39 



in at least a moderate degree if sown broadcast on the ground subse- 

 quently. Its seeds are light, and provided with a silky down which 

 enables the wind to carry them to great distances. It is suggested 

 that mixing these over night with damp sand and sowing the whole 

 (sand and seeds) together broadcast, would obviate the tlaager of the 

 seeds being carried off the ground by wind. 



How shall they be sowed? That depends. First of all, in large 

 quantity. Your immediate object is to secure shade and leaf litter 

 and a penetration of the earth by the roots. These conditions having 

 been acquired, the rest is easy. If sowed broadcast, as would be de- 

 sirable on the soil we are now considering, a subsequent harrowing 

 would cover the seed and increase its chances. 



Such a plantation, once started, would require thinning out very 

 soon, else it would develop into the thicket condition, which so far as 

 prevention of surface wash was concerned, wonld be effectual enough, 

 but it would not give the best promise of a crop of valuable timber. 

 It should not be necessary to suggest that browsing animals should 

 not be allowed access to such grounds. Their presence would be fatal 

 to any successful forestry operations. Fire of course would be disas- 

 trous. T!he method just described is simply a slight improvement of 

 the natural plan by which we so often see old, abandoned fields 

 covered with a fresh forest growth. It has, however, this advantage 

 that the growth is more likely to be prompt, dense and desirable. It 

 is to be understood that the chief use of such a forest is to serve 

 as a protection to more desirable trees, which may be introduced by 

 methods already well understood. 



There is another class of land, which, though no longer remunera- 

 tive under ordinary agriculture, is still better than that we have just 

 described, and which it may be desirable to cover as speedily as 

 possible with a forest growth. The preparation of the soil here may 

 be more thorough. And while the same broadcast methods of sowing 

 may still be resorted to, it is by no means certain that they should be. 

 Having some choice in the matter, it may be wise to secure a more 

 orderly arrangement of the trees, not o-nly because greater protec- 

 tion against wash is thus obtained, but because a better quality and 

 a larger quantity of timber is secured. Indeed, it may be a question 

 for the landowner to decide whether he will sow the whole surface 

 by seed, or whether he will raise his seedling in a nursery and then 

 transplant them in the soil he desires to reforest. Such soil also 

 admits of a larger list of seed which may be sown with fair promise 

 of success: Elm, two or three species of ash and red maple may be 

 added to the list already named for covering the ground speedily. 

 And as the season's growth is more likely to be vigorous, the sowing 

 may be longer delayed, or done, indeed, when the seeds ripen from 

 June to October. It may be suggested that in company with these 



