154 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 
2. B. has a Tamarack swamp of 800 acres, from which he has 
cut all the timber big enough for ties. There is practically no 
demand for the smaller post timber at present, and he asks what 
he should do with it, and if it will pay him to hold it. The land 
seems to be well stocked with young trees of various ages, some 
of which have been somewhat broken down in getting out the 
larger tie timber. 
Answer: Probably the best treatment would be to let it 
alone. If the land is quite wet there is very little chance of fire 
doing much damage to it. If, however, it is liable to be dried 
out it would be a good plan to take some precautions to protect 
it from fire, if it can be done without too much expense. 
The Tamarack grows very rapidly, and there is perhaps no 
tree that will pay better than this, providing the taxes are not 
too high. While there may be no demand at present for the 
smaller stuff for fence posts, yet within a few years such a 
demand is inevitable, as the more accessible Tamarack is now 
being rapidly sought after for such purposes, and is being 
shipped in large quantities to the prairie farms. Such a Tam- 
arack swamp, if carefully looked after, is capable of continuing 
itself indefinitely and producing a fairly good annual revenue. 
The advisability of perpetuating such a swamp in Tamarack 
would depend largely on the demand for hay land, for which pur- 
poses such land is generally well adapted. 
3. <A. has sco acres of dry, sandy land. The soil blows 
badly, and is too light for grain. Clover does very well on this 
land when protected with snow in winter, but is liable to kill out 
in open winters. The subsoil is clay. 
Answer: Such land should never have been cleared for agri- 
cultural purposes, and the sooner it can be got into tree growth 
again the better for the soil. The land should be seeded down 
with rye or other crop, or possibly with clover, until something 
of a sod is formed. In this sod Jack Pine might be planted, or 
it is very probable that Jack Pine would come well from seed 
sown in furrows made in the sod. After the Jack Pine is well 
established, about 500 Norway or White Pine per acre could be 
planted to advantage. This should receive only a moderate 
crowding by the Jack Pine, and should be protected from too 
much erowding until it can take care of itself. This number of 
