FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTfRE. 



This discussion of tin; plan is based upon the impossible supposition that all the trees will 

 live until cut out. Much thinning, in point of fact, will result from the dying of trees, so that the 

 ideal perfect stand is never reached in practice. 



The scheme indicated, it is perhaps needless to add, is given merely to illustrate the practice, 

 and can be adapted to any suitable species which the planter may be able to secure. 



One acre planted ;i bij :1 feet requires 4,S4U trees. 

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Trees. 



A Aspon 3,630 



S White spruce - 605 



C Red cedar 302 



P White pino 303 



Total '. 4,840 



This plan illustrates the nse of a rapid-growing light demanding species (aspen) as a protection 

 for several conifers which are difficult to establish in the open, especially in the plains. It will 

 be noticed that two of the conifers, the spruce and cedar, are shade-enduring species, and that the 

 light demanding pines will be surrounded by the shaders when the aspen has been cut out. This 

 use of the aspen as a soil cover was suggested by an examination of cut-over pine land in northern 

 Minnesota, where the aspen quickly takes the ground when the pine is removed, and the pine 

 seedlings appear thickly under its protection. It will be observed that, taking out the aspen, the 

 plan is based on the same principles of light influence as is the plan above. 



PLANTING IN WASTE PLACES. 



Aside from the fence rows, which are usually the worst weed beds of the farm, there are many 

 small areas in the average farm which from a variety of causes are unprofitable for cropping. 

 These may well be planted to trees. 



In the most favored region the farm "of which every foot is arable" is seldom seen. Even on 

 the richest of prairie farms the crests of the rolling surface are apt to become impoverished after 

 years of tillage in spite of the best efforts of the farmer, and when the crops fail to pay for the 

 labor expended on them the land is as surely "waste" as though it were undrained swamp or 

 rocky hillside. In the less densely populated parts of the country, where land is cheap, the fields 

 are abandoned when this stage is reached. In the East and South, where the entire country was 

 once covered with forest, natural reforestation soon takes place, and in a few years the old fields 

 are clothed with pines, spruces, and deciduous trees, the varieties being dependent upon the 

 adjacent growth. Within this area the farmer can always control the character of the forest 

 growths on the waste lands of his farm, either by planting or by use of the ax, or both, and there 

 is oftentimes great need of good judgment in cutting out inferior trees or undesirable varieties. 



Few farmers seem to have realized the great value of a close-planted, dense-foliaged grove as 

 a conservator of moisture. The snows accumulating in such groves are shaded from the sun, and 

 long after the adjacent fields are bare the snow is slowly melting and the water trickling down 

 over the plowed fields, which are thus thoroughly saturated. The summer rains are also saved 

 to the farm by the same means. Following the deep-descending roots of the trees, they are 



