1390 



AMKK1CAN FORESTRY 



qualitative growth on cut-over lands is one of the most 

 important and urgent problems in American forestry is 

 conceded by the most authoritative foresters. This is 

 one of the four major problems which the chairman of 

 the forestry committee in the Division of Biology and 

 Agriculture of the National Research Council recom- 

 mends as worthy of immediate and thorough considera- 

 tion. Heretofore, we have generally been instructed 

 that the height growth of the season cannot be accurately- 

 ascertained until late in fall or during the winter months 

 when the weather is rela- 

 tively unfavorable for field 

 work and the days rather 

 short. Consequently, it now 

 follows that since trees 

 actually cease growing in 

 height in May or June, no 

 reasonable exceptions can 

 henceforth be filed against 

 the collection of height 

 growth data immediately 

 after the cessation of 

 growth in summer. 



It should be understood, 

 however, that the problem 

 WHEN TREES GROW 

 is but a prelude to the 

 major problem, which is 

 far more comprehensive, 

 and includes also a study 

 of diameter and volume 

 growth of the stem and the 

 growth of roots, all of 

 which should be under- 

 taken ; for the results de- 

 rived therefrom would be 

 of great economic value. 



A knowledge of WHEN 

 TREES GROW also aids 

 in the determination of the 

 best time to peel bark. Bark- 

 can be peeled satisfactorily only when the sap is abundant 

 and active. Briefly, the bark peeling season coincides 

 with the growing season of trees, even to the extent that 

 lumbermen recognize a "second sap" period during June 

 in Chestnut Oak trees. This furnishes practical proof 

 that the second period of growth recurrs rather regularly 

 in this species. The second period is usually short and 

 the bark does not peel so satisfactorily as in the first 

 period of the season. It is, therefore, reconimendable 

 that the period of active growth be accurately determined 



THE OLD AND THE NEW 



Not an evergreen tree decorated with candles but a Pitch Pine witli it 

 characteristic erect new growth. 



for each species, the bark of which is peeled, in order to 

 determine the exact limits of bark peeling season. 



A thorough study of the growth of trees will also 

 furnish much-needed information to the legal profession. 

 Many legal decisions concerning boundaries and titles 

 hinge on the question whether each growth ring repre- 

 sents the growth of one season, or if fictitious rings arc 

 sometimes formed. The writer examined a large number 

 of Pitch Pines and Chestnut ( >ak trees and found that 

 tktitious rings are regularly formed when a prolonged 



resting period occurs within 

 the growing season. Hence, 

 in some cases two rings 

 represent the growth of a 

 season, instead of one an- 

 nual ring. 



The problem — WHEN 

 TREES GROW is not only 

 of technical interest and 

 economic value but might 

 be used as a means of de- 

 veloping real tree apprecia- 

 tion among the children of 

 our public schools. The 

 best soil in which to plant 

 love for trees is the heart 

 of childhood and woman- 

 hood. The present lack of 

 a fuller appreciation and a 

 more compelling warmth 

 towards the out-of-doors in 

 which we daily move and 

 often toil is largely due to 

 the kind of education prac- 

 ticed in the past and still 

 retained in a few ultra-con- 

 servative communities. It 

 is pedagogically criminal to 

 instruct the boys and girls 

 of the United States con- 

 cerning the Eucalyptus trees 

 of Australia, the Big Trees of California, the Yew 

 trees of England, and the Cypress trees of the South 

 without mentioning the White Oak, Chestnut, Tulip tree 

 or White Pine which may stand near the schoolhouse 

 door. And merely to mention the names of these trees 

 is not sufficient This simply serves as an introduction, 

 but if the children are also instructed concerning their 

 growth and other activities they begin really to know 

 these trees, and will continue to observe and study 

 their habits. 



WE WANT TO RECORD YOUR MEMORIAL TREE PLANTING. PLEASE ADVISE 

 THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



