8 PLANTING OF WHITE PINE IN NEW ENGLAND. 



in time of drought. As a result, there is likely to follow not only a 

 water famine, but also an epidemic of disease, the germs of which mid 

 perfect conditions for development in the stagnant pools that are left by 

 the shrunken streams. After the first heavy rain they are washed 

 into the reservoir below, contaminating the entire supply. 



Whenever natural reproduction can not be depended upon to cover 

 the pastures and bare lands of reservoir watersheds with forest growth, 

 they should be planted, with the immediate object of protection and 

 the ultimate purpose of lumbering. Figures can now be produced 

 which show that forestry thus practiced is profitable. It therefore 

 becomes a problem which deserves the careful consideration of every 

 water company having waste or idle lands. Forests on the watershed 

 purify the water, regulate the flow, prevent erosion and hence tur- 

 bidity, and cool and shade the streams, besides converting the lands 

 into attractive woodland, which can eventually be lumbered at a profit 

 on the whole investment. 



An example of practical watershed planting on a large scale may be 

 found at Clinton, Mass., where the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage 

 Board, which supplies Boston and many surrounding cities with water, 

 is planting 1,500 acres to white pine and sugar maple in mixture, under 

 plans prepared by the Bureau of Forestry. The planting will be done 

 on the old farms, pastures, and bare waste lands upon the watershed 

 of its immense reservoir. Areas which already contain forest trees 

 will be managed to produce a valuable crop from the natural growth. 



In New Haven, Conn., the water table has been completely cleansed 

 and is being treated for the production of forest both by natural 

 reproduction and by planting. 



PLANTING ON SAND BARRENS AND SEASIDE DUNES. 



In Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and 

 other Eastern States, there are considerable areas of barren sand 

 plains, which at present are a source of expense to their owners. It 

 is not practicable to farm them, as there is not sufficient humus in the 

 soil to support a crop, and fertilizers would wash out with the first 

 heavy rain. 



It has been shown in a plantation at Shakers, Conn., that these 

 sandy lands will support a good growth of white pine. Established 

 in pure, drifting sand, this plantation has made an average annual 

 height growth of 1.44 feet per j^ear from the time when 4-inch to 6-inch 

 seedlings were planted, twent} r -five years ago, up to the present, when 

 the plantation averages 36 feet in height. This height growth, even 

 though in sand, is greater than the average height growth of planted 

 white pine in the East, which at 25 }^ears of age is only 32 feet. Such 

 instances prove that 'planting may be practiced here with as good 

 returns as on many of the more valuable soils. 



