4 BULLETIN" 153, XJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



As the old plantations are cut and the need is felt for new wind- 

 breaks to take their place, trees will be planted for this purpose. 

 White pine, Norway spruce, and white spruce are likely to be the 

 favorite species. There will be some planting to provide shade for 

 stock and to grow fence posts and other products for use on the farm. 

 Such plantations, however, will be restricted to the less valuable 

 land, and their extent will depend very largely on the success of those 

 already established. 



In some of the more newly settled districts, as yet practically 

 treeless, planting of the rapid-growing hardwoods is still going on, 

 and will probably continue for some time. 



CENTRAL HARDWOOD REGION. 



The central hardwood region comprises Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, 

 and southern Michigan. Thus far very little planting has been done 

 in any of these States. When the settlers in Iowa, Nebraska, and 

 Kansas were setting out trees, the men of the central region were 

 engaged in clearing their land of one of the finest hardwood forests 

 in the world, which stood as a barrier against agricultural develop- 

 ment. 



Within the past 5 or 10 years, however, forest planting has received 

 a stimulus through the activities of State forest officers, and also 

 through the distribution by some of the States, either free or at cost, 

 of forest-tree seedlings raised in State nurseries. By 1910 Ohio had 

 distributed more than 1,000,000 of such seedlings, and in 1907 and 

 1908 Michigan distributed 396,000. Indiana and Michigan have 

 State demonstration areas where different species are planted 

 experimentally. 



As the soil in portions of the hardwood regions deteriorates under 

 cultivation, larger and larger areas will find their best use in the pro- 

 duction of timber. In Indiana alone some 6,000,000 acres are at 

 present unproductive. The chief purpose of planting will probably 

 be to secure fence posts, handle material, and other products which 

 can be grown in a comparatively short time. At present the species 

 most widely planted are black locust and hardy catalpa. Others 

 being set out include white ash, white, Scotch, and western yellow 

 pine, yellow poplar, various oaks, European larch, Norway spruce, 

 chestnut, and black walnut. 



NORTHEAST REGION. 



Early conditions in the northeast region, comprising Pennsylvania, 

 New Jersey, New York, and the New England States, were much the 

 same as in the central hardwood region. There was an abundance 

 of natural timber which was gradually removed with the develop- 

 ment of agriculture. Yet the first experiments in forest planting in 



