276 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



And so if we step out on a cloudy night this month, 

 when the birds are migrating low to escape flying through 

 the mist-laden clouds, and hear their strange calls only 

 faintly resembling their familiar daytime notes, we can 

 picture to ourselves, the thousands of winged travelers 

 returning from a sojourn in the tropics and pushing on 

 through the black night, guided, by an innate sense of di- 

 rection, pursuing their course straight to their old homes. 

 We can think over the past ages through which this 

 migrating habit has evolved to the days when all North 

 America basked in a tropical sun and birds darted among 

 the palms and tree ferns without ever a thought of leav- 

 ing the land of their forefathers. Then we can picture 

 to ourselves the coming of the ice age and the destruc- 

 tion of all the life that could not adapt itself to the 

 changed conditions or flee before it. We see the birds 

 gradually pushed to the southward, encroaching upon 

 those already there. We understand the crowding that 

 ensued and how these birds spread northward again as 

 the glaciers receded, only to be forced back once more 

 with the coming of winter. Then, with the withdrawal 

 of the ice and the evolution of the seasons, these migra- 

 tions, by repetition through the ages, became permanent 

 habits or instincts; and with the ensuing modifications 

 in the contour of the continent, and the changes in the 

 location of the food supply, many variations developed 

 in the migration route of each species which seem inex- 

 plicable today. 



We picture these things to ourselves ; we understand a 

 little better the great mystery of the bird's life, and per- 

 haps we can appreciate somewhat more fully the pres- 

 ence in our thickets and gardens of these songsters, whose 

 lives are ever one series of hardships and dangers, and 

 yet which, withal, are so expressive of the happiness and 

 joy to be derived from nature. 



BLASTING AND TREE PLANTING 

 By F. W. Wilson 



RECENTLY, nurserymen who make a specialty of 

 shade and ornamental trees have been making ex- 

 periments and a special study of transplanting 

 large trees and they have been successful beyond any- 

 thing that was ever dreamed of ten years ago. Nowadays 

 a man can buy a suburban or a country property and 

 have old shade on it within a few months after building 

 his home. 



Park Commissioners throughout the country have been 

 especially interested in these experiments with the trans- 

 planting of old shade trees. It has been a serious mat- 

 ter until recently to have a beautiful old tree in one of the 

 city parks die. It was regarded almost a national calamity 

 when the old elms in Harvard yard at Cambridge, Mass.. 

 became diseased and died. A wealthy Harvard Alumnus 

 has recently agreed to provide the money to replace these 

 old elms. 



The planting of a large old shade tree is not the sim- 

 ple matter, however, that is the planting of a young year 

 or two old seedling direct from the nursery. It is con- 



sidered an art to be able to transplant one of these large 

 old trees and have it grow and thrive. 



G. W. Sherman, a Park Commissioner of Brecken- 

 ridge, Mo., has been carrying on some interesting experi- 

 ments in transplanting of old shade trees in the Breck- 

 enridge Park. The accompanying pictures were taken by 

 him. One shows an old dead tree being blasted out with 



THE OLD TREE AND THE NEW 



After the old dead tree had been easily removed by dynamite the tree 

 seen on the right was planted, the hole being large enough to 

 accommodate its extensive root area. 



dynamite. A number of these trees ranging in size from 

 12 to 18 inches in diameter were disposed of in this way. 

 The other picture shows a tree about 24 feet high that 

 was planted in the same hole out of which the old dead 

 tree was lifted. 



Mr. Sherman is very enthusiastic over this method of 

 planting. The hole made by the explosion is large enough 

 to accommodate the new tree and gives the latter an ex- 

 ceptional chance to grow rapidly and thrive well be- 

 cause the blasting breaks up and pulverizes the soil within 

 a radius of several feet, making it easy for the newly 

 transplanted tree to throw out its new rootlets and feed- 

 ers and making available plenty of moisture and plant 

 food to give the new tree a good start and ample sus- 

 tenance to insure its steady growth. 



