1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



515 



chemically treated makes good posts 

 and ties. In most of its qualities it 

 compares with the shortleaf pine of 

 the South, and with western yellow 

 pine. 



PROPAGATION. 



Red pine grows only from seed. 

 While the trees do not produce large 

 quantities of seed, and seed years oc- 

 cur at intervals of from two to four 

 years, there is usually a sufficient na- 

 tural reproduction wherever there are 

 old trees. 



The seeds ripen in the fall of the 

 second year after the flowers appear, 

 and may then be gathered and kept 

 over winter in any cool, dry place. 



The seeds should be planted in the 

 spring in well-prepared beds, either 

 in drills about 5 inches apart extend- 

 ing across the beds, or broad-cast, and 

 covered lightly with earth well pul- 

 verized and pressed down firmly. 

 When the seedlings are two years old 

 they may be transplanted to nursery 

 rows, or set in their permanent places 

 in the plantation. 



It is desirable to keep the nursery 

 beds moderately moist, for if too dry 

 the plants will either die or send their 

 roots so deep in search of water that 

 they will be difficult to transplant. 



One pound of seed contains about 

 75,ooo grains, and, under average con- 

 ditions, will plant about 400 lineal feet 

 in drills, or 100 square feet broadcast. 



The young seedling develops a 

 strong taproot, but later produces sev- 

 eral stout laterals which firmly anchor 

 the mature tree, unless the soil be very 

 shallow. 



PLANTING. 



For planting red pine it is best to 

 use seedlings two or three years old 

 which have been raised in nursery 

 beds. 



The -young trees should be set out 

 in the spring, late in April or early 

 in May. They may be planted in fur- 

 rows or in holes made with a spade, 

 mattock, or planting bar. As a rule^ 

 the proper spacing is 4 feet each way, 

 although this will vary in different 

 localities. 



_ It is usually advisable tq plant red 

 pine pure, though on good soil sugar 

 maple, beech, or elm might be mixed 

 with it. Any associate must be of 

 slower growth than the red pine, or 

 the latter will be overtopped and sup- 

 pressed. Mixture with white pine has 

 generally proved satisfactory. 



CULTIVATION AND CARL. 



If red pine is planted on cut-over 

 lands, more rapid-growing species 

 such as jack pine, aspen, and birch 

 must be prevented from choking it 

 out. No cultivation is needed, and the 

 protection necessary is from fire and 

 grazing. 



The red pine, being intolerant of 

 shade, very readily clears itself of its 

 lower branches when close-grown, and 

 never requires pruning. 



EXAMPLES. 



Several plantations of red pine have 

 been made in New England, where 

 this species makes more rapid growth 

 than the planted white pine, since it is 

 unaffected by the prevalent white pine 

 weevil. 



A most instructive example of a suc- 

 cessful red pine plantation is found 

 near Lake Winnepesaukee, New 

 Hampshire, where it was planted pure 

 and also in mixture with white pine, 

 about thirty years ago. Measure- 

 ments made in a twenty-seven-year- 

 old stand of these two species show 

 that the red pine has an average height 

 f 34,9 feet and is taller than the white 

 pine. 



