FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION 405 



Almost every farmer in Vermont may wisely do a certain amount 

 of planting under the direction of the state officials. The most 

 hopeful places for beginning the practice of forestry are the old, 

 weedy back pastures which are now lying waste. Next in impor- 

 tance to these come the blank spaces in natural stands, which 

 should be filled in. 



White pine is considered the best, though red-pine is of great 

 value, especially for the drier soils, and the Vermont experiment 

 station is using Scotch pine on dry sands. Norway spruce is of 

 especial promise for the moist, strong land of the high mountain 

 valleys natural spruce land. Small plantations of black locust 

 are being tried for supplying durable posts and stakes. 



The conifers best adapted for planting, particularly on the 

 sand plains, are Scotch pine, white pine, Norway pine, and pitch 

 pine ; and the hardwoods which promise best are chestnut, red oak, 

 locust, and sugar maple. 



The increasing field for forest planting in the New England 

 States is strikingly indicated by the recent increase in the area of 

 unimproved land in farms. There was 11 per cent less improved 

 farm land in Maine in 1900 than there was in 1890, and 20 per 

 cent less in New Hampshire, with the other New England States 

 between these two figures. In all, there are 2,500,000 acres in New 

 England that need planting. 



In New York State the species which are best adapted and 

 which promise highest returns are white pine, red pine, Norway 

 spruce, chestnut, red oak, basswood, tulip poplar, white ash, and, 

 in moist places, Carolina poplar. Forest planting is increasing 

 rapidly. The work of the State in the Adirondacks is a remarkably 

 fine example of good nursery practice and planting, and active steps 

 are being taken by the state authorities to encourage forestry among 

 the farmers and other landowners. 



Pennsylvania divides readily into three sections where con- 

 ditions of surface, soil, and climate are greatly enough differentiated 

 to modify the practice of planting for each. The southeastern 

 plain extends from tidewater along the Delaware westward and 

 northeastward along the Blue Mountains, which form the northern 

 boundary of Cumberland, Lebanon, Berks, Lehigh, and Northamp- 

 ton counties. The central mountains comprise a broad belt ex- 

 tending from the northeastern part of the State southwest to Mary- 

 land and West Virginia. The western hills include a section in 

 the northwestern part of the State extending from the Allegheny 

 River westward to the Ohio line and Lake Erie. The second-named 

 region was covered originally with splendid forests of pine, hem- 

 lock, and hardwoods. There is relatively little need for planting 

 in this region, so the greatest opportunities for farm forestry are 

 in the other two sections. The southeastern plain was an early 

 settled farming region, and nearly every farm had its woodlot. 

 Very few of these woodlots are now in good condition, though in 

 some cases the owners have become interested in reforestation, and 

 more or less tree planting has followed. The average prices of 



