AMERICAN SYLVICULTURE 



(Tourney) in the fall previous to planting and in the spring of 

 planting. 



G. Treatment of plants: The seedlings arriving at the farm 

 should be removed from the package; heeled in under shade, pro- 

 tected from winds and sprinkled if frost is not to be feared. 

 Tourney wishes to puddle plants before heeling, and desires to plant 

 the conifers invariably after the broad-leaved kinds. 



H. Planting: The planter must wait patiently for proper 

 weather. Thorough protection of the roots during every moment 

 of the act of planting is essential. Each individual must be planted 

 by itself, — no dozen methods! The plants should be set closely 

 Avithin the rows; the soil must be packed tightly around the roots. 

 Reversed sods or stones may be used to ballast the roots and to 

 prevent the Avind from shaking them loose. 



I. Cultivation: Cultivation is necessary vip to the time when 

 the trees cover the ground fully, littering it with humus. Where 

 barefrost is dreaded, cultivation should end in late summer. 



Paragraph XXVIII. Methods of obtaining plants 

 for planting. 



A. Seedlings are obtained frequently from the -woods 



nearby, a method which seems to recommend itself as cheap and 

 natural. It is a fact, however, that the roots and the buds of wild 

 seedlings are badly adapted for the purpose of planting. The 

 former are far- spreading; the buds are weak and few. In addition 

 it is risky to take plants from the shelter of mother trees suddenly 

 onto open ground. The use of wild seedlings over two years old 

 is particvilarly unsuccessful. The failure of the timber culture 

 act to prove efficient is largely due to the use of wild plants in 

 prairie plantations. 



At Biltmore, seedlings of Yellow Poplar, Y^'ellow Pine, Ash and 

 Maple are often picked up in the woods, on logging roads, with a 

 spade and removed to the nurseries. Such seedlings are taken at a 

 very young age, without loss of dirt, to nurseries placed under lath 

 screens. They are never removed directly to open plantations, 

 with the exception of ballplants of Yellow Pine. 



B. Purchase of plants from commercial nurseries: 



During the last twenty-five years, a number of financially 

 strong commerical nurseries have arisen abroad which, buying seed 

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