Forestry Upon the Private Estate and Its 
Landscape Possibilities 
By Arthur Smith, New Jersey 
(Coiiliiinrd from the Scpteinbrr issue.) 
COMMENCING with the autumn tints the earliest 
effects are invariably supplied by the sour gum 
(Tupelo nyassa), followed by the sweet gum 
(Liquidamber styraciflua ), one of the finest of American 
trees. It has varying beautiful tints before finally chang- 
ing to its brilliant scarlet. Its star-shaped foliage renders 
it distinctive at all seasons while in leaf. Why it is not 
more used in general landscape planting has always seemed 
a mystery. The pin oak is doubtless the most beautiful at 
all seasons of this genus, although the red runs it very 
closely in the autumn. The latter is the fastest growing 
of the oaks and the easiest to transplant, although the 
chestnut or rock oak ( Ouercus prinus ) also loses no time 
when once started and in fact makes a quicker growth 
on dry soil than the former. As one of its common 
names implys it has foliage distinct from others of the 
family ; and in autumn puts on a bright yellow color. The 
White Oak produces the most valuable lumber, but it is 
the slowest in growth. The native Maples have all more 
or less beauty, with the exception of that known as the 
Silver (Acer dasycarpum), which is not worth planting 
anywhere. The Red Maple is valuable not only for its 
brilliant scarlet and yellow fall colors, but for its early 
scarlet flowers in spring, followed by the bright red fruit. 
The Sugar Maple carries its foliage later in the year than 
the others, but upon very dry, shallow soils its autumn 
color does not amount to much. 
An interesting feature can be created by using species 
with a variety of distinct forms of foliage. The star- 
shaped leaves of the Sweet Gum have been already men- 
tioned. The bi-pinnate foliage of the Honey Locust 
(Gleditsia triacanthos) is very attractive. The large flat 
pods of this tree are ornamental, as is also its clear yel- 
low fall color. It produces very durable lumber, nearly 
equaling in this respect the Black Locust (Robina 
pseudacacia), which has a durability in the ground su- 
perior to iron. In addition to the latter's compound 
foliage, its long racomes of fragrant white and pink 
flowers render it a valuable addition to the woodlands in 
spite of the fact that sometimes it is troubled by borers. 
These may, however, be kept in check in the case of 
young trees by periodical spraying with kerosene emul- 
sion. As trees of this species get on in years they are 
apt by reason of this pest to become unsightly, and the 
best way to preserve the ornamental character of the 
planting is to cut them down from time to time and allow 
the root-sprouts to take the place of what is removed. 
The Western Catalpa (C. speciosa) produces a very dis- 
tinctive note by its large leaves and showy panicles of 
flowers. Its timber is useful for posts and railroad ties, as 
it lasts well in the ground. It is not reliably hard>- in the 
extreme northern states, in which district the Japanese 
(C. ovata) should be used instead. One of the grandest 
of our native species is the Tulip tree (Liriodendron 
tulipfera), and one branched to the ground in full bloom 
is worth going miles to see. Its lumber is very valuable 
and for every reason it should be increased. Unfortu- 
nately its propagation in quantity is attended with some 
difficulties. The germination of its seeds is very poor, 
rarely more than three or four per cent. Seedlings re- 
quire to be grown under shade, and should be set out in 
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a partially shaded location. It prefers a soil rather moist 
than otherwise. 
1 he beauty of woodlands, especially in the winter sea- 
son, is greatly enhanced by the variety of color and form 
presented by their bark. For which purpose the White 
Birches, Striped Maple (Acer pennsylvanicum) and the 
Beech, amongst others, should be freely used; the latter 
in the interior under the shade of other hardwoods. For 
increasing the ground cover under shade of deciduous 
trees, which is too dense in summer to permit the growth 
of ordinary woodland shrubs, both the Beech and Hem- 
lock may be planted. The latter especially will live if 
suppressed for some years, and then grow upward as 
soon as the crown is opened by the removal of trees for 
lumber. Except for this purpose both the Hemlock and 
the Beech are too slow in growth for reforestation pur- 
poses from the point of view of profit. 
As regards the age of trees used for reforesting, three 
year transplants (with the exception noted below) are 
the most satisfactory. Both two and three year seedlings 
are sometimes planted, and the tops of the latter will in- 
variably be larger than transplants of the same age. But 
when transplanting trees of any age the roots are of the 
greatest consequence. The effect of transplanting is to 
increase the amount of fibrous roots, and the plants do 
not feel the shock of removal to the same extent as if 
they had not been previously moved. In the case of 
hardwoods that produce a tap-root one year seedlings are 
the best to use. Trees like Oak, Walnut and Hickory 
can be successfully started by planting the acorns or nuts 
at the place where the trees are to remain, and this is 
really in these cases a more certain method, provided the 
squirrels do not get them. They should be planted as 
soon as ripe. 
Respecting the time of year when reforestation plant- 
ing can be done, this will depend upon a variety of cir- 
cumstances which include soil, local climate as a whole 
and the weather at any particular period. In respect of 
hardwoods and deciduous conifers, these may be planted 
any time weather and soil conditions are suitable after 
the leaf changes color in the autumn until just before 
they comhience to leaf out in the spring. In the case of 
evergreen conifers the almanac date is of little conse- 
quence, as the writer lias successfully planted them 
under forestry conditions in various years in every month 
excepting July. As above stated the time of year is of 
less importance than the state of the soil and weather. 
To be able to take advantage of suitable conditions at any 
time of the year a nursery should be established upon an 
estate where reforestation is going on that will likely to 
be spread over a more or less number of years : its size 
will depend upon the number that it is proposed to plant 
in a year. Two-year seedlings are the best to start with. 
These can be obtained from the one or two reliable nurs- 
eries making a specialty of growing young forest trees. 
They should be planted six inches apart in rows two feet 
six inches apart ; this latter distance is for the purpose 
of using a horse cultivator. If the work of keeping down 
weeds and cultivating is to be done by hand the rows 
can be only a foot away from each other. These two- 
year seedlings will then become three-year transplants the 
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