208 PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN FORESTRY. 



good return. It should be the aim of the owner to keep 

 out fires, and so encourage the growth of underbrush 

 and leaf mould, as this protects from drying out in sum- 

 mer, which is important on such land. The large trees 

 that are decaying had better be cut out, and the younger 

 growth favored by occasional thinnings, where too much 

 crowded. 



22. A has a meadow which is subject to overflow in 

 the spring of the year. The stream which runs through 

 it is liable to sudden rises, and has made many channels 

 for itself, and is continually making new channels. The 

 land affords fairly good pasturage, but the cutting of new 

 channels by the river is a source of great annoyance and 

 loss. Is there any way that this can be prevented by 

 planting trees? 



Answer: Such streams may be permanently straight- 

 ened out by planting Willows across the cuts made, so as 

 to confine the waters to a straight course. By this treat- 

 ment a stream soon clears out a deeper main channel 

 for itself, and the old high water channels gradually fill 

 up with the sediment from the water which sets back into 

 them from the river at times of freshet. The banks of 

 the stream should also be protected from washing by 

 planting Willows on them. For this purpose Willow 

 cuttings of large size should preferably be used. They 

 should be not less than two inches in diameter and six 

 feet long, and be put at least three feet in the ground 

 where exposed to erosion. 



23. A has forty acres near Minneapolis, covered mostly 

 with a heavy stand of Sugar Maple, twenty-five years 

 old, and two or three acres of Tamarack, Elm, Basswood, 

 and Oak. What treatment would be more profitable 

 than to clear up for pasture or other purposes? 



Answer: Such land as this is probably much more 

 valuable for agricultural purposes than for forestry, un- 



