MICHIGAN EXPEEIMENT STATION 13 



METHODS OF REFORESTING PINE STUMP LANDS. 

 W. J. Beal. 



"The vandalism which hews down vast stretches of woodland for gain, 

 without thought or care for the future, has too long gone on unchecked. 

 The injury done by it has often been described and can hardly be ex- 

 aggerated." (The Providence Journal). 



Fortunately for the people of Michigan, the conditions are still such 

 that, if the annual or perennial flres, browsing animals and timber thieves 

 are kept out, the land surface will very soon be clothed with a woody 

 growth. This would come about through the agency of sprouts from 

 living stumps, roots, or grubs of a considerable number of kinds of trees 

 and shrubs that were not completely killed by a burning of the materials 

 on the surface of the soil. 'Among these may be enumerated nearly all 

 of the broad-leaved trees and shrubs. Again, it is not common to find an 

 area of much size that does not have left standing some one or more 

 old trees with tops still living that were unworthy the attention of 

 lumbermen because of defects. These trees bear seeds every other 

 year, or less frequently, which the kind breezes, the birds or squirrels 

 give free transportation for long distances. Considering the assistance 

 that Nature, unmolested, is ready to bring, my task of telling how to re- 

 forest stump lands of Michigan Is not as formidable an undertaking as 

 might first appear. 



But Nature does her work slowly and often imperfectly. Quicker re- 

 turns can be made by assisting Nature. Besides keeping out the fire and 

 grazing animals, man can assist Nature by planting four small, desirable 

 trees to nearly every square rod, thus restocking the ground evenly. 



In undertaking the proper management of stump lands numerous prob- 

 lems confront us: 



1. What kinds of trees shall we plant; shall they be native or foreign- 

 ers? 



2. How many shall we plant to the acre? 



3. What preparations shall we give the land? 



4. How shall we care for the trees, from seedlings to maturity? 



5. How shall we plant to best advantage, and at what season of the 

 year? 



6. How large shall the trees_ be when planted, or shall we rely on 

 sowing and planting seed? 



7. Shall we plant one kind of tree on an acre, or shall we plant several 

 kinds? 



Prof. C. S. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum in Massachu- 

 setts, long ago began planting many kinds of forest trees, including those 

 from Europe and other countries, and, as late as 1878, recommended for 

 our use the planting of the Scotch pine, European larch, European lin- 

 den, and several others, but in 1886, and since that time, he has turned 

 completely about. He says "many of the conclusions reached in those 

 papers, however, have not been substantiated by further investigations 

 upon the same subject made during the past ten years. * * » i am now 



