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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Very interesting articles could be, and we hope some 

 day, will be written on the timber we have acquired in 

 France; the logging chances which confronted us and 

 methods used; the possibilities of French, Scotch and 

 American sawmills ; the problems of supplying mills rated 

 from l l / 2 U to 20M capacity with suitable orders, 



and many other subjects on which you would all like 

 to be enlightened. However, the most interesting read- 

 ing of all would be an article on the difficulties of con- 

 vincing an able-bodied, blue-blooded American lum- 

 berjack that his place is not in the front line 

 trenches. 



PLANT BLACK WALNUT 



BECAUSE of the very high lasting qualities of its 

 wood and the moderately rapid rate of growth of 

 the tree in good locations, black walnut is one of the 

 few most desirable trees to plant on the farm, says the 

 Weekly Netvs Letter of the Department of Agriculture. 

 Small patches of rough, gullied, or unused land about 

 the farm and narrow strips along fence rows and high- 

 ways or corners of barnyards and stock lots make ideal 

 places for planting this valuable tree. The method is 

 simple, and the present heavy crop of nuts makes this 

 year a most favorable time to begin work along this 

 line. The region where walnut growing is practicable 

 extends from southern New England west to the Cen- 

 tral States and south to South Carolina and along the 

 northern portions of the Gulf States to Oklahoma. The 

 finest growth takes place in the rich coves of the lower 

 Appalachians and over the Ohio and central Mississippi 

 basins. 



The black walnut tree is comparatively free from 

 insect attack, particularly the wood. The price of black 

 walnut lumber in recent years has been consistently high. 

 Another factor to be considered is the rapidly diminish- 

 ing supply of walnut trees over practically its entire 

 range in the United States, due to recent cutting in order 

 to meet the demand for gun-stock material. The tree 

 yields durable wood which may be used for posts and 

 for a wide variety of purposes about the farm, in case 

 it is not sold in the lumber market. 



In order to succeed well, walnut requires a rather 

 good grade of soil, hence no attempt should be made to 

 plant it on poor, thin soil or on hot, dry exposures. 

 Favorable situations for rapid development are on strong 

 limestone soils, deep alluvial soils, and stony loam soils 

 along the margins of highlands. Since the walnut tree 

 requires a large amount of light, > it may successfully 

 be planted on open tracts recently cleared of old growth 

 and on recently abandoned fields. In this respect it 

 resembles black locust, which, however, grows faster, 

 but in many localities is more or less subject to serious 

 attack by a wood-boring beetle. 



The walnut crop was particularly heavy this year, 

 affording a splendid opportunity to gather or buy seed 

 for planting. Nuts should be stored over winter and 

 planted the following spring. They are best stored in 

 pits dug in the ground, the bottom of the pit being cov- 

 ered with leaf litter or straw, on which a 3-inch layer 

 of nuts is placed, then a layer of litter, and so on, cover- 

 ing the whole with soil so as to leave the surface a few 

 inches higher than the general level. Planting should 

 be done about the time germination begins. In eastern 



United States north of the Gulf States, this is during 

 the months of March and early April. Squirrels, chip- 

 munks, and hogs are serious pests if present in num- 

 bers and would more than likely succeed in making 

 away with a majority of the nuts if they are planted in 

 the fall. Small tracts, however, surrounded by culti- 

 vated fields and other places where these animals are 

 known to be scarce might safely be planted in the early 

 or late winter when labor is more accessible than in the 

 spring. 



To plant the nuts, make a small hole with a mattock 

 or hoe, drop one or two nuts in each hole and cover them 

 with about 2 inches of fresh, firmly packed soil. For 

 the larger areas, a good spacing in forest plantations 

 is to dig the holes 8 feet apart each way or 8 by 10 feet, 

 which amounts to 680 and 545 holes per acre for the 

 two spacings. For small areas, or along fence rows 

 and highways, the spacing should be about 8 feet in 

 the row, unless permanent shade is desired, in which case 

 the distance should be 20 feet during the early period 

 of growth and subsequently increased to 40 feet by re- 

 moving the alternate trees. For purposes of nut pro- 

 duction the trees should be spaced at distances of from 

 40 to 60 feet apart, and should be given a due amount of 

 cultivation. Requests for information along this line 

 should be addressed to the Bureau of Plant Industry of 

 the Department of Agriculture at Washington. The 

 number of nuts required can easily be found by knowing 

 approximately their quality, the area of ground to be 

 treated, and the spacing. Care should be taken not to 

 plant under shade. Where the trees in the old wood lot 

 are to be cut during the next year or two and are moder- 

 ately open, planting might begin now, so as to get a 

 start in advance of the removal later of the overhead 

 protection against early frosts and excessive drying of 

 the soil in midsummer. 



While the best results are usually obtained by com- 

 pletely preparing the soil and cultivating it for a few 

 years after planting, farm owners should be aware of 

 the possibility of starting hundreds of young walnuts 

 in their wood lots and elsewhere at the expense of only 

 a little labor. This will be a good step in the process 

 of securing useful and money-making trees on parts of 

 the farm which would perhaps otherwise be waste land, 

 making no return at all to its owner for its cost in care 

 and taxes. Further information in regard to methods 

 of storing and planting the nuts and caring for the wood 

 lot can be obtained from the state foresters of the var- 

 ious States or from the Forest Service, Department of 

 Agriculture, at Washington. 



