FORESTRY 



KDITED BY DR. B. E. FERNOW, 

 Director of the New York School of Forestry, Cornell University, assisted by Dr. John C. Gifford, of same 



institution. 



NUT TREES FOR KANSAS. 



Would English walnuts, chestnuts, fil- 

 berts, etc., grow here; and how long would 

 it take to have bearing trees from seed? 

 Would they be a good investment? If 

 they would not grow here, what nut trees 

 would? How long does it take a tree to 

 grow a foot thick? Where can I get 

 young trees? How far apart ought they 

 to be planted? On what kind of ground? 

 I have thought a great deal about plant- 

 ing a nice grove of nut-bearing or lumber 

 trees, but don't know anything about 

 them. Do you think it would pay? About 

 what would it cost an acre to plant trees? 

 Give me all the information you can. 



F. P. Zacheile, Burlington, Kan. 



ANSWER. 



The planting of nut trees in Kansas 

 would be a doubtful venture. The grow- 

 ing of the English walnut has been unsuc- 

 cessful in the United States except on the 

 Pacific coast. Even in our South the tree 

 suffers from parasitic worms in its roots 

 and from drought. Filberts suffer in this 

 country from a serious fungus pest. It is 

 also doubtful whether the chestnut 

 would succeed. The common Amer- 

 ican black walnut would probably 

 grow well in Kansas. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture fur- 

 nishes on application a good book on "Nut 

 Culture in the United States, Embracing 

 Native and Introduced Species." In that 

 book the author says, in reference to the 

 English walnut: "East of the Rocky 

 mountains the English walnut has been 

 most successful in a limited area along the 

 Atlantic slope from New York Southward 

 through New Jersey, Southeastern Penn- 

 sylvania, Central Virginia, North Caro- 

 lina and Georgia." The chestnut does not 

 grow naturally in Kansas, although if 

 planted it might thrive. The American 

 chestnut and black walnut are the 2 most 

 promising nut trees for that region. Seed 

 should be obtained from a place as near to 

 and as nearly like Kansas as possible. The 

 book referred to gives all the information 

 necessary on the subject. It was pub- 

 lished under the direction of the Division 

 of Pomology, Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 



universities before any degree of interest or 

 knowledge can be expected among the 

 masses. As a regular course of instruction 

 forestry has no place in the public schools, 

 in which too many subjects are already 

 taught. In higher American institutions 

 instruction is offered in every imaginable 

 line, regardless of its importance, except 

 forestry. Cornell University is leading the 

 way in this line, and no doubt other institu- 

 tions will soon follow. At a recent meeting 

 of the students of the New York State Col- 

 lege of Forestry, which is a part of Cornell 

 University, there were 18 forestry students 

 and 3 forestry professors present. These 

 men are learning the profession for the 

 purpose of making it their life work. In 

 addition to these students there are about 

 60 others who are taking the lectures for 

 various purposes. There are architects who 

 have come to learn timber physics; agricul- 

 tural students, who have come to learn how 

 to manage their wood lots, sugar orchards 

 and pineries; there are others who are in- 

 terested in the subject from a national econ- 

 omical standpoint, and still others who are 

 studying the subject because they are 

 friends of the forest and of the animals and 

 plants which inhabit it. 



CORNELL LEADS IN FORESTRY. 



Learning, like water, flows downward. The 



standard in any subject must be set by the 



SPORTSMEN SHOULD GUARD AGAINST FIRES 



I read in a recent number of Recreation, 

 in the Forestry Department, an accusa- 

 tion I must dispute. The hunter is blamed 

 as one who sets the woods afire. I have 

 hunted a great deal and belong to several 

 hunting clubs. I deny the charge of set- 

 ting fire to woods, purposely, by accident, 

 or in any other way. Our camp regula- 

 tions will not admit of such a thing. First, 

 we make no fires by logs. Second, when 

 we break camp the last thing we do is to 

 pour water on the camp fire until every 

 spark is extinguished. This is law in camp 

 with regular hunters. There are woods 

 tramps, who camp out and claim to be 

 hunting. They shoot at anything that 

 moves. They are the kind of men who 

 may set the woods afire. I dare say that 

 you never set the woods afire. Genuine 

 sportsmen don't do it. They are always 

 careful about fires. Go to a hunter's camp 

 and if he builds his fire by a big dead log 

 you may mark him as inexperienced and 

 knowing nothing of the genuine hunter's 

 rules. Dead logs are one great cause of 

 forest fires. Never build a camp fire about 



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