REFORESTATION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 17 



Seedlings and Transplants. 



It is generally considered advisable to set transplants rather 

 than seedlings, although under most conditions in this section 

 the two-year-old white pine has been planted with good results. 

 As a rule two-year-old seedlings may be planted on land classed 

 as run-out pasture land or on cut-over land with good success, 

 there being a little shade afforded by gray birch or low bushes. 



Three-year-old or four-year-old transplants are adapted for 

 planting on open land, exposed to the drying effects of sun 

 and wind (Fig. 13). As their root growth is large, they can be 

 more deeply set in the ground where they can take up the mois- 

 ture ; whereas, if the roots were near the surface, as they would 

 necessarily be if seedlings were used, the trees would die from 

 lack of moisture in the top soil. It is also best to set transplants 

 in old fields or mowings, where small plants would be beaten 

 down and choked out by the thick fog or dead grass. 



Varieties to plant 



There are a number of varieties of trees which may be 

 planted with good results. It is advisable to set some tree which 

 grows naturally in the locality in which the work is to be done. 



The white pine (Pinus strobus} (Fig. 14) has been used 

 largely for reforestation purposes throughout the State, and 

 has adapted itself to most of our New England conditions; in 

 fact, this section of the country at one time was covered with 

 primeval forest comprised largely of white pine. The rapid- 

 ity of its growth and the many uses to which the variety of 

 wood may be put makes it a practical tree for forest planting, 

 and the one most used in this work. It is, however, recom- 

 mended to use some other variety on Cape Cod, unless the plan- 

 tation is well protected from the wind, which on the Cape 

 causes a somewhat stunted growth. 



The white ash (Fraxinus americana) is well suited for plant- 

 ing on a springy side hill, where the growth and texture of the 

 wood of this variety often reaches its highest quality. It is 

 also practically immune from the attack of the gypsy and 

 brown-tail moths, which are so detrimental to the trees in many 

 towns in the eastern part of the State. 



