FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION 407 



an excellent investment farther south can not be successfully grown 

 in this northern region. 



Hardwood Forest. In the States included within the great cen- 

 tral hardwood forest region the sort of planting which should chiefly 

 interest farmers will have for its object the utilization of waste land 

 on the farm. In those States which are making the most rapid 

 general progress the state authorities are issuing publications that 

 contain advice and information, are distributing stock from state 

 nurseries, and are conducting, forest work on state lands, which 

 serve as an object lesson to private landowners. In the farming 

 region east of the Appalachians in Virginia, Maryland, and Dela- 

 ware most of the land is too valuable for agricultural purposes to 

 be devoted to timber growing. As in other farming regions, how- 

 ever, every farm should have its woodlot, and in many localities 

 where no extensive timbered areas remain the planting of wind- 

 breaks and shelterbelts is advisable. A recent study of conditions 

 in Delaware indicates that the growing of timber crops, without 

 considering the value of forest belts from a protective standpoint, 

 is an excellent investment on lands worth not more than $15 per 

 acre. Portions of farms which have been worn out through con- 

 tinued cultivation may be planted to advantage. The species rec- 

 ommended for planting in Delaware are chestnut, red and pin oak, 

 tulip poplar, and black locust. The last-named tree will do well 

 on sandy soils not only in Delaware, but throughout Maryland and 

 Virginia. There is one drawback, however, to a locust plantation, 

 and that is its well-known enemy, the locust borer, which is greatly 

 to be feared in many localities. Where it is prevalent it is useless 

 to plant locust. Another rapid-growing tree which is likely to 

 prove of considerable commercial value when planted on fertile, 

 fairly heavy, well-drained soils in the more northern portion of the 

 State is the hardy catalpa. Excellent trees for windbreak and road- 

 side planting are the European larch and black locust. 



Except for the early planting in New England, the farmers of 

 Ohio and Indiana have been the first to recognize the value and 

 importance of forest planting. There are a number of rapid-grow- 

 ing broadleaf species adapted to this section which give early re- 

 turns and which have been exploited by commercial nurserymen. 

 In these two States and generally throughout the central valley dis- 

 trict the practice has been to plant rapid-growing kinds. For ex- 

 ample, in West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, walnut, 

 locust, sugar maple, red oak, chestnut, and catalpa have been planted 

 for posts, mine props, and timber; in Ohio, black locust and catalpa 

 for posts; in Indiana, black locust, catalpa, and walnut; in Ken- 

 tucky, black locust, catalpa, tulip poplar, maple, and walnut, prin- 

 cipally form mining timbers and posts ; in Tennessee, locust, maple, 

 and cedar; in Missouri, catalpa, locust, walnut, osage orange, cot- 

 ton wood ; in Arkansas, locust and walnut. 



While black locust and hardy catalpa give excellent returns 

 when planted under proper conditions, the most far-reaching and 

 valuable result of the planting of these species has been to call at- 



