12 ADVICE FOR FOREST PLANTERS IN OKLAHOMA. 



out of reach cattle should not be admitted. Even then injury may 

 result from the trampling of the soil. A heavy soil becomes packed 

 so that it is nearly impervious to water, while a sandy one is worn 

 and blown away, leaving the roots exposed. The damage to large 

 trees in situations where moisture is abundant is not usually great, 

 and the protection furnished to stock in such a case may more than 

 offset the slight injury to the trees. 



Every tree plantation needs to be protected by some form of fire 

 guard. Where condition- permit, a very satisfactory guard is made 

 by plowing two or three furrow- about the plantation close to the 

 trees and then making a second -cries of furrows from 1 to 2 rods 

 outside the first. These line- may be kept free from vegetation by 

 replowing each year, or they may be used for crops that do not easily 

 burn. The space between the two series of furrows should be kept 

 free of all combustible material by burning it over at safe 1 times. 



SETTING OUT TREES. 

 Till: PROPER SEASON. 



The best time to tran-plaiii young tree- is just before growth 

 begin- in the spring, while the vita] functions are still dormant and 

 the seedlings liable to receive the least injury. In general this is just 

 after the frost is out of the ground. Fall planting in the prairie 

 States i- usually unsatisfactory. The dry., freezing weather of the 

 winter frequently exhausts the moisture of firmly rooted young trees, 

 and kills them. This is due to the fact that the frozen roots can not 

 supply moisture to the -inn a- rapidly a- it is given oil' from the 

 twig- exposed t<» the cold, di-y wind-. A newly transplanted tree is 

 placed at a much greater disadvantage during the winter season than 

 a tree whose root- have a hold upon the soil. Spring planting is 

 therefore advisable in almost every case. If the tree to be moved is 

 -o large that it i- necessary to curtail the root system very severely, 

 the work' of digging should begin early in the fall, permit ting a ball 

 of frozen earth to adhere to the root- to protect them while the tree is 

 being removed late in the winter. Forest plantations, however, should 

 be made with quite -mall trees, and the methods of handling them may 

 be very simple. A- a rule, deciduous trees should not be over 2 feet 

 high and evergreen trees not over s or 10 inches. Farmers more 

 often make the mistake of planting trees that are too old than 

 those that are too young. Any addition to the height of a deciduous 

 tree after it ha- attained one full year's growth is a drawback for 

 planting, because increased size diminishes the chances for success 

 fully tran-planting it and increases the labor of the operation. 



Bv establishing a home nursery close to the planting site the disad- 



