40 



Now for minor details. From nature's planting we may learn 

 the depth to which the seed should be buried, and that, when a 

 wood lot is cut off, some trees should be left to shade the young 

 plants. We may learn that young oaks grow best on pine ground 

 and when shaded by a few pines ; that timber trees grow best and 

 straightest when they are planted thickly, so that the tops, con- 

 tinually reaching for the light, build up a tall, straight trunk. We 

 may observe how the lower limbs of the pine die and fall off, so 

 that the woodrings of later years will form clear timber, free from 

 knots. We may anticipate nature's pruning here by trimming off 

 the lower branches of young pines, continuing this process year 

 by year as the trunk grows upward, so that in thirty or forty years 

 we may grow from the seed good, clear white pine timber, free 

 from black knots. We can remove sprout growth, leaving seedling 

 trees, getting cord wood first and good timber later. We can 

 anticipate nature again by cutting the weaker trees ere they begin 

 to decay, and by rational forest management we can secure an 

 annual product from the wood without sacrificing it as a whole. 

 We can protect the birds who, living in the woods, will help to 

 keep down the insects, not only there but in the near-by field, 

 orchard or garden. 



Meanwhile, study nature's methods. Her book is always open, 

 and " he who runs may read." 



