Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-03
GROWING A PINE TREE.
Men Know How to Kill It-Not to
Cultivate It.


Apparently one Of the objects in nature
that is least understood by the average
man. though formerly one of the most
common. is the white pine tree. The
knowledge of how to get rid Of it has
been only too widely diffused. Anybody
can be a tree butcher. but when 1t comes
to the work of replacing what has been
destroyed It takes not only scientific
knowledge but infinite patience. time and
attention to details. A firm of lumber
men in Oxford. Worcester county, seems
not only to possess but to be disposed TO
exercise these qualities. On its farm
there is a plantation of young pines Just
sowed. some half a million in ALL They
are covered with a mile of Stats for pro-
lection from the sun, for the young
shoots are sensitive and require tender
handling in the infant stages. But this
half acre under Stats is but one feature
Of the pine tree plantations maintained
and cultivated on the big farm. 1t Is en-
couraging that lumbermen are engaged
in this work of reha bilitation. They are
doing much in the way of atonement for
guild is responsible.
The seed in starting a white pine plan
tation is as important as in starting
field of corn-in fact, more so, because
IL Is the 1OunCdtlOn pTOtTdCteQ peIlOO
CT growth. and false start will impair
the enterprise at every stage. The cost at
reliable seed houses Is from two to four
dollars pound. The seed cones are TAX
en- from the tree. put into piles and
threshed like grain: In size and shape
these seeds resemble buckwheat. They
must not be soaked to hasten growth.
but put into the ground and left to them
selves. They come up like garden beans.
the stalk pushing the empty envelope out
of the ground at the tip of the green
shoot In the spaH ming bed, to which
reference has been made. there are over
fifty healthy plants within radius Of
foot, all ready for transplanting In this
latter process the diminutive trees are
put in rows six feet apart. and this dis
tance is also maintained between the
shoots. This follows the course Of ma
ture In putting trees in groups. Grown
by themselves. they are timber from the
ground up and their lumber value Is
much reduced. Like human growths. TO
be complete they must have the benefit
of association with their kind.
A pine tree requires fairly dry soil: at
the same time it's roots must be kept we'll
watered. The half million seedlings men
toned here were SoWn two months ago.
| and are just appearing above the ground.
1t costs about thirty dollars week to
keep the beds free from weeds. At first
scissors are used to cut the grass. as to
pull it up at the start would uproot the
seedlings: but in few months more the
foreign growths can be removed bodily
Furthermore. there are insects that enjoy
feasting on the tender pines. and against
these a vigilant guard must be maintain
ed. as we'll care against mildew. 1t
will thus he seen that pine forest. which
can be so debonairly destroyed. is par
ticularly difficult thing to rehabilitate
Within three years the new plantation is
expected to be worth 81, TO at the rate Of
$3.50 a thousand trees. but up to that
point the cost of cultivation and protec-
ton will almost offset the increment
The profits will come later. An average
forest thirty years old says the head of
the firm. contains about twelve thou
sand square feet of boards to the acre
but ALLOW ed to stand for fifteen years
longer the best part of the growth is put
in just TRIPPING the amount OF timber.
These are n few of the mysteries of the
pine tree 1t is one Of the easiest to cut
and one Of the hardest to reproduce. But
efforts along intelligent lines will over
come the difficulties, and unless we fol-
low the principle of after us the deluge"
these are the courses We must pursue II
we would not have posterity destitute.