AMERICAN FORESTRY 



MAKIXC, A Nolil.K GROVE OUT OF THE ERSTWHILE WOODLOT. 



ic with the practical in running your 

 o.umry place, let us not lose sight of 

 the li -liar in our desire for beauty; 

 ami dn imt for a moment assume that 

 5tr) is in any sense a non-paying 

 dietic luxury. It is the most prac- 

 tical tiling yi ui can do. 



1 kno\\ of nu UK ire pleasurable art 



than the amelioration of the prosaic 



i \\oodlot. I'.y the judicious use of 



the axe and the planted tree it can be 



a forest of surpassing beauty, an 



al>ode for birds and wild things; a place 



vistas, of cool shady ravines where 



sheen ot" balsams and the 



fronds of hemlocks contrast 



uth the Blowing greens of oaks and 



pies; of clean open groves, where 



t" v ' [barks and tulip trees and 



niiis raise their green canopy 



erhead and the Forest tloor be- 



"'1 and s\\eet and grassy and 



ill- i lilic^ about. 



'iich of the axe here and there, a 



oration by replanting of the trees 



iiully grew in profusion, 



ill a hue sense of what to take 



and what to leave, a knowledge of 

 where to look for features which may be 

 wrought into points of beauty these 

 are the brain tools that you must bring 

 to the abandoned woodlot. 



A knowledge of what to leave is your 

 first essential. Here is a pig-nut hick- 

 ory, recognizable by its seven-leaflet 

 leaf and its small thin-shelled, bitter 

 hickory nut. The farmer will tell you 

 that it is worthless and had better be 

 marked for firewood but not so the 

 forester. In the autumn that tree will 

 be a flaming shaft of pure pale yellow 

 and if it is in a position where it can 

 be featured (and it usually manages to 

 grow in just such a position) you had 

 best save it. Again : we are thinning 

 a clump of maples in order that the 

 dominant ones may become large and 

 fine. Which shall be marked? Look 

 well then to their leaves; this one's a 

 soft maple, its feathery leaf betrays it ; 

 away with it and give the sugar maples 

 a chance ! There is a red maple, identi- 

 fied by its round-based, toothed leaf. 

 Shall we mark it for the axe? Not so 



