FOREST PLANTING IN" THE LAKE STATES O 
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devoted to the growing of forests, provision of cheap, long-time 
credit, and cooperative arrangements between owners and the States. 
For the formation of such a policy public interest in reforestation 
and timber growing is not lacking ; it has, indeed, increased rapidly 
in the last few years. A widespread sentiment is favorable to re- 
forestation, but it has not yet crystallized. Perhaps the principal 
need is for planting facts upon which to base a policy. This study 
of forest planting in the region has therefore been undertaken with 
the purpose of furnishing such information. An attempt will be 
made to answer such questions as these : What kinds of lands should 
be planted, and what kinds of lands, if any, should not be planted? 
What kinds of trees are most likely to succeed on the different soils ? 
What sizes of trees should be used for planting? When should the 
trees be planted? How should they be planted? What kinds of 
trees are most profitable to plant ? Does planting pay ? 
In an attempt to answer these questions, about 400 different plan- 
tations, most of them between 5 and 20 years old, were examined dur- 
ing 1924. Counts and measurements were made of their success and 
growth, and all available facts of their history and environment 
were gathered. 2 Although the evidence from different plantations 
is sometimes conflicting, nevertheless the foregoing questions may be 
answered with some confidence. 
HISTORY OF FOREST PLANTING IN THE REGION 
Forest planting is ordinarily for the purpose of producing timber 
crops. In the Lake States the State and Federal Forest Services have 
planted with this purpose. Most of the plantations have been made 
on public lands set apart as State or national forests for the primary 
purpose of growing timber. Considerable areas have been planted in 
solid blocks, and there is every evidence that they will provide a sub- 
stantial supply of timber products for local or general industries 
when the trees reach merchantable size. In addition to planting 
State-owned lands, the States have raised forest planting stock in 
large quantities for distribution at cost to companies and individuals 
for planting on private lands. 
Planting by private owners, whether companies or individuals, 
has usually been on a small scale, however, and in the nature of trials 
of feasibility rather than of serious attempts to provide a future 
supply of timber. There is each year an increasing demand for 
forest planting stock, but it comes chiefly from farmers and small 
landowners who plant only a few hundred trees or at most a few 
acres. These small plantings are desirable and should be encour- 
aged, but with a few exceptions they have not been continued long 
enough or developed on a large enough scale to provide for future 
timber supplies in workable units or to maintain a supply of raw 
2 The cooperation of the many persons who willingly assisted and made possible this 
pait of the study is gratefully acknowledged. Particularly, mention should be made of 
the help of F. G. Wilson, of the Wisconsin Department of Conservation ; of Marcus Schaaf, 
State forester of Michigan ; of the custodians of the State forests in Michigan ; of the 
members of the Minnesota Forest Service and of the national forests in Michigan and 
Minnesota. Special acknowledgment is also made to H. C. Hilton, formerly supervisor 
of the Michigan National Forest, whose unpublished manuscript of 1920 on forest planting 
on the sandy plains of the Lake States has been helpful in the preparation of this report, 
and to Raphael Zon, whose inspiring advice and encouragement throughout the work have 
been invaluable. 
