32 BULLETIN 820, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



lings, and tliis was done at a total cost of $6 or less per acre for stock 

 and planting. The State Forester ^ says : 



Two-year seedlings are so much cheaper than transplants, both as to material cost 

 and labor of planting, and the death rate in plantations made with them is so small 

 that we do not think that the increased cost of transplants is justifiable in planting 

 on a large scale. 



The most favorable time for planting in the spring is from the 

 middle of April to the middle of May, and in the fall during the months 

 of September and October. 



The artificial establishment of jack pine stands by sowing the seed 

 broadcast over the proposed site has been attempted, but, although 

 the experiment was tried under many different conditions, it never 

 met with much success. These experiments included spring and fall 

 sowing and broadcasting on the snow in late winter. Some of the 

 seeds germinated and became quite thrifty plants early in the spring, 

 but were killed by the excessive heat during June and July. 

 . The results of sowing and planting experiments in the northern 

 half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan indicate that planting home- 

 grown nursery stock, and, in exceptional cases, thrifty 2 to 3 year 

 old wild stock, promises the most satisfactory results. 



THINNINGS. 



The future value of dense young stands of jack pine may be greatly 

 increased by thinning out the less promising and releasing the large 

 and promising trees from competition for light and soil moisture, 

 and in this way concentrating the growth energy of the stand into a 

 smaller number and the best trees. In many cases some of the better 

 trees should be cut, where these grow too close together, in order to 

 establish a uniformly thinned stand, with the crown of each tree 

 practically free on all sides, or barely touching its neighbors. 



I Marcus Schaaf. 



