SYLVICULTURE. 



62c per lb.; for European White Birch (Betula alba), 8c per Ib. 

 Germinating percentage is bad, especially if seeds are not kept in 

 loose storage. The soil requires little preparation for seed plant- 

 ing. A heavy layer of humus must be removed. Seed can be 

 planted any time from fall to spring. The old foresters used to 

 plant the seed on the snow, so as to have the seeds washed into 

 the soil by melting snow. 



The southern Birches, being solitary, might be planted in 

 irregular patches or trenches, or in places where the mineral soil 

 is exposed by the fall of trees whirled out of the ground with 

 stumps and roots. European Birch is very modest, thriving well 

 on dry soil. 



The seedlings are very hardy. They suffer, however, from 

 weeds, grass or leaves blown over them and depriving them of air 

 and sunlight. Betula lenta, at Biltmore, is apt to " damp off." 



E. Beech. 



Nuts appear every three to seven years in the woods. The 

 nuts ripening in October had better be planted at once after 

 ripening, though much endangered in winter by mice.- Storage over 

 winter, possible as in White Oak acorns, requires still more care. 

 If spring planting is resorted to, nuts germinate within five or six 

 weeks. Beech seedlings must have a shelter growth, and cannot 

 survive in the open (excepting moist mountain slopes). The prepara- 

 tion of soil is made with hoe or spade roughly, to a depth of three 

 inches. Abroad, Beech is often used for an undergrowth in pole 

 woods of Pine, Oak, Tamarack, Ash, etc., with a view to im- 

 proving the humus and, indirectly, the boles of the trees forming 

 the upper story. " Beech is the mother of the soil," because it 

 furnishes the best humus. Beech is exacting; it requires strong 

 and moist soil. Pure forests of Beech are found at Biltmore at 

 6,000 feet elevation; and extensively in Swain country at 4,000- 

 4,500 feet, with Poplars as standards in an upper story. The price 

 of German Beechnuts is two pounds for five cents. 



F. Alders. 



The western Alder, Alnus Oregona, and the European Alder 

 are valuable, while the eastern Alder is only a shrub lining the 

 creeks. European Alder is invaluable as a swamp tree and for 

 plantations on very binding soil (clay pits). The seed of tlio 

 European species is worth 10 cents per pound. Seeds ripen in 

 October and are best kept over winter in the cones. The small 

 seedling is not sensitive to heat and cold, but suffers under the 

 heavy grass usually found in swamps. Since swamps are inaccessible 



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