Scope and Use of Arbor Day. 85 



The effect of this has been actually opposed to the forester's 

 teachings. 



Arbor Day is the time for disseminating sound, practical 

 knowledge regarding forestry in its broader aspect. The mere 

 act of setting a few trees, without reference to the commercial 

 utility and the protective value of forests, is but a small part of 

 the work of the day. 



The proper season for planting is not everywhere the same. 

 South of the thirty-seventh parallel, especially in the more humid 

 regions, fall planting is perhaps preferable, but north of this the 

 winter comes on so quickly that the trees have scarcely time to 

 develop roots strong enough to support them until spring, and 

 spring planting is therefore more advisable. The right time to 

 plant in spring is when the ground has ceased to freeze and before 

 budding begins. Evergreens may be planted somewhat later 

 than hardwoods. The day to plant is almost as important as the 

 season. Sunny, windy weather is very unfavorable; cool, damp 

 days are the best. For this reason it is well to leave the date for 

 Arbor Day unfixed, so that the best opportunity may be chosen. 

 Such exercises as are desired can follow when the planting is done. 



The careful selection of trees for a specific use and situation is 

 essential to success, and proper planting is equally important. 

 Though less fastidious than agricultural crops in their demands 

 upon the soil, trees can not be set in a rough soil at random and 

 then expected to flourish. They should be planted without 

 allowing their roots time to dry out from exposure to the air. 

 When delay between procuring the trees and their planting cannot 

 be avoided, the roots must be kept moist by standing them in a 

 "puddle" made of earth and water mixed to the consistency of 

 cream, or "heeled-in" by nearly burying them in fresh earth. 

 In setting the trees it is important to place them about three 

 inches deeper than they stood originally, and to spread out the 

 roots and pack the soil firmly about tliem. Two inches of soil 

 at the top should be left ver}' loose, to act as a mulch to retain the 

 moisture. 



Large trees are by no means always the best to plant. 

 Small seedlings may be secured easily and cheaply, and are much 

 more likely to live. If these are set out in good numbers after 

 the pattern of a commercial plantation they will become in due 

 time a true forest on a small scale. 



If only a few trees are planted, as is usually the case, it is still 

 possible to make plain the true relation of such work to forestry. 

 No matter how few the trees, they may be made to illustrate 

 planting for commercial or protective use. 



The scope of Arbor Day planting may be sometimes broad- 

 ened by securing permission from some public-spirited citizen or 



