The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1901-10-26
ia. RIM A I'D g r Ten,
MATTERS OF fNTEREsT TO AaeFsI.<
CuLTuRlsTs. s-s
Some Up to- Date Hints About Culti-
ss va ton Of the Soil and 81 Yields
ThereOf rticulture, viticulture and
III Floricuiture. #5$ 5$ 3 SSH
Bort.cultural s,bservasions.

smot Their the roots OF trees by layers OF
earth over them There are more. an
IsWers thansone that will be given. The
following from Vicks Magazine gives
one view OF the subject: 1T IS q fact
not generally known that trees may.
readily be killed by smothering the
roots that is, by covering them SO
deeply with soil or other material, that
| the supply Of air Is unduly cut off and.
the tree dies. Such instances have fre-.
quently come under the observation OF
the writer in connection with land.
scape gardening improvements. He
recalls especially the case in Western
New York town, where. on "a certain
street, the front part of the lots laid
so much higher than the streets that 1t
was desirable to cut the soil down be-
fore buildings were erected thereon.
Now the rear of the same lots sloped
away so low that better shaped build
Ing sites could be created by filing IN
earth in these parts. The conclusion
was easily reached that by moving
| soil from front to rear in the lot the
surface would be about the right shape
and this plan was carried out. In the
/ back Of these lots, however, there were
| some vigorous old orchard and other
trees, which were highly priced. The
filling in of earth to improve the grade
called for a depth of as much as three
and four feet of soil over the roots OF
these trees. In most cases the owners
before moving in the earth made boxes
of plank about four feet across around
the, trees, to keep the soil away from
the trunks, thinking that this was all
the provision needed for their safety.
Now for the lesson: The result OF that
filling in of earth was that after i've
years, not one of the former healthy
trees was alive wherever the soil was
deeply filed in. The trees had been
smothered effectually.. So far as the
final outcome was concerned, the box
ing Of the trunks to keep back the SOIL
might as we'll not have been per-
formed"
Now for little on the other side of
the question. The writer of this para
graph knows a good many instances
where dirt has been filled in" over the
roots of trees, in this case forest and
shade trees. In every case the trees
have remained vigorous. Some OF
these cases are On railroad grounds
and some on school grounds. Near
the home of the writer the hickory
trees have been dying for the last five
years. On his own lot all the hick-
except where the earth has been filled
t in over the roots and hickory whose
+ roots are buried the deepest is the
I healthiest. Of all. These latter trees
| are not even boxed to keep the earth
from the trees. How much value there
/ may be to the boxing we do not know.
We have seen boxes put around large
| oak trees whose roots must have ex-
tended Is or more feet from the trees.
| The active parts of the roots are near
the extremities and are the parts that
need the air. The boxes around the
trees admit the air only to the trunks
| and not the active areas of roots. It.
is evident to any thinking person that.
the air in the box would have to pass
| through more earth to reach the roots
| than from the surface to the ground:
| There is without doubt possibility of
killing roots. by burying them too deep.
but the smothering out is not by any
means as likely in one locality as. in
another.
j. Brown, secretary of the Inter-
national Society of Arboriculture, pre-
diets that, fifty years hence Kansas
and the states today planting trees will
be supplying California and the Pacific
coast states with timber He says
further that with a continuation of the.
present rate OF timber cutting there
I will soon be- a great dearth OF
forests west of the Rocky noun
tains. He suggests government
i ownership OF these forests as the
! only means Of preserving them.
Tree planting Is now going on quite
extensively in the states west of the
| Mississippi river, but not SO fast as it
would be done were the plantations
owned by the state. The individual
planters say. that they cannot hope to
reap any returns and do not like to in
! vest too much Of their own money in
! posterity. The state il, perpetual and
can afford to invest In forest planta-.
lions even though they will not give
returns till the next generation. The
hard woods, the most aluable OF all,
are not faYorites FOR planting taking,
as they do, such long period OF time
for development. his is q question
!, in which the public IS deeply inter
ested: it is: a prob lem that the public.
only can handle successfully and In
a scientific manner. It is not reason
1 able for us to ask private citizens to
make sacrifices that the future public
may be benefited. The people OF Eu-
rope long ago realized this truth, and
their governments have been carrying
on the work Of forest preservation and
propagation for generate
HEATH OF SHOW stock