The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-10-06
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FARM FORESTRY.
Tree Planting In the Northeast. the
West and the Pine Helts.

Tree Planting In the Northeast, the
West and the Pine HeIts.
Wherever the planter has chosen his
trees with intelligence and so succeed
cd In producing a useful plantation,
there has been the real spirit of for
Gstry.
In the spruce lands Of the northeast,
for example, many lumbcrmen have
come to see that by leaving the small
trees standing they can return for a
second crop earlier than would other.
wise he possible and that this plan
pays, In many cases they are leaving
the spruce which measures less than
10 inches In diameter and In others
that which measures less than II
inches. because the trees under these
sizes eau be harvested with greater
profit II they are left a few years to
gain q larger growth. Similar work
has been done In other sections of the
United States, as, for instance, in the
southern pine belt, where repeated
crops of long leaf pine have been cut
from the same tract.
BY far the greater amount of such
work has, however, been done by
farmers and other owners Of small
tracts Of woodland. Very many farm
ers have made a practice Of thinning
their wood lots with care, first remov.
ing the dead, dying or unprOmising
trees and then letting the remainder
stand In order to utilize the growth of
the trees and to obtain continually
from the wood lot hrewood and other
material for the farm and occasionally
a crop of larger trees for the market.
Other farmers, again, devote. a number
Of acres to the production OF hard
wood sprouts for fuel. They cut over
the land every 20 or 30 years and cal
culate that from one-hAlf to one cord
Of wood Ia produced annually by this
system Of forestry.
Tree planting on waste places on
the farm Is yet another kind of forest
~ which has been practiced. Work Of
this character IL now widespread. and
much Of 1t has been accomplished. In
New England there are numerous in
stances of planting white pine on
waste places with excellent results,
and In Massachusetts the planting Of
larch has proved highly satisfactory.
Many farmers have found 1t profitable
to plant locust and red cedar for fence
posts, and In more than one case the
cultivation OF black walnut has
brought large eturns. In the central
west the fast growing catalpa and the
ailanthus have produced remarkable
results In short periods in the hands of
private growers.
A distinct branch Of tree planting Is
practiced In the treeless states Of the
west. There, In addition to the uses 70
which their wood Ia put, trees have
proved Of great value in the form of
Windbreaks. In these cases the best
results have generally been obtained
from the Usage orange, catalpa, maple,
elm, box elder, Norway spruce, Scotch
pine and others, according to differing
local conditions.
There Is yet another use to which
tree planting has been put. Along the
banks Of streams trees have been set
to fix the fast eroding soil and to pre-
vent the increasing floods, and on cul-
tiyated hillsides which have begun to
gully from the washing OF rain trees
have been made to do good service IN
checking the excessive surface DRAM
age and saving the fertile soil.
The protection of woodlands from
fire forms one of the most important
branches Of forestry which have been
practiced In the United States. Indeed,
without such protection any efforts to
cut the timber with a view to repro
duction or to plant new forests are
useless. Various measures to guard
against forest fires have been adopted
In different localities. For example, III
the Atlantic pine belt many forest
owners burn of tho upper layer OF
leaves and needles In the early spring
In order to prevent the spread OF ire
later In the season.
In Michigan, lumbermen have en-
deayOred to lessen the danger from hre
by looping and burning the brush left
after numbering. The cutting OF hro
strips along railroads, and even within
the forest itself, has been Used as a
precaution against fires. But a coln-
mon and q very effective way to guard
against fire Ia careful watching. Many
large owners Of forest land employ I
number Of men as a fire patrol, and
often an extra crew Of watchers IL
hired during the dangerously dry sea
sons. In the same way many lumber
companies which own logging rail-
roads employ a man to follow the
trains and put out any fires that may
be started.
The foregoing Is extracted from a
circular by Clifford Pinchot, forester OF
the United States department of agri-
culture. The yearbook of 1899 will
consist Of q resume of the achieve
ments of this country In every branch
of science relating to agriculture and