The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1892-01-01
THE FARM AND HOME.
THE NECESSITY OF PLANT
ING FOREST TREES.
Practical Instruction on Setting Treas
One Eyed Potato Seed-Get an
Early Start-Farm and
Home Hints.

Country Gentleman whether for fruit
shade timber or protection, leads me
to advise the planting of young, small
trees and that they be carefully Guilt
waited for from one to four years, or
until they get thrifty start. The
sooner a young tree is established and
rooted where it is to grow the better.
/ have grown and planted several
thousand locust and soft maple trees
and would not take as gift tree
that had stood in the nursery row I'M
til two years old. / 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
q 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 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 much smoother
trunk than if the branches had been
cut off. When | first began planting
locust trees by the acre, | spent 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 | set the trees four feet
apart each way my intention being,
as they grew, to take out first every
other row, and later, overy other tree
from the remaining rows. When
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 | 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 q
vacancy. | can now cut trees from a
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 II grove is highly ornamental,
and for this alone would add to the
value of any farm, and in twenty years
or less the trees will be large enough
to tap. 1t would be easy so to locate
them as to get the benefit of u wind.
break, and they would furnish u CRATE
full shade TO stock in summer. The
young seedlings abound in the wood
| lObD hCuAp anu OuO NOllN III a. uby VI
two collect enough to plant an acre.
A closely planted row of them along
the north and west sides of a field OF
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
I 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
J protected with leaves. When spring
opens as soon as the Land will work
well, pillow and harrow until 1t is in
nice order, then with a 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 a
light shovel and the other a hoe to put
the earth to the roots. Before the last
of the earth is placed around the tree,
1t should be firmly pressed down with
the feet, and then loose earth placed
above. Two men and boy can set
out an acre OF trees in day in this
, way.
When planting a single row for q
wind-break, / should set them but ten
feet apart. 1t is true that you cannot
grow grain near them after they at
tain much growth, but l believe IL to
be also true that you can grow enough
more on the remainder OF the field TO
make good the loss and all that the
a 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 great undertake
ing to attempt to start new forest
but when we undertake it Intelligent
" the di1iculties soon vanish I am