408 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



tention to forestry and stimulate general interest in the growing of 

 timber crops. Our present knowledge of conditions shows that 

 without doubt the planting of other and more slow-growing species 

 is fully justified from an economic standpoint. The state authorities 

 of Indiana and Ohio are taking a leading part in promoting farm 

 planting. Along the Ohio River in southern Indiana and Ohio 

 there is much land now being farmed which would actually pro- 

 duce a higher return per acre if planted with black locust, or even 

 with some of the slower-growing but more valuable hardwoods. 

 Nowhere in the United States can there be found a more striking 

 example of the need of timber belts for securing the highest results 

 from agriculture even where there is scarcely an acre of waste land 

 on any farm. Throughout this district every farmer should make 

 provision for the future by renewing his woodlot, by planting where 

 necessary, and should see to it that sufficient shelterbelts are planted 

 to insure future protection to his homestead, his growing crops, and 

 his orchards. 



Southern Forest. Of the total area of cut-over forest land 

 which is not restocking naturally, about 70 per cent will reproduce 

 pine if it is protected from fire. About 30 per cent, therefore, or 

 more than 5,000,000 acres, will require artificial restocking. While 

 most of this lies within the southern pine forest, there are limited 

 opportunities for planting in the Appalachian Mountain region and 

 in the northern portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

 Planting thus far has been almost altogether with rapid-growing 

 hardwoods, such as catalpa, and for the most part has been ill-advised, 

 and serves as no indication whatever of the lines along which plant- 

 ing should progress, since hardy catalpa is unsuited to this region. 

 For quick returns of small-sized material, black locust is especially 

 suited to the mountain and Piedmont sections of Georgia, and white 

 oak is good for posts and ties, though for posts it will be best to 

 grow loblolly pine and treat it with preservatives. Carolina poplar 

 grows rapidly in the South and r akes good chemical pulp ; but since 

 it has been found that pine can te used for pulp, the value of plant- 

 ing poplar is somewhat doubtful. 



In general, however, planting is unnecessary throughout this 

 region, because reproduction is abundant wherever there is protec- 

 tion from fire. 



CENTRAL TREELESS REGION. 



The central treeless region includes the States of Illinois, Iowa, 

 North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, the prairie 

 district of Minnesota, and the portions of Oklahoma and Texas 

 lying west of the hardwood belt. Forest planting has been a part 

 of the progress in agriculture and therefore has been most extensive 

 in the region of best agricultural development. Nebraska and Kan- 

 sas lead in the^acreage^of plantations. About 840,000 acres have 

 been planted within this central region, but there should be more 

 than 14,000,000 acres. 



_ As in the past, planting in this region will be almost entirely 

 a private enterprise, carried on in connection with farming. While 



