137 



leaches. Often there is no ground cover except lichens and scrub huckle- 

 berry. The forest and the soil-cannot help each other until burned over 

 or mntil it dies. Then Jack pine comes and rejuvenates it. 



(quite common in reforestation) 



f. From the nbove conditions, the roots often get diseased and die 

 out, killing the forest. Trees die and thin out; the root disease does 

 not show much nTjo'tr-e the ground. Pine and spruce in Switzerland are good 

 examples. There they improved spruce temporarily by manual tiltfc, with 

 hoes' and mattocks. The condition was probably due to insufficient aer-tic 

 fro 1 -- ;;ricultural lam, . 



K. Cared-for stand-s of pine. These are pure and thrifty, tho 

 fewer in number; the total growth is the s^me as in the dense wild stand, 

 but 'abundant thinnings are made, so there is less mulch from leaves, 

 twirB. bark, etc. Is the forest soil here as well benefited as the uncaret 

 for stand with more mulch? Consider this point; &ayr said not: that wild 

 woods without thinning by man is better in soil; when man thins it out 

 the soil decreas s and no longer improves and holds the land. .Duff may 

 corne. This is an interesting question. 



h. Lack of assistance tfl soil in these pineries has led to the 

 practice of underplanting pine with beech. This adds a new young stand 

 with more and better mulch arid better tillage and helps the soil. 



i. The clear-cutting and planting method is now common. The so 

 is opened up and exposed to sun, wind and rain. The humus burns out. The 

 soil heats, dries, freezes, settles, hardens and leaches. Soil life is 

 decre co a small % of the normal, therefore fertility is seriously 

 reruced. #he soil being a poor sand y light), the changes are all the mor 

 disastrous. The -ind is the rcost import -nt factor. It is better to cut 

 small ar t a time, ttulch blows in too. A larger area has worse con* 

 ditions of soil than a small area when cut cl> an. 



i. Cle-tr-cutting; the young plantation takes 5 years to make 

 a cover, and several years mor to being the soil back to normal. This is 

 a loss of growth to trees themselves. This loss of fertility is felt for 

 years afterwards. The loss from badly 3bfe&3fci ft & leaching sands is never 

 regained, 



2) Spruce Forest. 



a. Young stand 3' and over: is dense; the cover is perfect. 

 The shallow roots till the soil near the surface, the growth is rapid, 

 there is moderate mulch. The mulch of the leaves is inferior, packs 

 closely, and resists dec-iy. 



b. gapling and pole stand: there is a very large growth per 

 acre per year. The debris and mulch are abundant, the root system con- 

 tinues shallow, and uses the top soil; it even works in duff or mule* 

 itself. Ther is good cover, the mulch is faiily abundant, but of inf 

 riot quality; the shallow tillage dries and exhausts the top soil. 



is poor aeration and poor soil life; therefore the soUlsettles, tends to 

 leach, and becomes deficient in salts, especially nitrogen. 



c. Pole or tree ^tagc: spruce continues without material 

 change; it~keeps a very dense cover, preventing all kinds of herbace6us 

 growth and reproduction (grass, etc.). 



