PKACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOE THE MASSACHUSETTS 

 TREE PLANTER 



INTRODUCTION 



Just how many acres of land, capable of supporting forest 

 growth, are lying idle throughout the Commonwealth, it is 

 impossible at this moment to state. But to those who have 

 considered the subject, it is apparent that thousands upon 

 thousands of acres of such land exist. Almost every farm has 

 some poor land, which will bring in greater returns when 

 planted with trees, than when used for any other purpose. 

 Land owners in increasing numbers are beginning to realize 

 this fact, that much of the cleared land in this Commonwealth 

 is best capable of producing forest crops. Approximately, 

 half the State is already forested ; and undoubtedly the care 

 and improvement of these existing forests is of greater impor- 

 tance, than the planting of bare areas. But circumstances 

 in individual cases often reverse this relation, bringing it 

 about, that forest planting becomes the* line along which 

 many landowners can best work, in practicing forestry, and 

 in developing the latent resources of their land. To em- 

 phasize this fact and to provide information, sufficient to 

 answer many of the numerous questions which are continu- 

 ally being received by the state forester relative to the plant- 

 ing of forest trees, is the purpose of these pages. No 

 claim to originality is made as regards the subject matter, 

 which is mainly a compilation of facts already well known by 

 forest tree planters ; nor have all phases of forest planting 

 been considered. 



The method pursued in treating the subject has been to 

 select the five species of trees which are best adapted for 

 planting in Massachusetts, and to confine the discussion of 

 forest planting entirely to these five trees. 



