Forestry Upon the Private Estate and Its 
Landscape Possibilities 
By Arthur Smith, New Jersey. 
AS about eighty per cent, of the forests in this coun- 
try is in the hands of private owners, the bulk of 
it being held by lumbermen for purely commercial 
purposes, it would be perhaps more exact to use the 
term "pleasure estate" ; an estate acquired by its owner 
for his health ; to create a country home and place for 
enjo3'ment and recreation. It is to estates of the latter 
kind having forest land connected with them that this 
article is intended to apply. 
While the proportion of pleasure estates having forest 
land included in their area may not he large, they are in 
the aggregate somewhat numerous, but it is quite the 
exception to find one upon which much real attempt has 
been made to solve the forestry problems awaiting so- 
lution. 
Upon many of these estates there is more or less land 
which could be devoted to forestry from a commercial 
standiioint, that is, trees could be planted with regard to 
their potential value as lumber, and at the same time 
the questions involved under landscape forestry need not 
be lost sight of. 
While it is possible to combine in the forests upon the 
one estate the utilitarian and the aesthetic, it is impossible 
to combine the two ideas with respect to one individual 
tree. When planting a tree we must make up our mind 
at the onset whether we wish that tree to produce the 
greatest quantity of lumber of the highest quality, and 
quality is of more importance than quantity, or to. de- 
velop all the beatity qf form it is capable of. In growing 
a tree for lumber it should be so placed with regard to 
others that its branches will be pruned off by nature at 
the earliest possible date and that it will grow with a tall, 
straight trunk, practically free from knots, and with its 
living Ijranches forming a crown at the top. A tree 
grown tor its beauty must have all the room it requires 
for the spread of its branches so that they can persist at 
their fullest length from the ground upwards. 
It is unfortunately extremely rare to find gardens 
which have been so planted that the trees and shrubs 
have anything approaching sufficient space to develop 
properly. In this connection the ideal which should be 
striven for is that every tree and shrub should be a per- 
fect specimen of its kind. One is afraid, however, that 
this ideal is not likely to be reached as long as there is 
so much landscape work carried out by those interested 
in making the bills for nursery stock as large as possible, 
and while so many landscape architects, so called, do not 
appear capable of visualizing in their mind's eye the pos- 
sibilities to which a tree or shrub can reach in a few 
years. 
Much of the necessity for reforestation in the eastern 
states at the present time has been brought about by the 
spread of a fungus causing what is known as the Chest- 
nut Blight. To every one with merely an elementary 
knowledge of fungous diseases it is a foregone conclu- 
sion that there is no cure for it, as no fungous disease 
can be cured : the most which can be done is by way of 
prevention. Theoretically, by keeping a healthy chestnut 
tree covered with a fungicide, it is easy to prevent it be- 
coming diseased as the result of an attack by this fungus. 
When there is a healthy ' spreading chestnut of such 
character and growing in such a position that its value 
cannot be computed in dollars and cents, it is for its 
owner to consider whether it is worth his while to ex- 
pend sixty or more dollars a year to preserve it. The 
writer has done a little in this way in connection with a 
medium sized chestnut which had been allowed to de- 
velop its full ornamental character and, having been in 
the habit of keeping cost accounts in matters relating to 
country estates, found that it cost five dollars every time 
the tree was sprayed. The spores of this fungus will 
germinate more or less at all seasons of the year, except 
when there is severe frost and also probably in times of 
extreme drought. A dozen times a year is not too fre- 
quent to spray a tree, therefore the above estimate is not 
a mere figure of speech or guess but based upon facts. 
Obviously spraying an ordinary chestnut growing in a 
forest would cost more for one spraying than its lumber 
value, apart from the impracticability of carrying out the 
operation under forest conditions. The best method in 
dealing with woods containing chestnuts is to clear them 
all away, diseased or not, and replant with something 
else. 
To lay the foundation of a future crop of lumber of 
the best quality the young trees must be started close 
together and the poorer the ground the closer should be 
the initial planting. This is based upon one of the scien- 
tific principles of forestry, that success is only assured 
by obtaining a perfect crown at the earliest possible date, 
so that in looking down at a forest from an aeroplane 
no ground should be visible between the tops of the 
trees. But whatever the soil conditions, the margin of 
distance is very small, for however suitable and good a 
piece of ground may be for growing a particular species 
it is impossible to obtain trees of so great an individual 
value or of so great an aggregate value per acre, if they 
are planted at eight feet as if that particular spot were 
planted at four feet apart ; in fact the value under the 
latter condition would be double both individually and 
collectively. The extra cost of the initial planting may 
be looked upon as negligible. While four feet is a very 
good distance to plant and at which the crop may be al- 
lowed to coiue to maturity, a better plan still is to start 
at three feet and use what are termed nurse trees of 
some other species, or the same species may be used en- 
tirely. Whatever the species used at this latter distance, 
some thinning will have to be done in about fifteen years, 
but if the thinnings are practically worthless the extra 
cost will be more than repaid by the greater quality of 
ihe resulting lumber. The writer has during recent 
years adopted a modification of the idea by planting the 
species intended for the lumber crop at six feet and fill- 
ing up to three feet with Norway spruce to cut out as 
Christmas trees. 
Hitherto the species principally used for reforestation 
in the eastern states has been the white pine, but at the 
present time it would appear wise to use more of the red 
pine (Pinus resinosa). The latter will make more 
growth in a given time upon a dry slope than the for- 
mer : it is iiumune from two things which cause trouble 
in connection with the white pine, the weevil and the 
blister rust. The weevil is not much trouble to combat, 
but today we scarcely know where we are with the rust, 
except that it is liable to produce serious consequences. 
The lumber value of the red pine is equal to the white, 
and no doubt the reason it has not hitherto been more 
planted is because it has not been obtainable in quantity 
for forest planting, a difficulty which no longer exists. 
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