330 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
October  9,  1902. 
but  unfortunately  they  resent  too  much  cutting  when  the  growth 
is  young.  As  screens  for  covering  unsightly  places,  or  forming 
arches  and  bowers,  they  are  extremely  useful,  whilst  their  hardi¬ 
ness  and  their  increasing  vigour  when  once  planted  compensates 
to  some  degree  their  lack  of  perfume,  a  quality  that  makes 
Lathyrus  odoratus,  or  Sweet  Pea,  such  an  universal  favourite. 
Let  us  hope  that  ere  long  the  assiduous  cultivators  who  have 
taken  it  in  hand  will  give  us  new  varieties  embracing  in  one  form 
the  good  qualities  of  both. — E.  J.  Love,  E.  Dereham. 
Arbor  Days. 
( Concluded  from  page  30G.) 
The  question  is  always  asked  whether  forests  will  pay. 
I  can  only  say  that  Herr  Gustav  Wegener,  Councillor  of 
Forests,  of  Coburg,  in  advocating  a  term  of  eighty  years  for 
the  cutting  of  Pine  forests,  calculates  to  receive  from  medium 
soil  a  yearly  revenue  of  from  3  to  5  per  cent,  on  the  value  of 
the  land.  With  Beech  forests  it  would  be  about  the  same  ; 
but  the  timber  of  Oaks,  requiring  from  120  to  160  years  before 
being  felled,  is  constantly  rising  in  value,  and  the  State  is  in 
future  only  going  to  plant  Oak  for  timber,  and  not  for  fire¬ 
wood. 
I  have  always  advocated  Arbor  Days  since,  in  1882,  I 
passed  through  the  west  of  the  United  States,  and  noticed 
the  alteration  they  have  made  in  the  appearance  of  these 
formerly  treeless  regions.  Whether  these  are  or  can  be  intro¬ 
duced  with  advantage  in  Great  Britain  I  am  unable  to 
say ;  but  if  so  they  might  within  a  short  time 
become  a  most  enjoyable  holiday  for  the  whole  neigh¬ 
bourhood.  I  presume  there  are  not  many  schools  with 
an  area  of  five  acres — the  smallest  area  recommended 
in  the  United  States.  But  if  there  is  any  available 
land  for  planting  in  any  neighbourhood  the  children  of  the 
school  or  schools,  although  taking  part  in  the  planting,  need 
not  prevent  grown-up  persons  from  planting  also,  and  thus 
make  it  a  general  holiday,  as  sketched  by  Mr.  H.  S.  Sterling 
Morton,  who  established  Arbor  Days  in  the  United  States, 
when  he  said  in  1887  at  the  State  University  of  Nebraska, 
“  Ordinary  holidays  are  retrospective  in  honour  of  something 
good  or  great,  but  Arbor  Day  is  not  like  other  holidays  ; 
it  sketches  outlines,  establishes  the  useful  and  beautiful  of 
ages  yet  to  come,  etches  upon  our  prairies  and  plains 
gigantic  groves  and  towering  forests  of  wTaving  trees,  whose 
beauty  will  compel  the  admiration  and  gratitude  of  men 
and  women  yet  unborn.  ■  It  is  the  sole  holiday  of  the  human 
family  which  looks  forwTards  and  not  backward.” 
Cannot  horticultural  societies  offer  premiums  to  the  men 
who  properly  plant  the  greatest  number  of  trees  during  the 
next  three  years,  or  at  any  District  Arbor  Day?  And  would 
not  such  Arbor  Days  soon  be  welcomed  with  as  much  zest 
and  enjoyment  as  they  are  now  in  most  of  the  United  States 
(and  here  in  South  Australia),  even  where  there  is  no  great 
scarcity  of  trees  in  the  neighbourhood  1  Each  year  larger  and 
larger  numbers  interested  in  previous  plantations,  wffiich 
may  be  near  or  adjoining  that  to  be  planted,  will  meet 
there  and  enjoy  both  this  meeting  with  old  school-fellows, 
and  also  be  pleased  with  the  growth  of  the  trees  they  had 
formerly- assisted  in  planting. 
To  encourage  the  best  growth,  it  seems  to  me  not  out  of 
place  now  to  refer  to  manuring.  Only  quite  lately  Belgium. 
Denmark,  and  Germany  have  commenced  to  fertilise  the  land 
upon  Avhich  forests  are  to  be  planted,  or  even  established 
forests.  Formerly  nursery  plots  for  forest  trees  were  usually 
manured  with  dung,  but  in  1869  Peruvian  guano  was  first 
applied,  and  soon  afterwards  other  commercial  manures.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  1880  that  this  became  at  all  general. 
Photographs  taken  of  young  trees  of  the  same  age  have  con¬ 
vinced  me  that  the  increased  number  and  size  of  the  roots 
produced  in  fertilised  nurseries  gives  them  a  better  chance 
when  transplanted,  and  Dr.  Smets  states  in  his  pamphlet, 
“La  Culture  du  Pin  Sylvestre  en  Campine,”  that  “if  you 
sow  Pines,  as  so  often  is  done,  in  a  nursery  with  impoverished 
soil,  you  can  onlv  obtain  sickly  plants,  which  have  little 
chance  of  success.” 
M.  Martinet  also  savs :  “  It  is  a  wrong  idea  that  young 
seedlings  should  be  acclimatised  and  made  hardier,  so  that, 
if  intended  for  poor  soil,  they  may  be  satisfied  with  the  local 
conditions.  Piues  one  or  two  vears  old  take  out  of  the  soil 
from  24lb  to  28lb  of  potash,  20lb  to  24lb  of  phosphoric  acid, 
60lb  to  64lb  of  lime,  16lb  to  20lb  of  magnesia,  and  56lb  to 
64lb  of  nitrogen  per  acre,  so  that  it  is  an  undoubted  fact 
that  after  the  removal  of  the  seedlings  from  the  seed-beds 
the  soil  is  so  impoverished  that  mere  stable  dung  and  green 
manuring  is  not  sufficient  to  again  raise  strong  seedlings  from 
beds  which  must  of  necessity  be  used  again  and  again.” 
Dr.  Giersberg,  of  Berlin,  from  whom  I  take  the  particulars 
as  to  the  manuring,  recommends  for  nurseries  the  use  of 
from  640lb  to  800lb  of  Thomas’  phosphate  and  the  same 
quantity  of  kainit,  the  latter  to  be  applied  long  before  the 
sowing  of  the  seeds  for  green  manuring.  The  crop  should 
be  ploughed  in  when  in  full  bloom  and  the  first  pods  are 
formed.  Without  green  manuring,  nitrate  of  soda  should  be 
applied  between  the  rows  in  one  or  two  doses,  according  to 
the  quantity  which  seems  necessary,  from  80lb  to  160lb.  Dr. 
Giersberg  also  thinks  it  advisable  to  put  a  portion  of  the 
Thomas’  phosphate  into  the  subsoil,  and  the  rest,  before  or 
after  sowing  or  planting,  into  or  on  the  surface  soil.  In 
nurseries  on  peaty  soils  in  Denmark  and  in  Schleswig-Holstein 
the  ground  is  dug  at  least  13in  deep  in  autumn,  and  then 
receives  640lb  of  kainit  and  400lb  of  Thomas’  phosphate  of 
17  per  cent,  per  acre. 
In  May  200lb  of  Lupines  are  sown  and  ploughed  under  as 
before  mentioned,  writh  l,200lb  kainit  and  800lb  Thomas’ 
phosphate  again  applied.  This  may  seem  too  much,  but  when 
actually  3,200lb  of  each  Avere  applied  the  seedlings  throve  well 
and  were  certainly  not  damaged.  Frequently  up  to  160lb  of 
nitrate  of  soda  is  given  later  on,  and  even  a  second  dose. 
Belgium  seems  to  be  in  advance  of  all  other  countries  in 
the  use  of  large  quantities  of  fertilisers  for  forests.  Sixteen 
to  18in  is  the  usual  depth  of  ploughing  there  before  planting, 
and  if  a  subsoil  plough  can  be  used  2ft  4in  to  2ft-  6in  is  not 
unusual.  Large  tracts  of  waste  lands  are  thus  planted  and 
fertilised,  and  to  do  so  at  the  smallest  expense  Rye  and 
other  crops  are  raised  for  some  years  between  the  rows  of 
the  young  trees.  Green  manuring  mostly  consists  of  Lupines, 
which  will  penetrate  even  hard  and  pebbly  soils  to  a  depth  of 
3ft,  and  thus  permit  the  moisture  to  rise,  by  means  of  the 
openings  left  by  their  dead  roots,  for  the  benefit  of  the  trees. 
Liming  is  also  used,  or  in  very  sandy  soil  marling  is  prefer¬ 
able.  Potash  and  phosphoric  acid  are  added  to  improve  the 
surface  soil,  Avhich,  when  thus  treated,  is  expected  to  keep 
the  trees  in  good  health  and  growth  for  ten  to  fifteen  years, 
after  which  time  the  roots  are  likely  to  find  sufficient  nourish¬ 
ment  in  the  deeper  subsoil.  Where  green  manuring  with 
Peas  was  used  on  a  sandy  soil  of  the  eighth  class,  a  good 
crop  gave  no  less  than  180lb  of  nitrogen  per  acre,  equal 
to  about  1 , 150lb  of  nitrate  of  soda.  Professor  Dr.  Goetting 
used  in  one  instance  640lb  of  Thomas’  phosphate  and  also  of 
kainit ;  in  another  twdce  as  much  ;  and  Dr.  Dalgas,  of  the 
Association  for  Planting  Danish  Heath-lands,  actually  recom¬ 
mends  five  to  ten  times  as  much  potash,  and  four  to  six  times 
as  much  phosphoric  acid. 
That  it  will  pay  to  use  fertilisers  for  forests  can  hardly  be 
doubted.  The  experiments,  at  least,  are  very  encouraging, 
but  more  time  must  elapse  to  decide  -whether  any  further 
fertilisers  are  required,  whenever,  for  instance,  Pines  show  at 
a  certain  age  a  stoppage  in  their  growth.  Professor  Dr. 
Wohltmann,  after  many  experiments,  declares  that  in  most 
instances  large  stores  of  mineral  fertilisers  are  to  be  found 
in  the  deeper  subsoils,  and  thinks  more  manuring  unneces¬ 
sary.  It  is  ascertained  that  lib  of  nitrogen  is  sufficient  to 
produce  from  125lb  to  200lb  of  dry  wood,  lib  of  potash  up 
to  3,300lb,  and  lib  of  phosphoric  acid  up  to  5,000lb. 
Whenever  fertilsers  are  given  to  single  seedlings  or  to 
larger  trees,  they  should  not  be  used  in  larger  quantities,  nor 
without  being  well  mixed  with  the  soil.  From  loz  to  2oz  of 
Thomas’  phosphate,  Ijoz  to  loz  of  40  per  cent,  kainit,  and  loz 
to  ^oz  of  nitrate  of  soda  may  be  sufficient,  the  last  to  be 
repeated  the  following  year.  In  Eberswalde,  in  a  forest  of 
seventy-year-old  Pines  in  poor  condition,  800lb  of  both 
Thomas’  phosphate  and  kainit  and  1601b  nitrate  of  soda  per 
acre  were  used.  At  Hadamar,  Oaks  eighty  years  old  have 
been  felled,  and  Pines  sowm  amongst  the  stumps  with  the 
same  quantity  of  fertilisers.  The  stumps  showed  shoots  as 
much  as  6ft  long,  while  on  unmanured  land  these  Avere  only 
2ft  to  3ft  long.  Fifteen-year-old  Pines  in  miserable  con¬ 
dition.  only  1ft  Sin  high,  and  making  only  2in  shoots  annually, 
were  three  years  ago  mulched  with  horse-dung.  In  the  very 
first  year  they  shoAved  a  fine  green  colour,  and  the  average 
annual  shoots  made  since  are  more  than  a  foot  long.  Mulch¬ 
ing  with  Potato  haulm  or  other  material  gave  not  quite  so 
good  a  result.  The  annual  shoots  averaged  8in  ;  the 
nourishing  constituents  in  the  dung  caused,  therefore,  the 
growth  of  the  extra.  4in. — F.  E.  H.  W.  Krichauff  (in 
“Journal  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.”) 
