The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1912-01-18
CARE Of FARM W0ODLOT
WEED" TREES SHOULD MAKE
ROOM FOR USEFUL SPECIES.
BY J. A. Ferguson, Professor of For
estry, College OF Agriculture,
University of Missouri.

There are two kinds of trees that
grow in the woodlot, the useful tree
md the weed" tree. The useful tree
IS che whose wood is of some value
Tor use on the farm, as fuel, fence
posts, etc. The weed tree is one that
IAN serve no useful purpose, and &C.
cupies space better tree should &C.
>'upy. The constant cutting out, year
after year, of the useful trees and
leaving the weed trees to grow, finally
fills the woodlot with useless species.
1t is just as necessary to remove the
weeds" from a woodot as it is from
earden crop. ~
When tree is cut out, there are
nearly always a number of tree seed
lings in the underground beneath the
tree unless the woodlot has been too
heavily grazed or has been burned
over. The tree that will finally grow
up and fill the space formerly occu.
pied by the tree removed will come
from this underground If it is com
posed of seedlings of weed" trees,
o' 40 oAtSA lAC SooC, lllC SpdCC Will
be filled by useless weed tree. Too
many farmers leave to nature the Sc.
lection of the trees that will come up
in such openings. The useless trees
are usually more vigorous than the
useful ones, hence the woodlot be.
comes filed with weed" trees.
When tree is cut out the owners
should notice whether there are seed
lings Of trees of desirable species in
the underground to grow and fill the
empty space. II not, then he ought
to cut down the seedlings of the weed
trees and plant in their places those
Of useful trees. For every large tree
cut out of the woodlot, If there are
no good seedlings to grow and fill
the space left. half a dozen seedlings
should be planted in its place.
Every farm should have forest
nursery to furnish seedlings for re-
planting the woodlot. Such a nursery
would also furnish trees for planting
around the house, along the roads,
md for making windbreaks. Many
farmers do not plant trees because it
costs too much to purchase the from
nursery. It will cost nothing except
slight effort to grow all the forest
trees needed for use on the farm 1t
is simple matter to grow forest
trees from seed.
Seeds Of forest trees can easily be
gathered from the trees as soon as
hey are ripe, or they can be collected
from the ground. Seeds can be col
ted quicker from trees standing
alone in the open than from those in
the woolot. as with their larger
crowns they produce a much larger
amount OF seed.
Some trees ripen their seed In early
summer Some Of these are white
elm. soft maple, cottonwood, poplar.
willow and river birch. These seeds
DO not long retain their vitality. and
should be planted as soon as gath
cred.
Seeds that mature in the late fall
retain their vitality for longer pc,
riod, and do not generally terminate
until the following spring Such seeds
could be planted in the fall. were it
not for the danger of their being
found by squirrels or other rodents.
or OF being washed out of the soil
by rain So 1t is better to keep them
over winter and plant them in the
spring.
Seeds of ash, tulip, catalpa. honey
locust. black locust yellowwood and
coffee bean can be gathered from the
trees in late fall and hung up in bags
in the barn over winter. Before plant.
ing in the spring these seeds should
be soaked for some time in warm wa
ter The ash, catalpa, locust and
tulip seed require a few hours soak
Ing. Seed Of the coffee bean should
be soaked in hot water for three or
four days AS soon as removed from
the water. the seeds should 0e plant.
ed, and in no case should they be
allowed to dry out
Seeds OF the walnut, hickory nut
butter nut. blackberry, black cherry.
beech, chestnut and hazel will not
in the spring il allowed to
iry out over winter. They must be
kept moist by stratifying them. This
in burying the seed as soon
Is mature in hole ten or twelve
inches deep The hole should be made
On a well drained slope where the
seeds will be kept moist. but not wet
A layer of seed Is put into the hole
then a layer Of sand. then another
layer OF seed. and so on until the
hole Is filled A layer Of straw or
leaves should then be spread over the
stratified seeds and covered with six
inches OF soil. Freezing will not in
lure, but will beneht the seeds.
Where there IL danger from SOUR
rele. or other pests. the seeds can be
stratifled in q box In q similar man.
her, and put in a safe place where