936 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The cambium layer is a coat of growth over all parts 

 of the tree, with its roots and branches. This cambium 

 layer, with the aid of leaves and rootlets, manufactures 

 a substance which goes to make up the wood of the tree, 

 and about half of this wood substance comes from the 

 air and the other half from the water and soil. The 

 water and the soil dissolved within it are taken in through 

 the roots, and the air is taken in through the leaves. The 

 material from the roots is carried up through the larger 

 roots, through the outer layers of the trunk, clear to the 

 leaves, where the water is given off into the air. But 

 the food parts are kept and mi.xed with the parts of the 

 air which the tree uses ; the two combined become the 

 stuff of which the tree is made. 



THE leaf is a factory. The green pulp in the leaf 

 is part of the machinery, which is set in motion 

 by the power of the sun. The finished product 

 is largely starch. This starchy matter is stored in the 

 sapwood to be used for the growth of next year's leaves, 

 but since starch cannot be directly used by the plant in 

 that form, it must be changed to sugar. Thus the leaves, 

 also, are obliged to do double work and have to digest 

 the food which they have manufactured for the tree's 

 use. They change the starch to sugar and to other sub- 

 stances which form parts of the tree's diet. 



The tree works very fast and finishes most of its task 

 of growing by midsummer. The autumn leaf is one 

 which has completed its work, and the green starch ma- 

 chinery has been withdrawn and is safely stored in the 

 woody part of the tree. The leaf may then be gold or 

 red, for it has in it only materials which the tree can no 

 longer use. It is a mistake to think that the frost causes 

 the brilliant colors of the foliage. These colors are 

 caused by the natural old age of the leaves and the de- 

 ])arture of the green material, for when the leaf takes on 

 its brilliant color it is ready to depart from the tree. 

 Its duty is done, and a thin layer grows between the 

 stem and the twig to which it has been attached, and 

 when this growth is finished the leaf drops of its own 

 weight, aided, perhaps, by the autumn winds. 



E\'ERV step in the growth of the tree is recorded 

 in the twigs and in the trunk. Those who have 

 learned to know the meaning of leaf scars can 

 tell how old a branch is, and can tell the struggles through 

 which that branch has passed. The layers of growth are 

 also recorded within the trunk, and one can tell just how 

 old a trunk or branch may be by counting these annual 

 layers or rings. Most of the material in these rings is 

 deposited in the spring or period of greatest growth 

 activity. The spring part of the annual ring is therefore 

 more porous and generally lighter in color than the sum- 

 mer portion. Some rings are wide and others are narrow, 

 and the width of the rings and their formation show 

 whether the tree has had good years or bad years. A verv 

 dry season will leave its mark on the tree in the shajje of 

 a narrow annual ring, because the tree could not make 

 much growth without enough moisture. Even injuries 

 are recorded, and a bad fire scar in one year may be fol- 



lowed in after years with narrow growth because the tree 

 was poorly nourished on that side which was exposed to 

 the fire. Such an accident is likely to make the tree 

 grow twisted or crooked so that the trunk instead of being 

 round will be oval in shape. Other trees, exposed to harsh 

 winds, will not grow as rapidly on the exposed side as on 

 the other, and these, too, may grow in distorted or lop- 

 sided forms. When one learns to look for such records 

 the trees will tell their own stories. 



A SUCCESSFUL TREE PLANTER 



RICHARD JAMES DONOVAN, a lawyer of 

 New York City, has just completed the plant- 

 ing of 4;iO,000 pine trees at Pine Park, Franklin 

 County. New York. Seventy thousand of these pine 

 trees were planted this spring and the entire planting has 

 been completed in three years. The work, which is known 

 as under planting, is located about Pine Lake, Lily Pad 

 Lake, Rainbow Lake and Clear Pond, in the townships 

 of Franklin and Brighton in the Adirondack Moun- 

 tains between Loon Lake and Lake Placid. 



Mr. Donovan says: "The trees are thriving and the 

 loss has not been more than 2 per cent of the entire 

 planting. These trees were all purchased from the State 

 Conservation Commission at prices ranging from $L50 

 per thousand to $4.00 per thousand, depending upon the 

 age of the tree. The cost of planting is only from $3.00 

 to $5.00 per acre and from GOO to 1,000 trees are planted. 

 A good man will plant LOOO seedling trees in a day." 



He finds from experiences of tree planting that guides 

 and all natives living in the vicinity have become intensely 

 interested in the protection and care of newly planted 

 forest from fires. There have been no fires in the vicinity 

 since tree planting began and the burning of oil on the 

 locomotives by the New "S'ork Central and Delaware & 

 Hudson Railroads and the patrol which follows each 

 train from station to station during the dry season, and 

 the look-out signal stations established by the State on 

 Loon Lake Mountain and St. Regis Mountain appear to 

 give complete protection to the forests. 



Mr. Donovan further says: "Tree planting is a splen- 

 did investment because it rapidly enhances the value of 

 the land, makes it more salable and in a few years will 

 develop a fine timber and lumber forest and adds to the 

 scenery in that charming mountain and lake region and 

 gives protection to the birds and wild game and improves 

 the water sheds. It makes better shooting and fishing. 

 F.very owner of land and every native Adirondacker 

 ought to become an enthusiastic tree planter. The in- 

 terest that it stimulates and the outdoor life that it culti- 

 vates is a fine asset to people both for health as well as 

 for financial gain. The Adirondacks, with its 1,800 lakes 

 and numerous pure streams and lofty mountains, ought to 

 become nature's greatest playground and health resort on 

 the earth, and it will be if people plant trees and maintain 

 the existing forest by protection from fires. Its health- 

 ful climate is unsurpassed. The Adirondack region is 

 truly -America's Killarney." 



