The San Saba weekly news. (San Saba, Tex.) 18??-1???, 1891-12-25
THE FABM AND HOME.
THE NECESSITY OF PLANT
ING FOREST TREES.
Practical Instruction on Setting Treas
one-Eyed Potato ssed-Get an
Early Start-Farm and
Home Hats.

Early Start-Farm and
Home Hats.
All Of my experience in tree plant
ing. writes Waldo F. Brown in the
Country Gcntlemar. ---te;tiser for fruit,
shade timber or protection, leads me
to advise the planting of young small
trees and that they be carefully cult
waited for from one TO four years or
until they get a thrifty start. The
sooner a young tree is established and
rooted where it is to grow the better.
l have grown and planted several
thousand locust and soft maple trees
and | would not take rs a gift q tree
that had stood in the nursery row IN
til two years old. l have also had
considerable experience in transplant
ing volunteer seedlings from the
woods, and have found that trees two
or three inches in diameter and ten or
twelve feet high. are usually so stunt
ed by transplanting as TO require sew
eral years to regain their thrift while
a seeding three feet high which can
be lifted out OF the soil without break
ing its roots, is scarcely checked at
all in its growth.
1t pays to set forest trees considera-
bly, thicker than we want them to grow.
for this induces a straight upward
growth, with long trunk; and with
some varieties, know that when
planted in this way no trimming is re-
quired for the side branches die and
drop off. leaving a much smoother
trunk than if the branches had been
cut of. When l first began planting
locust trees by the acre spent a good
deal Of time and labor in trimming,
but afterwards found that the labor
was worse than wasted Another ad-
vantage of close planting is, that in
thinning out your trees you can cut all
that are ill-shaped or imperfect and
still have enough left so that there
will be no openings or vacancies.
have planted several acres Of black To-
Gust and soft (white) maple, and on the
first acre l set the trees four feet
apart each way my intention being,
as they grew to take out first every
other row, and later every other tree
from the remaining rows. When I
began thinning, l soon found that the
one tree of the four which must be
left was often worthless and so IN my
later paintings l have put the rows
eight feet apart and set the trees
three or four feet apart in the row;
and then in thinning we leave the
best trees and rarely have too long
vacancy. | can now cut trees from
locust grove eleven years planted,
large enough TO make two posts at the
butt and one above; and my first
planting of white maple, made of one
year old Seeding trees in 1868, now
has trees two feet in diameter.
What most regret is that did not
plant an acre or two Of sugar naples.
Such grove is highly ornamental,
and for this alone would add 10 the
value OF any farm, and in twenty years
or less the trees will be large enough
to tap. 1t would be easy so 10 locate
them as to get the benefit of a wind
break, and they would furnish a CRATE
ful shade TO stock in summer The
young seedlings abound in the wood
lots near and one could in a dav or
two collect enough to plant an acre.
A closely planted row OF them along
the north and west sides of field or
farm. would afford protection from
summer storms which would otherwise
lodge corn or wheat. and also from
winter blasts which often kill out the
wheat
The young trees should be gathered
from the woods in the fall, tied in
small bundles. 80 to 100 in bundle.
and set in the ground six or eight
inches deeper than they grow in some
well drained, sheltered spot and then
protected with leaves. When spring
opens, as soon as the land will work
well, plow and harrow until it is in
nice order, then with two horse pillow
make deep furrOw, passing along
two or more times if necessary. What
you want Is to get the furrow deep and
wide enough so that no digging will
be necessary to set the trees, but the
roots can be put in the furrow and the
loose earth drawn to them and press
ed down and the trees are ready to
grow. The most rapid way to set
these small seedlings is for boy to
hold the tree upright with the roots in
the furrow. and two men, one with
light shovel and the other hoe to put
the earth to the roots. Before the last
of the earth is placed around the tree,
it should be firmly pressed down with
the feet and then loose earth placed
above. Two men and a boy can set
out an acre of trees in a day in this
way.
planting a single row for a
wlnd-break, l should set them but ten
feet apart. 1t is true that you cannot
grow grain near them after they at
tain much growth. but I believe II 10
be also true that you can grow enough
more on the remainder Of the field to
make good the loss. and all that the
trees are worth will be clear gain.
Undoubtedly for climatic reasons
there should be at once a systematic
planting of trees begun. and as we
have no department of forestry here
as they have in Europe, the best
way to call attention to the matter
seems to be through the agricultural
press. 1t LOOKS like a great undertake
ing TO attempt to start new forest
but when we undertake it intelligent
ly. the difficulties soon vanish. am
glad to be able to report that the
"borer" which five years ago ap-
peared in such numbers as TO bid fair
to destroy our locust plantations, dis
appeared after about two years; and
my last planting now four years old
seems to be entirely free from them.
An Early start.
You did not run fast enough, "
said the station agent TO the passen-
ger who missed the train. Il ran
fast enough. but did not start soon
enough" said the passenger. as soon
as he could get breath enough to re-
ply. When we see a farmer dra wing
out manure while other farmers are
nj n ,,1op4iror