284 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



undergrowth to protect the surface of the .soil, they would not only make any weed growth 

 impossible, but would also be a potent means of preventing the dissemination of weeds from one 

 section to another, by arresting them when carried by the winds. In many of the Western States 

 the farmer is permitted by law thus to plant a portion of the highway with trees. 



Yet another form of waste land is to be considered, and here the farmer living within the 

 forest area is much more concerned than the prairie dweller. Had the adaptability of soils to 

 tillage been made the basis of clearing lands in the early days, there would be less talk of "tliiu" 

 soils now, for on many farms lands were cleared which should never have been stripped of their 

 first cover. Steep hillsides, rocky slopes, highlands with hardly a foot of soil between the surface 

 and the underlying rock, have been denuded of their forest cover, and their subsequent tillage 

 has been all but profitless to the farmer. With constant cropping they have become so impover- 

 ished that their cultivation has been abandoned. Yet they have still enough fertility to support 

 a vigorous tree growth. On many New England farms such thin lands have been planted to 

 white pine with the most encouraging results. In many rocky, drift, eroded, and exhausted hill 

 farms there is a depth of soil sufficient for the requirements of all varieties of trees, and the 

 farmer within the forest area has thus a wide range of choice in the selection of trees. He 

 may grow timber for railroad ties, for posts, for telegraph poles, for lumber, and for many other 

 purposes, using the species that is best adapted to his need and to his locality. 



lii the Southern States the loblolly and short-leaf pines can be qu.te as readily grown as the 

 white pine at the North. The loblolly seems to consider the abandoned fields its heritage, for 

 throughout the lower Atlantic and Gulf States it quickly covers the old tields with its seedlings, 

 which grow rapidly. 



THE FARM NURSERY. 



f 



When such species as catalpa, box elder, black locust, green ash, white elm, and silver maple 

 can be bought for less than $2 per thousand for strong 1-year-old plants, it would seem cheaper to 

 purchase than to grow from seed. But with laud, tools, and teams at hand, a forest tree nursery 

 can be cultivated at very little expense, and the farmer, by gathering seed of the native trees, and 

 purchasing desirable seeds not to be had at home, can grow on a fraction of an acre seedlings 

 enough for an extensive plantation. 



Of the broad-leafed trees, the silver maples, elms, poplars, cottonwood, aspen, and willows 

 ripen their seeds before midsummer. These should be planted as soon as ripe, care being taken 

 not to cover the small seeds too deep. They will germinate in a few days, and by autumn will be 

 of a size suitable for transplanting. 



Of the species whose seeds ripen in autumn, those of the tulip, catalpa, honey locust, black 

 locust, and Kentucky coffee tree should be thrashed from their pods when gathered and kept over 

 winter in a cool place where they will neither dry out nor mold. Birch seeds soon lose their 

 vitality if permitted to dry, and they should be stored in close boxes or jars and kept over winter 

 in ;i cool cellar. When the soil is inoist in the fall, birch may be sown before the ground freezes, 

 but iu the dry soil of the plains the seeds should be kept over winter. They must be sown in beds 

 shaded as for conifers, and covered very lightly. The seed usually ripens in August in the 

 Northern woods, and should be gathered at once, separated, and stored until planting time. 



The sprouting of the seeds of other broad-leafed trees of the Northern forest flora is hastened 

 by subjecting them to the action of frost. This is accomplished either by fall planting or by 

 mixing the seeds with sand and placing them in boxes on the north side of an outbuilding or other 

 protection from the sun, whence they should be planted as soon as possible in the spring, or even, 

 when the ground is sufficiently thawed out, in late winter. The nuts and acorns may be simply 

 spread on a well-drained surface and protected from drying by a few inches of leaves held down 

 by boards; but they are more subject to the depredations of rodents when thus disposed of. The 

 seeds of fruit trees, such as cherry, mulberry, osage orange, wild crab apple, and hawthorn, should 

 be separated from the pulp by maceration and washing before storing. Cherry and mulberry seeds 

 ripen during the summer, and as the fruit is much relished by birds, watchfulness is necessary to 

 get them. They may be slightly dried after washing, and then mixed with sand. Some seeds, 

 notably those of the hawthorns, are apt to lie over two or more years. Germination of such 

 refractory seeds is hastened by soaking in water continuously for a week or more before planting. 



