MUNICIPAL FORESTRY IN NEW YORK 



161 



Chenango County is a region of great natural beauty; 

 the hills and valleys combine to make one of those 

 picturesque counties for which central New York is 

 famous. Mad Brook, a small stream rising a few miles 



SCOTCH PINE PLANTED IN 1910 



Mr. R. P. Kutschbach, of Sherburne, N. Y., who is in charge of the planta- 

 tions, is standing beside the trees, which average 12 feet in height, some of 

 the more vigorous ones reaching 15 feet. 



to the northeast of Sher- 

 burne, meanders through 

 open fields and drains a 

 watershed of more than a 

 thousand acres; it supplies 

 two reservoirs located about 

 a mile from the town. On 

 the banks of the stream is a 

 growth of willows, and the 

 moist lands bordering the 

 stream are being planted to 

 ash, spruce, and other trees 

 which find the conditions 

 favorable. Above the stream, 

 the' country slopes up to a 

 hill on which is a body of 

 mature timber, a remnant of 

 the vast forest which originally covered the hills of 

 Chenango County. In these forests, pine, hemlock, 

 maple, beech, ash and birch reached large sizes, and 

 contributed greatly to the natural resources of the coun- 

 try. But few of the pieces of woodland now remaining 

 give any idea of the original magnificence of these for- 

 ests; agriculture and stock-raising have demanded open, 

 cultivated fields ; and the forests were largely cut down. 

 In some parts of the surrounding country, however, 

 agriculture has been attended with so little success that 

 a second growth of timber is rapidly taking possession of 

 the ground, and the proportion of woodland is actually 

 increasing. Wherever tree-growth occurs on this water- 

 shed it is, of course, being protected and encouraged, and 

 the open spots that occur will eventually be filled up by 

 planting appropriate species of trees, if they have not 

 already succeeded in establishing themselves by natural 

 seeding. 



The hillsides about the resorvoir abound with springs 

 which, of course, would flow more copiously and with 

 greater regularity if the slope were fully protected by a 



AT THE EDGE OF A WHITE PINE PLANTATION 



These trees have been planted 10 years, and average about 9 feet in 

 height. The growth during the last two years has been especially good, 

 and the tallest trees will reach a height of 12 feet. 



cover of forest trees; and since water conservation is 

 the main object in view, one of the most important func- 

 tions of the Reservoir Park is to safeguard these springs, 

 which help to keep the reservoirs filled. 



The varied topography and exposures give rise to 

 quite a wide range of soil conditions, especially as re- 

 gards moisture ; this affords an opportunity to employ 

 several species of trees for the work of reforestation, 

 chief among which are white pine, red or Norway pine, 

 Scotch pine, Norway spruce, white ash, cottonwood and 

 red oak. All of these species have been tried, and obser- 

 vations have been made to determine their relative merits 

 under the existing conditions. Owing to the fact that 

 some of the earlier plantations of white pine have been 

 attacked and damaged by the white pine weevil, red, or 

 Norway pine and Scotch pine, which are not subject to 

 the attack of this insect, have been substituted for white 

 pine during the last few years. The white pine weevil 

 is an insect that attacks the growing shoot of the tree, 

 causing its death. The effect is to force one of the lateral 

 branches of the tree to become the leader, and although 



the tree itself rarely dies, it 

 is always forked or crooked, 

 as a result of the insect's 

 work. Red oak was tried in 

 1915 on the drier hill tops, 

 but has not given the satis- 

 faction that was expected. 

 Hemlock, one of the most 

 abundant of the trees in the 

 original forests, is found re- 

 producing exceedingly well 

 and is reclaiming consider- 

 able territory along the edge 

 of the woods, and although 

 this species is slow in 

 growth, it will be left where 



NORWAY SPRUCE PLANTED BETWEEN ROWS OF WHITE PINE 



While making fairly good growth during the last two seasons, the spruce 

 has taken many years to become established. The quality of the soil here 

 is better adapted to pine. 



it occurs naturally, because it is so well adapted to the 

 conditions. 



The tree planting has been done with mattocks, the 

 men working in crews of two. In this method of work, 



