The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-20
Every Year They Produce 100000
Little Trees, Which Are Tended
as Carefully as Infants

4 T a score of places in the West
II the Federal Government is es-
ta%blishing great nurseries
where the baby monarchs Of
he forest are as carefully tended as
the foundlings in a hospital incubator,
are reared past their days OF infant
dependence and ultimately set to grow
in the open. where 1t is expected they
will develop into the model forests of
the future.
Every year 10. 000. 900 Of these forest
babies are brought into the world and
raised by hand. Every year enough
of them are graduated into the age
OF independence to be put into the
open and to nve 10000 acres of
previously useless and into model
forests. Eventually it is intended that
100000 acres of this artificially in
duced forest shall be in evidence on
the public domain and shall be passed
on as a heritage to the generations
that are yet to come.
The years work Of the forest SER
vice in transplanting its baby trees
onto the waste land under It's are is
just completed. 1t is pronounced the
most successful work Of It's kind so far
accomplished. for the planting of for
ests Is a comparatively new enterprise.
The forest service has had II under
development for a decade. during
which the best manner of accomplish
ing the desired end has been worked
out. Now the organization has been
developed and the work is going
steadily ahead. adding each year a
certain acreage to what will ultimately
be the model forests Of the nation.
The Government has been working
for a dozen years upon the best
methods Of planting regions that were
cryingly in need of trees M on which
nature had not been able to solve the
problem. There were great bare burns
where forest fires had denuded areas
that had proved themselves ideal tim
Der lands. There were watersheds
that furnished the water supplies for
important cities and the efficiency of
which depended or the timber that
grew upon them. There were areas
where no timber grew for the ordinary
uses Of the residents. yet in which there
was plenty Of waste land that lent it.
self to the planting Of trees.
III forest service had sought to
seed certain Of these areas. 1t must
ascertain the best method of ac-
Complishing this. 1t first tried the
simple plan Of going forth and broad
casting tree seed as a farmer would
sow wheat. 1t hoped that enough of
these would grow to establish a forest.
Blu the proportions between the num-
Der Of seeds produced by forest trees
and the number Of new plants that
grow from them did not lend to SUBJ
stantiate the theory Of the economy
of nature. Broadcasting seed did not
yield a stand Of trees.
The experts thought perhaps the
failure was due to the seed not getting
into the ground. They developed what
they called the seed spot method OF
forestation. Gangs Of men went upon
the barren lands. dug up plots at
regular distances and planted seed.
II these seeds grew a forest would re-
suit that was as regularly outlined as
an orchard. Under such circum-
stances the seed usually yielded baby
trees, but the squirrels, gophers.
chipmunks n other rodents cut them
down. The natural enemies were too
numerous for them to survive. The
seed spot method OF making new for
ests grow VIII, they were desirable
was pronounced a failure and went
into the discard along with its prede-
cessOr, the broadcasting method.
These experiments showed that re-
foresting even approved lands with the
timber that had previously grown on
them was no easy task. The men hav-
ing the work in hand had in the mean
time been planting seeds in beds and
raising young trees in we'll regulated
nurseries. They had found tina the
secrets Of the nurserymen might be
applied to forest trees as successfully
as TO fruit trees. 1t was even a sim
pier problem, for the seed was as easily
sown as clover and the beds yielded an
abundance OF the young plants. These
were shifted into places in the open
when they had gained sufficient
strength and were there grown into
lusty young plants three years OF age.
These strong healthy plants were
then put out on the hlllsides upon
hich 1t was desirable that the,
should fnd permanent homes, there tc
grow for "A century and develop into
forest monarchs. 1t was found that
they had passed the age where they
might easily fall prey to the rodents