86 



Garden and Forest. 



[Al'RIL l8. I? 



growth. This is a mistake. Conifers can be safely trans- 

 planted just as soon as the soil is dry and friable. They 

 can, however, be moved later than deciduous trees, as they 

 begin to grow later. 



These are the general rules for successful tree-planting. 

 Certain families or species sometimes require special treat- 

 ment. IMagnolias should be moved late, and after their 

 roots are in active operation, which is shown by the un- 

 folding of the leaf buds. Walnuts and Hickories, as they 

 have strong, deep tap-roots, should, if they are to grow 

 into tine trees, be planted when very small. Seedlings 

 two or three years old, when finally transplanted, make 

 the best trees. All the Oaks make better trees when per- 

 manently planted young. This is true of all the White 

 Oaks. Some of the Black Oaks, however, especially the 

 Red Oak and the Water Oak, can be safely transplanted, if 

 they have been properly grown in nu;series, when they 

 are ten or twelve feet high. Shallow rooting trees, like 

 the Maples, Lindens and Elms, may be moved, with proper 

 precautions, after they have reached a considerable size 

 and age. Small specimens, even of these trees, move bet- 

 ter, however, and in the end give better results and more 

 satisfaction. 



The man who plants one good tree thoroughly well, and 

 then takes care of it after it is planted, does more for him- 

 self and the community in which he lives, than the man 

 who sets a hundred, badly selected and badly planted, or 

 who neglects his trees after he has planted them. 



An American School of Forestry. 



AN article on another page of this paper gives an e,x- 

 ample of the close measurements and calculation 

 that are made by expert foresters in countries where every 

 bundle of faggots is taken into account in estimates of for- 

 est production. Under such conditions the theory and 

 practice of forestry are brought to a mathematical basis, 

 and the business of the forester not only embraces the art 

 of growing trees and forests, and of utilizing and disposing 

 of wood products, but it necessitates accurate financial cal- 

 culation, so that the largest possible production may be 

 made with the smallest outlay. The accomplished ft>rester 

 in Germany must be a financier as well as a mathema- 

 tician, for, practically, he has the handling of large capital 

 invested in wood production. And since the margins are 

 narrow, the time over which the operations extend long 

 and the factors which enter into the calculation variable 

 and uncertain, there must be frequent measurement and 

 constant adjustment and readjustment of the elements of 

 the problem. 



It is plain that America offers no field for those refine- 

 ments of forest practice. So long as there are vast areas 

 where wood can be had for the chopping there will be no 

 call for experts to estimate laboriously the exact amount of 

 increase on a given area of woodland in a year or in a de- 

 cade. This does not imply that no system of forestry is 

 possible in the United States, but that for the present, at 

 least, it must, be a different system. What is known as 

 "intensive farming" would be folly on a western prairie, 

 but agriculture is profitable there, nevertheless, when con- 

 ductecl in a cruder way, or on the only system practicable 

 under the circumstances. The time may come, as a closer 

 husbanding of natural resources is demanded on what are 

 now cheap lands, when e^'ery rood of farm land will be- 

 come as producti\'e as a garden spot. In like manner the 

 time may come when the same care will be given to the 

 details of forest managenient here that is devoted to them 

 in Germany to-day, and until some progress is made in 

 that direction there is no encouragement here for a young 

 man to study forestry. This is one calling for which no 

 opportunity or opening presents itself in the United States. 

 Nowhere in the whole country is there assured employ- 

 ment for a single trained forester. 



r)f course no skilled foresters will appear until there is a 

 demand for their services, and there is but one source from 

 which that demand is likely to come for some time, at least. 

 In spite of the unchecked spoliation of our public timber 

 lands, the Government still owns ■i'ast forest tracts, 

 situated largely at the sources of our most important rivers. 

 It is true that our national forest polic)^ so far as any set- 

 tled policy exists, seems to have been framed for the en- 

 couragement of fraud and depredation. But it must be 

 assumed that an awakened and instructed public sentiment 

 will soon force Congress to make some honest effort for the 

 preservation of the public forests. With the effort will 

 come the need of guards and inspectors, whose duties at 

 first will be to protect the timber from fire and thieves and 

 devastating animals. Even an unskilled patrol, if free 

 from political favoritism, and elficiently organized, would 

 save for the country every )'ear many times its cost. But 

 it would soon be evident that for a reasonably successful 

 forest administration, the service, and especially its higher 

 executive positions, would need olScers with a special 

 training. 



For this purpose, if the highest eificiency were desired, an 

 American school of forestry would alone suffice. There are 

 laws of plant growth and principles of forest management 

 which hold good the world over. But even from a cultural 

 point of view the American forester would need to be 

 learned in American forest-botany and familiar with the 

 modifications of general practice vi^hich our climatic pecu- 

 liarities necessitate. Besides this, he should be familiar 

 with our business usages and our habits of thought in 

 political matters. Years must elapse before a corps of 

 teachers can be gathered and students graduated. And why 

 should such a school attract students, so long as years of 

 thorough training give no assurance of employment.? 



In a paper read before the Massachusetts State Board of 

 Agriculture last winter it was suggested by Mr. John 

 Robinson that a United States School of Forestry should be 

 organized and conducted on precisely the same principles 

 as the United States Military Academy. Students should 

 receive an allowance from Government just as the Ca- 

 dets at West Point do. The course should be thorough, 

 extending over a period of from five to eight years, and a 

 permanent appointment in the Forest Service, with oppor- 

 tunity for promotion, should be given to each graduate. In 

 no other way, so far as we know, can young men of intel- 

 ligence and ambition be induced to devote themselves to 

 the study of forestry as a profession. An assured and hon- 

 orable position for life ought to prove an adequate attrac- 

 tion. And in no way can the Government be as certain 

 of a Forest Service of a guaranteed quality and with a 

 proper cspn'l de corps as when it educates its own officials 

 and has the power to prescribe examinations for a commis- 

 sion as rieid as those at West Point. 



Easter Flowers in New York. 



A FEW years ago our churches were decorated at 

 Easter with great numbers of "made pieces" — 

 crosses chiefly — often of very large size ; and their display 

 in the shops on Saturdays attracted crowds of gazers. Now 

 such pieces are scarcely ever ordered. The churches are 

 decorated with growing flowers set against a background 

 of palms, and with quantities of Sm lax and other vines. 

 The fact certainly shows an improvement in taste ; and it 

 is also pleasant to note that Easter flowers are no longer 

 sent to the churches only, but are x'ery common as gifts to 

 friends. 



The sale was apparently large this year, but the flowers 

 and plants themselves were by no means so good as in 

 some former seasons. The florists explain this fact, how- 

 ever, by reference to the earl)' date upon which the festival 

 fell and the dark skies which have ruled for the past few 

 weeks. The best things to be seen were, perhaps, the 

 Lilies, which appeared in great quantities and in several 



