536 FOREST PLANTING IN MINNESOTA. 



iu case of sickness or absence to employ a substitute; the plantation 

 was to average not less than 2,500, nor more than 4,356 trees to the 

 acre ; a count and report was to be made before June 1 ; and a sworn 

 statement was to be forwarded in October, setting forth the number, 

 kind, how planted and cultivated, cost and average size of the trees 

 planted ; all planting was to be for permanent belts or groves and not 

 for sale, except as thinnings. There was to be no clubbing, or joining 

 of timber plantations upon lands owned by different parties, to secure 

 premiums. 



For medals, the association decided upon a piece in silver, of coin 

 standard, and of the size of a silver dollar, pierced for a ribbon and fur- 

 nished with a case. Each medal was to have stamped on one side a 

 wreath of forest leaves to encircle the same ; and on the reverse the 

 words "Minnesota State Forestry Association, 1876," around the edge, 

 and an oak tree in the center. Acorn badges in silver were also pro- 

 vided, with pins for wearing upon the dress. 



Mr. L. B. Hodges, of Saint Paul, the secretary of the association, in 

 a letter dated November 29, 1877, gives the latest returns of operations 

 for that year. 



The spring planting, reported by the several township assessors, amounted to 

 5,268,939 trees, of which 502,568 were planted on Arbor Day. The returns of fall 

 planting are coming in by every mail, and will come iu till January. The total amount 

 for the year 1877 cannot fall short of 7,000,000, and will probably reach 10,000,000, 

 forest trees planted iu Minnesota during the entire planting season. 



The returns of assessors are regarded by Mr. Hodges as very incomplete, 

 as it is an extra service for which no pay is allowed, and many appear 

 to take no pains to get full returns. As to the proportion of these ten 

 millions of trees that have been planted under the stimulus of premiums 

 offered by the State, there are no means of knowing. We know that 

 some would have planted without special inducement beyond self-in- 

 terest. 



Unlike the experience of the more humid regions of the Atlantic States, 

 timber-culture west of the Mississippi has difficulties to encounter which 

 require energy and patience to overcome. During the past summer, 

 in some ten or twelve counties of Minnesota, the grasshojipers proved 

 very destructive to young trees, especially to seedlings. The corre- 

 spondent just quoted mentions the following as within his experience: 



In October and November, 1876, I planted 16 acres very thickly with cottonwood 

 and willow cuttings, ash-seed, and box-elder seeds, with a few thousands of cotton- 

 wood yearliugs. Nearly all from seeds and cuttings came up well, and on the 1st of 

 June last that patch of 16 acres of young forest trees on the broad prairie was a beau- 

 tiful sight. But during the months of June and July they were nearly all devoured 

 by the "hoppers." I have this fall replanted the same ground, and more too. May 

 not grasshoppers, as well as fire, be one of the chief causes of the treeless region ? 



The State commissioner of statistics, in reporting for 1876, vsays that 

 estimates, based upon the returns received, show that a million and a 

 half of trees were planted on Arbor Day in 1876, and ten millions during 

 the season. Of these about 70 per cent were alive and in healthy, grow- 

 ing condition October 15. In noticing the results, he says : 



Indeed, from the sworn statements of parties competing for premiums, we ascertain 

 that in a large majority of instances, when the work was properly and intelligently 

 performed, when the ground was properly fitted up, and the necessary ci<7<ira/Jo« given 

 at the proper periods during the growing season, that the percentage of loss is sur- 

 prisingly small — in many instances less than 10 per cent. In analyzing the returns, 

 we iind a very large proportion of the tree-planting has been done where there is the 



