1912. 
<THEJ KUKAb NKW*YOKKEH 
33 
FARM FORESTRY. 
Part I. 
Everybody knows that wood is the 
most widely used of all materials, and 
that the supply is rapidly diminishing. 
As a matter of fact, census figures show 
that the demand for timber is using it 
up over three times faster than it grows 
and those who have, studied the re¬ 
sources of this country predict that in 
20 years our timber supply will be prac¬ 
tically exhausted. Looking out of our car 
windows there seems to be many for¬ 
ests, but the moment one enters these 
wooded areas and looks about him for 
trees that will make good lumber he 
ceases to wonder why the prices of for¬ 
est products mount higher and higher. 
Yet to plant trees that will easily grow 
into timber large enough for building 
purposes within the life of an average 
man is not difficult. At the Ohio State 
Fair the forestry department of the ex¬ 
periment station exhibited a beautiful 
specimen of Yellow poplar that was 63 
feet tall, straight as an arrow to within 
a few feet of the top, and but 19 years 
old. A Black walnut in a plantation in 
Quebec grew eight inches in diameter in 
18 years. John P. Brown, in “Practical 
Arboriculture,” tells of measuring Red 
oaks that averaged 40 feet in height, 46 
inches in girth, and but 14 years old. 
According to measurements made at 
Greenfield Hill, Conn., by the United 
within 10 days they will begin to open 
and the seed drop out. Stir them oc¬ 
casionally and thoroughly, after which 
the cones may be raked away. Another 
method is to put the cones in a bag, 
flail them at odd times, and when the 
seed falls out into the bottom it is 
readily collected. Rubbing the seed 
through a screen will remove the wings. 
One bushel of cones will yield about 
one pound of seed. There are from 
25,000 to 30,000 White pine seeds in a 
pound, and under normal conditions 
about 10,000 seedlings may be expected. 
For a nursery with a capacity of only 
a few thousand seedlings there is sel¬ 
dom a better location than a part of the 
garden. The most satisfactory width 
for the seed beds is four feet, and the 
preparation should be the same as for 
an onion bed. Sow seed in drills from 
four to six inches apart and do not fail 
to protect the seed beds from birds and 
animals. Coating the seed with linseed 
oil and red lead makes it distasteful to 
field mice and birds. Netting can also 
be used till the seedlings are sufficiently 
developed to be free from danger. Sow¬ 
ing should not be done till the ground 
has become warm, and the center of the 
bed should be about an inch higher than 
the outer edges. The surface of the 
bed should be firmed. 
Shade frames are necessary in grow¬ 
ing evergreen seedlings. The simplest 
form is a frame 4x12 feet, made of 2x2 
sticks, across which laths are nailed, 
each lath alternating with an open space 
the same width. This frame (see Fig. 
14) is supported on posts about 12 
inches above the seed beds. Another 
FRAME TO SHADE EVERGREEN SEEDLINGS. Fig. 14. 
States Forest Service in a mixed plan¬ 
tation of White pine and European 
larch, the pine reached an average height 
of 28 feet and a diameter of 4.2 inches 
in 15 years, while in the same time the 
larch grew 32 feet in height and 3.5 
inches in diameter. 
Where fence posts are now worth 10 
cents it will prove profitable to plant 
forest seedlings for that purpose. The 
Iowa Experiment Stations says that 
Catalpa plantations in that State that 
have been properly cared for have 
yielded a gross annual return of from 
$10.77 to $20.34 per acre. Bulletin 204 
of the Ohio Experiment Station states 
that the maximum production of a 
Catalpa grove in that State was an aver¬ 
age annual increase in value of $18.76 
per acre, and the minimum production 
was that of a grove having an annual 
increase in value of $4.86. The former 
grove was on excellent soil and the lat¬ 
ter on cold, white clay devoid of humus 
and inclined to be wet and sour. Prof. 
F. W. Rane, State Forester of Massa¬ 
chusetts, figures the net profit of White 
pine planted with home-grown seedlings 
at $3.26 per acre per year. 
The prospective planter of forest trees 
should use home-grown seedlings only. 
Keep in mind constantly the fact that 
the profits of a grove or plantation are 
governed largely by the initial cost. It 
is folly to pay from $4 to $10 per 1,000 
for hardwood forest seedlings when one 
can grow them on his own farm at a 
cost of from $1 to $2 per 1,000, not to 
mention the saving in freight or express 
or the losses often incurred in transpor¬ 
tation. If the United States Forest Ser¬ 
vice can grow two-year-old White pine 
seedlings at a cost of but $1.29 per 1,000 
or four-year-old transplants at a cost 
of $3.69 pet* 1,000, it is in no sense of 
the word wisdom to pay $6 per 1,000 for 
the seedlings or $25 per 1,000 for the 
transplants. 
How to Grow Evergreen Seedlings.— 
The first step in growing young trees is 
to secure good seeds of the varieties de¬ 
sired. In the case of European larch 
and Norway spruce, it is usually cheaper 
to buy seeds, but White pine seed, which 
is generally more expensive than that of 
the species just mentioned, can often be 
collected cheaply close at hand, es¬ 
pecially from trees felled in lumbering.' 
The cones should be gathered the latter 
part of August or very early in Sep¬ 
tember, before they begin to open. In 
the locality of the writer (northeastern 
Pennsylvania) 75 per cent of the cones 
had turned brown and were fast losing 
their seed on the third of last Septem¬ 
ber. Spread them on a floor or sheet 
where they will be exposed to the sun, 
yet protected from wind and rain, and 
way is to insert an ordinary fence post 
at each corner of the bed, nail poles 
from one post to the other and cover 
or “shingle” with brush so as to give 
the seedlings half light and half shade. 
The latter method permits weeding and 
watering without removing the protect¬ 
ing shade. The young seedlings cannot 
endure full sunlight, especially the first 
year, and the purpose of the shade 
frames is to secure for the tender plants 
a play of light and shade similar to that 
in a forest. 
A thin surface dressing of fine gravel 
or coarse sand applied just after the 
seed has been sown usually prevents 
“damping off,” a disease that attacks 
and kills the young seedlings very 
rapidly when the soil becomes soaked 
with water. Clean, dry sand or pow¬ 
dered charcoal will also prevent “damp¬ 
ing off” during a spell of damp weather, 
and should be kept near the seed bed 
for such an emergency. Do not, how¬ 
ever, go to the other extreme and fail 
to water the seedlings in dry weather. 
A short time before snow falls cover 
the seedlings with chaff or leaves—any¬ 
thing free from weed seeds. This mulch 
should be about four inches deep and 
perfectly covered with chicken fencing 
so as to prevent high Winter winds 
from blowing it away. The mulch 
should of course be removed in the 
Spring after all danger from drying cold 
winds has passed. Where the ground 
does not heave in Winter mulching is 
unnecessary. 
Two years after sowing the seedlings 
should be transplanted from the seed 
beds to nursery rows in order to de¬ 
velop a good root system. They may be 
set out three inches apart in rows 12 
to 18 inches apart, putting the roots 
slightly deeper than they were before. 
Early the following Spring the young 
trees can be planted in their permanent 
location. At this age they should be 
six to nine inches in height. In trans¬ 
planting great care must be taken not 
to let the roots become dry. The in¬ 
stant the trees are lifted from the 
ground the roots should be dipped into 
a pail of thin mud, the trees packed 
into baskets or boxes lined with wet 
burlap and taken to the planting field. 
The seedlings, roots downward, can also 
be carried in pails containing several 
inches of water. No matter how care¬ 
fully they are planted, a few trees will, 
of course, die, and it will be necessary 
to replace these with live ones from the 
nursery. The work of growing ever¬ 
green seedlings may seem difficult to 
the beginner, but in actual practice it 
calls for no more skill and care than to 
grow fine strawberries, s. K. madden. 
Bradford Co., Pa. 
Victor-Victrola IV, $15 
Other styles $25 to $200 
Y OU may not live in the musi¬ 
cal centers where there are. 
regular seasons of grand opera. 
You may be far away from any 
city where concerts are given by the 
great bands and orchestras. You 
may never even have the opportunity 
of hearing any of the leading artists 
on their concert tours. 
And yet with a Victor or Victor- 
Victrola and the wonderful repertoire 
of Victor Records, you can right in 
your own home hear the greatest artists and develop a 
better understanding of the world’s best music than if 
you were privileged to attend such performances. 
The Victor and Victor-Victrola fill a great gap in 
the daily lives of people everywhere—bring the world’s 
best music right into the home for everyone to enjoy. 
And whether you crave for beautiful operatic arias 
and concerted numbers by the world’s greatest artists, 
or classic symphonies by famous orchestras, or stirring 
band music, or just want some popular song or vaude¬ 
ville sketch to amuse you and while away the time, 
the Victor and Victor-Victrola 
bring you whatever you want; 
everything that is beautiful, 
entertaining, instructive—a de¬ 
light to the mind as well as 
to the ear. 
Go today to any Victor deal¬ 
er’s and he will gladly play any 
Victor music you wish to hear. 
Write to us for catalogs. 
Victor Talking Machine Co. 
20th and Cooper Sts., Camden, N. J, 
Berliner Gramophone Co., Montreal, Canadian Distributors 
Always use Victor Records, played with 
Victor Needles—there is no other way to get 
the unequaled Victor tone. 
Victor I, $25 
NEW 'WHEELS For Your Old Wagon 
“ ELECTRIC ’ ’ STEELS to fit any wagon—old or new. Make a new wagon of 
your old gear at small cost. We guarantee fit. Give a low lift—you get more 
work done in less time, with less labor. Cost less than wood wheels and last 
longer. Do not rut fields and meadows. Investigate “Electric” Steel Wheels. 
ELECTRIC HANDY WAGON—made of Oak, Hickory and Steel. Just what you 
want for all kinds of knock-about work. Will last a lifetime. Has unbreak¬ 
able steel wheels. Easy draft. Let us show you how to save yourself and 
your team. Write us today for free book. Address 
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO., Box 48 , Quincy, Illinois. 
The Man Behind the Plow 
Wants a Good Fertilizer 
For the land’s sake 
give him BOWKER’S 
Plowing is hard work. Don’t afterward lose its 
benefits by using* a poor fertilizer. Since good hard 
labor is necessary to get the land ready, it would be 
a pity to have the crop fail to yield its best at harvest 
time through any lack of fertility. 
Forty years of experience, prompt service, the 
best materials, the best facilities are behind every 
bag of Bowker’s Fertilizer. We have a brand to fit 
every crop and every pocket book. 
We want agents wherever we are not now represented. 
Write today for our prices and terms; this may mean a good 
business for you if you act at once. 
Write anyhow for our illustrated catalogue and calendar. 
We want you to know Bowker’s before you buy your spring 
fertilizer. 
Address, Department E 
DATVin?D FERTILIZER COMP 
£>VJ VV JLVUilV 60 Trinity Place, New 
Original and largest manufacturers of special 
ANY, 
York. 
fertilizers. 
