LOW OR WET LANDS 4 1 



Gray birch will grow here many times when nothing else will. 

 If sweet fern, hardhack, or some of the weeds should pave the 

 way by covering the ground, hence shading it, thus offering 

 opportunities for seed germination and protection, other tree 

 growth will get established. One of the first growths to get 

 established is gray birch. This tree grows rapidly and in a 

 short time, if conditions are favorable for seeding in, the pines 

 follow. The birch is short lived and it is not uncommon to 

 see here a clear stand of pine in the course of a few years. 

 We can assist matters very much by cutting out the birch 

 wood as soon as it is large enough for firewood, when the land 

 will be given over entirely to the pine growth. Birch wood 

 is considered very desirable for firewood, and is commonly 

 used for that purpose throughout New England. The pines 

 are especially adapted for growing in sandy soils, as they take 

 such a small part of their subsistence from the ground. The 

 greater bulk of the elements going to make up pine wood 

 comes from the air. Even when young pine seedlings are set 

 out in sandy lands the danger comes largely from their drying 

 up during midsummer before their roots have gone deeply 

 enough into the soil. When once established they will look 

 out for themselves. Retain all the growth of any kind found 

 present upon these lands, and from these as a nucleus, grad- 

 ually bring the area under control. Always retain sufficient 

 growth to protect the forest floor, or covering of leaves and 

 decaying organic matter, when harvesting a crop. When 

 sufficient young growth has been established under these, 

 then they are removed. At first even all scrub pine trees of 

 any kind or description should be allowed to remain. These 

 often are profuse bearers of cones and thereby assist very much 

 in stocking down the land to new growth. Where the land is 

 not surrounded by pines the work of sowing seed artificially 

 is necessary. The study and practice of reconverting waste 

 sandy lands into forests has received much attention in the 

 older countries. 



6. Low or Wet Lands. 



Lands that are low but that drain oft sufficiently during the 

 growing season often make natural forest lands. Seeds germ- 



