FOREbT PLANTING. 279 



c. Shade-encluriug speeieo may be grown in admixture with each other when their rate of height growth is 

 about equal or when the slower-growing kind can be protected against the quicker-growing (for mstance ; by- 

 planting a larger proportion of the former in groups or by cutting back the latter). 



d. The more valuable timber trees which are to form the mam crop should be so disposed individually and 

 planted in such numbers among the secondary crop or muse crop that the latter can be thinned out first without 

 disturbing the former. 



In localities which for climatic reasons prevent a wide range of choice of species a light- 

 needing rapid growing specie^ may be used as a nurse, forming as much as three fourths of the 

 plantation, provided the remaining trees are disposed according to rule a, if care be taken to remove 

 the nurses as soon as they interfere with the permanent trees. In this case the rapid-growing 

 species is used only to create more favorable conditions for the permanent trees and to protect 

 them during infancy. 



Where a plantation of hghter-foliaged trees has been made (black walnut, for instance), it can 

 be greatly improved by " underplanting " densely with a shade-enduring kind, which will choke 

 out weed growth, improve the soil, and thereby advance the growth of the plantation. 



The selection and proper combination of species with reference to this mutual relationship to 

 each other and to the soil are the most important elements of success. 



Availability of the species also still needs consideration in this country; for, although a 

 species may be very well adapted to the purpose in hand, it may be too difficult to obtain material 

 for planting in quantity or at reasonable prices. While the beech is one of the best species for 

 shade endurance, and hence for soil cover, seedlings can not be had as yet in quantity. Western 

 conifers, although promising good material for forest planting, are at present too high priced for 

 general use. Some eastern trees can be secured readily — either their seed or seedlings— from the 

 native woods; others must be grown in nurseries before they can be placed in the field. 



Whether to procure seeds or plants, and, if the latter, what kind, depends upon a number of 

 considerations. The main crop, that which is to furnish the better timber, had best be planted 

 with nursery-grown plants, if of slow-growing kinds, perhaps once transplanted, with well- 

 developed root systems, the plants in no case to be more than 2 to 3 years old. The secondary or 

 nurse crop may then be sown or planted with younger aud less costly material taken from the 

 woods or grown in seed beds, or else cuttings may be used. 



In some localities — for instance, the Western plains — the germinating of seeds in the open 

 field is so uncertain and the life of the young seedlings for the first year or two so precarious 

 that the use of seeds in the field can not be recommended. In such locations careful selection 

 and treatment of the planting material according to the hardships which it must encounter can 

 alone insure success. 



Seedlings from G to 12 inches high furnish the best material. The planting of larged-sized 

 trees is not excluded, but is expensive and hence often impracticable, besides being less sure of 

 success, since the larger-sized tree is apt to loose a greater proportion of its roots in transplanting. 



METHODS 0¥ PLANTING. 



Preparation of soil is for the purpose of securing a favorable start for the young crop; its 

 effects are lost after the first few years. Most land that is to be devoted to forest planting does 

 not admit of as careful preparation as for agricultural crops, nor is it necessary where the climate 

 is not too severe and the soil not too compact to prevent the young crop from establishing itself. 

 Thousands of acres in Germany are planted annually without any soil preparation, yearling pine 

 seedlings being set with a dibble in the unprepared ground. This absence of preparation is even 

 necessary in sandy soils like that encountered in the sandhills of Nebraska, which may, if 

 disturbed, be blown out and shifted. In other cases a partial removal of a too rank undergrowth 

 or soil cover and a shallow scarifying or hoeing are resorted to, or else furrows are thrown up and 

 the trees set out in them. 



In land that has been tilled, deep plowing (10 to 12 inches) and thorough pulverizing give the 

 best chances for the young crop to start. For special conditions, very dry or very moist situations, 

 special methods are required. The best methods for planting in the semiarid regions of the 

 far West have not yet been developed. Thorough cultivation, as for agricultural crops, with 

 subsequent culture, is successful, but expensive. A plan which might b§ tried would consist in 



