANTING 

 1. HISTORICAL 



A LARGE number of factors influence the degree of 'success in all 

 planting operations. The more adverse the climatic and soil con- 

 ditions the more careful the planter must be in every operation 

 from the protection of the site to the establishment of the plan- 

 tation. 



Planting early becomes an established part of forest practice 

 in the development of forestry in every country. At first the 

 planting stock is taken from existing woods, but later it becomes 

 more and more the practice to grow it in forest nurseries. 



Planting really began in the United States more than a century 

 and a half ago. 1 Between 1740 and 1750 an experiment in grow- 

 ing oak for ship timbers was made at Pembroke, Mass. In 1819, 

 Mr. Russell of Chelmsford, Mass., planted pitch pine collected 

 from existing woods on light, sandy soil too poor for agriculture. 

 In 1820, Mr. Allen of Smithfield, R. I., seeded and planted 40 

 acres with chestnut, oak, hickory, and locust. Between 1846 and 

 1850 Richard Fay of Lynn, Mass., seeded and planted 200 acres 

 with oak, ash, maple, white pine, Norway spruce, and European 

 larch. Between 1850 and 1860 Joseph Fay of Woods Hole, Mass., 

 planted 125 acres with white pine, pitch pine, Norway spruce, 

 and European larch. 



Although the planting of trees for forestry purposes extends back 

 to the early history of the country, prior to 1890 the greater part 

 of the planting was in the prairie states west of the Mississippi 

 River. The Timber Culture Act was passed by Congress in 

 1873. This act provided that the title to 160 acres of public land 

 or a proportionate part thereof could be obtained by planting 

 one-fourth of it with forest trees. This act, together with state 

 laws offering a bounty for the planting of forests or exemption 



1 Graves, H. S.: The practice of forestry by private owners. (Yearbook 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr., pp. 415-428. 1899.) 



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