1894.] Idd [Rothrock. 



years old the sheltering forest will have done its work and may be re- 

 moved at any time. 



It should be remembered that the cone-bearing trees are social in char- 

 acter and hence do better in dense groves. In fact, one may also sny 

 dense planting is an esseniial condition upon which rests the production 

 of the best pine timber. It is probable enough that starting white pine in 

 nurseries will some day come to be here, as elsewhere, the more common 

 method, but it involves too much labor and care to recommend it at this 

 stage of the Forestry Idea in the United States, or certainly, at least, in 

 Pennsylvania. 



Black walnut will always have a special value, and to make the idea 

 more clear, it should be added that this value will depend on the charac- 

 ter of the individual log. There are in this State thousands of acres of 

 fertile river bottoms where agriculture has been practically abandoned 

 because of the frequently recurring freshets, on which the black walnut 

 would not only grow rapidly, but where it might be depended upon to 

 produce a good quality of lumber. This tree does not, at first, grow 

 rapidly on a soil of stiff limestone clay. 



There is no surer waj'^ of starting the black walnut than to allow the 

 fruit to remain out over winter under a slight cover of leaves. When 

 spring comes it will probably be found that the frost has opened the fruit 

 so that a prompt start that spring may be expected. As the black walnut 

 does not bear transplanting well, it is better that the nuts should be 

 planted where they are to remain. 



All that has been said of the method of starting the black walnut ap- 

 plies to the shellbark and hickory as well. 



The white oak is worthy of a moment's consideration. It grows with 

 great certainly from good acorns, and may be planted in drills as soon as 

 collected. If one thinks it really worth while to have his trees in the best 

 condition for a vigorous start when finally transplanted, it is a good policy 

 to lift and replant the young oaks at least twice before they are placed in 

 permanent position. Good soil should be insisted upon as a cardinal 

 point in white oak planting. If poor soil is to be occupied by oaks let the 

 planting be of rock oak, providing the soil is well drained. All that has 

 been said as to starting the white oak applies as well to starting the rock 

 oak. The same may be said of the chestnut. 



Our common locust tree, it is not generally remembered, is a native of 

 the mountain sides of this State. This fact should suggest the extreme 

 value it possesses in reclothing those steep, poor regions with a timber 

 whose value will always be appreciated. It has the further fact in its 

 favor, once fairly started, it resists better than almost any other species of 

 our trees, the periodical scorchings it receives from the spring and autumn 

 fires. 



Further consideration of this topic from the practical standpoint would 

 be out of place here. 



