UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTOI 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1497 
Washington, D. C. 
V 
June, 1929 
FOREST PLANTING IN THE LAKE STATES 
By Joseph Kittkedge, Jr., Silviculturist, Lake States Forest Experiment Station, 
Branch of Research, Forest Service 
CONTENTS 
I J ag Q 
Introduction 1 
Importance of forest planting in the Lake 
States 1 
The region and its physical character- 
istics 2 
The essentials of a planting policy 4 
History of forest planting in the region 5 
Areas planted 6 
Kinds of trees planted 6 
Survival of different kinds of trees 7 
Present planting practice 8 
Direct seeding 8 
Typical sites for planting 9 
Considerations in selecting species to 
plant 10 
Season to plant 18 
Size and age of trees for planting 19 
Methods of planting stock 23 
Causes of loss or failure and their control 31 
Fire 32 
Climatic conditions 33 
Animals 35 
Insects 37 
Fungous diseases 38 
Poor stock and careless planting 39 
Competition 39 
Thinning, pruning, and intermediate cut- 
tings 43 
Cost of planting 45 
Nursery stock 45 
Planting operations 46 
Protection from fire 47 
Taxes 48 
Growth of plantations 48 
Growth in height 48 
Comparison of growth in plantations and 
in natural forests 52 
Tabular summary 54 
Profitableness of planting 55 
Returns from planted trees 55 
Private planting on bare land 56 
Private planting for sustained yield 58 
Public planting 59 
A reforestation policy 60 
A timber survey 60 
Selection of areas for planting 61 
Protection from fire 62 
Policy for State-owned lands 62 
State aid for local communities 62 
Encouragement of private planting by 
States 65 
Forest taxation 66 
National aid to States 67 
Outline of a planting policy 67 
Appendix 69 
Common and scientific names of trees 
mentioned in the text 82 
Literature cited and additional references 83 
INTRODUCTION 
IMPORTANCE OF FOREST PLANTING IN THE LAKE STATES 
It is estimated that there is in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan 
a total area of about 20,000,000 acres of land better suited to the 
growing of forests than to any other purpose and which because of 
repeated logging, burning, or both now bears no valuable forest 
growth. Most of it must be planted before forests will grow upon 
it. The enormous size of this denuded area, about one-third of the 
total forest land of the region, is the strongest evidence of the 
necessity for reforestation. 
40146°— 29. 1 
