DIFFICULTIES OF REFORESTATION 41 



tory is to follow removal of the forest it should be done at 

 once, and before the seeds of worthless species can be sown. 

 Cut the forest-growth clean, pile and burn the brush, but 

 prevent fire from running over the tract, and either plant 

 seeds or set out trees in early spring next after removal of 

 the forest. If a year is allowed to elapse, a growth of stuff 

 will spring up and the planted seeds or trees will have an 

 unnecessary battle to fight, which may end in their defeat. 

 If no planting is done, and fire does not run over the 

 ground, a growth of weed trees mingled with good species 

 will come up, and the weed trees, being faster growers than 

 the others, will suppress the useful ones, as elsewhere un- 

 der like conditions, the same as on burned-over ground. 

 Only prompt planting can bring success. This method is 

 largely followed in Europe where intensive forestry is 

 profitably carried on. 



There remains to be considered one other condition of 

 the ground where planting trees is certainly advisable. That 

 is in abandoned fields where there are few or no obstacles 

 in the shape of tree-growth, and where grass and low weeds 

 cover the ground. If there is a sod on the ground experi- 

 ence shows that the young trees will usually do better when 

 planted in it than when it has been ploughed under, unless 

 a year or more elapses before planting, for if planted on 

 newly turned sod the plants are liable to die through drain- 

 age of the moisture from the roots into the open spaces 

 surrounding the sods. Moreover, the vegetable mould of 

 the sod, and the growth it supports, act as a cover to the soil 

 and prevent rapid evaporation. Neither is it necessary to cut 

 away or remove the grass and low weeds. Experience of the 

 Pennsylvania Forestry Department has shown that young 

 White Pines grow as well when the grass is not removed. 

 It may, and doubtless is, advisable to plough ground and 

 let the sod of the prairies rot before attempting to plant, 

 and in such cases it will be advisable to cultivate the ground 

 a few years after planting, and if the land is fertile low-grow- 

 ing crops may be grown with the trees for one or two years. 



