THE BIRD DEPARTMENT 



41 



WALK THROUGH THE THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD PINE GROVE INSIDE THE THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD PINE GROVE 



Not only does the owner expect to make this pine yield him a handsome Showing how scientific planting and proper care of the trees is develop- 



profit but while it is reaching a marketable size he has the advantage ing a stand that in a comparatively few years will have considerable 



of it adding greatly to the scenic beauty of his estate as is evident commercial value. Col. Lowden now plants 50,000 pine seedlings 



by this photograph. every year. 



500,000 Pines Prospering 



By Joseph C. Mason 



OUT in Oregon, Illinois, a scheme of reclamation 

 is being worked out by Colonel Frank O. Low- 

 den that is attracting the attention of forestry 

 men all over the country. When Colonel Lowden began 

 the development of Sinnissippi Farm on the Rock River, 

 he found many apparently barren spots of sandy soil 

 that offered an opportunity for experiment in tree plant- 

 ing. He determined to try pines. He started with seed- 

 lings. They grew rapidly and offered a suggestion that 

 he promptly followed up. The accompanying photographs 

 show the result. Here is a picture showing pines two 

 and a half years old. Another picture shows an exterior 

 of a pine grove thirteen years old, this grove being the 

 first planted by Colonel Lowden. A third picture is of 

 a beautiful walk through the thirteen-year pines which 

 are within a stone's throw of the Rock River. The fourth 



picture is an interior view of the thirteen-year grove. 

 For years the needles have been dropping from the trees 

 and the ground is hidden beneath a light brown covering, 

 soft and inviting. 



Colonel Lowden's experiment ceased long ago to be 

 an experiment and became a hardheaded business proposi- 

 tion. He abandoned the use of seedlings and substituted 

 transplants. At the rate of 50,000 per year, he has dotted 

 his farm with these slips of waving green until today he 

 has 500,000 pine transplants and trees, varying in age 

 from two to thirteen years, upon his farm. In a few 

 years Sinnissippi Farm will be a great green spot, winter 

 and summer. Many people in the middle west have never 

 seen a pine tree, but they will be able to see them at their 

 best only one hundred miles, as the crow would fly, west 

 cf Chicago. 



THESE PINES ARE TWO AND A HALF YEARS OLD 

 They are part of the five hundred thousand pine transplants and trees 

 upon the farm of Colonel Frank O. Lowden, at Oregon, 111. Note 

 the large yearly growth so plainly visible. 



A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD PINE GROVE 

 This grove grown from seedlings on Col. Lowden's farm is an indica- 

 tion of how the planting has grown from an experimental to a hard- 

 headed business proposition. 



