THE ART OF THE SECOND GROWTH 



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 preparation of the 

 soil is made Avith 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 improving 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 in the Southern Appalachians at 

 4,000-4,500 feet, with Poplars as standards in an upper story; pure 

 beechwoods are frequent near Louisville, Ky., in the Adirondacks 

 and in Michigan. 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 the 

 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 inaccessi- 

 ble in early spring, planting of seedlings is preferable to direct 

 seeding. The Western Alder is the common usher for Lawson's 

 ■Cypress. 



G. Ash. 



Seeds are abundant, showing about 70% germination. The 

 seedling, in the first year, develops to a length of eight or ten 

 inches, from seeds covered with three-eighths inches of dirt. Little 

 preparation of soil is needed. During the first two years, on good 

 soil, a heavy shelter overhead is easily borne. American \Miite 

 Ash may be grown on soil subject to long inundations. 



"Wliite Ash is exacting. Within one and the same acre planted 

 in White Ash, where the eye can scarcely perceive any undulations 

 of the soil, the plantation may do excellently in slight depressions, 

 and miserably on slight elevations. 



Prices of Ash seeds: European Ash, 4 cents per pound; White 

 Ash, 25 cents per pound. 



At Biltmore, White Ash seeds planted in rows six feet apart 

 have done well when the soil cover was not too heavy. 

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