FOREST PLANTING IN THE LAKE STATES 45 
The cost of cleaning varies with the number of stems to be cut and 
may require from one hour to two days of one man's time to the 
acre. The cost will therefore be from 50 cents to $7 an acre. Even 
as much as $15 an acre may pay (30). Fisher (22) (23) on the 
Harvard Forest in Massachusetts has made cleanings to release young 
pines at a cost of $2 to $5 an acre for each cleaning and considers 
that there will be a gain in the crop value at maturity of $250 to 
$325 an acre over similar pines unreleased from competition with 
inferior hardwoods. 
COST OF PLANTING 
There are four elements in the cost of planting forest trees; 
namely, the nursery stock, the planting operation, the maintenance 
and protection of the plantations, and the taxes on the land. 
NURSERY STOCK 
High-quality nursery stock for forest planting can usually be ob- 
tained at low price from the State nurseries in Michigan and Wis- 
consin, if ordered for planting within the respective State bound- 
aries. Applications should be addressed several months in advance 
of the time of planting as follows : 8 
Michigan : Department of Conservation, Lansing, or Department of 
Forestry, Michigan State College, East Lansing. 
Wisconsin : Conservation Commission, Madison. 
If the kind or amount of stock desired can not be supplied by the 
State nursery, the Forest Service, Washington, D. C, will furnish 
to any one on request a list of dealers in tree seeds and seedlings with 
whom orders may be placed. 
Commercial dealers and nurseries in the region ordinarily supply 
a demand for ornamental and orchard planting stock in small num- 
bers and large sizes at costs that would be prohibitive for forest 
planting. It might be possible, however, to obtain stock from com- 
mercial nurseries at a cost low enough to make forest planting 
profitable if a large order could be given far enough in advance to 
enable the nursery to grow the trees from seed for the two or three 
years until they were ready to be planted. Price quotations should 
be obtained from several different dealers before an order is placed. 
If one has the time and attention to give to it or if large quanti- 
ties of stock are needed, there are advantages in raising the nursery 
stock locally from seed. In this way stock of the desired kind and 
size is ready when wanted for planting. Since the stock is at or 
near the planting site, the danger of loss from delay in transit is 
avoided. Locally grown trees are also best adapted to the local 
climatic and soil conditions. Economical and successful nursery 
operation, however, requires that a trained man be in charge, and 
such a man will usually be interested only if year-long employment 
is provided. Large-scale production is almost necessary to justify 
the overhead expense ; but the cost of producing the stock on a large 
scale may be expected to be less than the price at which it can be 
obtained from any other source. 
8 In Minnesota the only State nursery is that of the Cloquet Forest Experiment Station 
at Cloquet. No distribution for forest planting is made by that State. 
