Questions and Answers 



21 



Ornamental trees, of course, can be 

 purchased from private nurseries. 



How can we start a community 

 forest? 



Because community forests are pub- 

 licly owned, the first step is to get the 

 support of local authorities who must 

 obtain title to the land for a county 

 forest, the county board; for a mu- 

 nicipal forest, the mayor and his gov- 

 erning body; for a school forest, the 

 school superintendent. Enlist also the 

 support of other interested public-serv- 

 ice organizations. Work up a plan of 

 operation to cover the sort of forest 

 desired as well as the type of develop- 

 ment and use. Appoint a forest board 

 to develop and manage the property. 

 Seek expert advice on forest manage- 

 ment from your local forester. 



In planting, do the roots need spe- 

 cial care? 



John Burroughs, the eminent nat- 

 uralist, wrote to the principal of a 

 school in Pennsylvania: 



"I am glad to hear that your pupils 

 are going to keep Arbor Day; if you 

 can teach them to love and to cherish 

 trees, you will teach them a very val- 

 uable lesson. . . . Give the tree roots 

 plenty of room and a soft, deep bed 

 to rest in; tuck it up carefully with 

 your hands. The roots of the tree are 

 much more soft and tender than its 

 branches and cannot be handled too 

 gently. It is as important to know how 

 to dig up a tree as how to plant it. A 

 friend of mine brings quite large hem- 

 locks from the woods and plants them 

 on his grounds and has no trouble to 

 make them live. He does much of the 

 work with his hands, follows the roots 

 along and lifts them gently from the 

 soil, and never allows them to dry. 

 The real feeders of the tree are very 

 small, mere threads; the bulky, mus- 

 cular roots are for strength; its life 

 is in the rootlets that fringe them, and 

 to let these delicate feeders dry, even 

 by an hour's exposure to a drying air, 

 is to endanger the vitality of the tree. 

 By the way, in your planting do not 



forget the hemlock. It is a clean, 

 healthy, handsome tree. Do not for- 

 get the ash, either, if only for the 

 beautiful plum-colored foliage in au- 

 tumn. Above all, do not forget the 

 linden or basswood, a tree generally 

 overlooked by our arborists. It is as 

 pleasing as maple in form and foliage, 

 and then it is such a friend of the 

 honey bee. What a harvest they get 

 from it, and just when other sources 

 of honey supply begin to fail. 



"I have somewhere said that when 

 you bait your hook with your heart the 

 fish always bite, and I will now say 

 that when you plant a tree with love 

 it always lives; you do it with such 

 care and thoroughness." 



How successful are shelterbelt 

 plantings in the Prairie States? 



Those plantings are generally suc- 

 cessful. They directly affect the agri- 

 cultural welfare of the region. They 

 reduce excessive evaporation and the 

 blowing of soil, and are a protective 

 screen against the burning winds of 

 summer and freezing winds of winter. 



What trees are most commonly used 

 for Christmas trees? 



The greatest demand has been for 

 balsam fir and Douglas-fir. Other pop- 

 ular Christmas trees, in order of their 

 production, are black spruce, redcedar, 

 white spruce, Scotch pine and southern 

 pine, red spruce, Virginia pine, white 

 fir, Norway spruce. 



How many Christmas trees are pro- 

 duced in the United States each year? 



About 21,000,000 trees; 87 percent 

 are produced on private forest lands; 

 about a million are harvested on the 

 national forests. About 100,000 acres of 

 woodland (most of it owned by farm- 

 ers) are devoted solely to growing 

 Christmas trees. 



How can I keep my Chirstmas tree 

 fresh and green? 



Try to obtain a tree that has been 

 harvested recently. Store it in a cool 

 place; place the butt in water; sprinkle 



