Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-12-10
AMERICAN TREE
SEEDS GROWING
IN BLOODY SOIL
American Forestry Associa-
ton Sent EmbrO Trees as
Present.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10-The most IA
nous Christmas present ever sent from
one nation to another. American tree
seeds, are now healing the wounds Of
war in the devastated sections of the
allied countries. From Boston three
years ago the American Forestry Assoc
citation Of Washington sent millions OF
tree seeds to France, Great Britain and
Belgium to take the place of their COM
rades who fell in the World War.
The welcome with which the unique
Christmas present was received is shown
In the report Of Arthur Newton Pack Of
Princeton, n. J., to the American For
estry Association, which commissioned
him to go to Europe, made public by the
ASSOCIATION following his three-month
tour. In this report is the following gen
eral order by the French ministry.
"The plantations made from the seed
presented to us by the American Forestr>
Association should be located in places
readily accessible to the main Travelled
roads and, If possible, on or near we'll
known Sites with the view that such fu-
ture forests remain as a monument to the
partnership of France and America In
the great war;
ENGLAND
LOST MOST.
In the British Isles, which lost the
most forest cover because 1t was there
cutting was done ON a wholesale scale
to meet the demands OF war, the same
good feeling prevails In Belgium, too,
the work is going forward, and IN the
puce beautiful Ardennes Mountains
where German axes left nothing stand
ing patches Of American Douglas fir
are rearing their heads where once was
the mark of the German heel.
Here are some of the places the seed
lings are planted:
I'm County Tyrone, Ireland, where the
best nursery showing Of any planted by
the British Forestry Commission has
been made.
an the Forest of Normal, where, in
q, 900 acre forest Of pine and beech, the
German ak left nothing but the smallest
saplings.
I'm the Ardennes Mountains. border
ing the old Duchy Of Luxembourg.
along the CALIFORNIAN Canal, in Scot
land, known to all the American Navy,
because it was there the American sub
marine chasers were modified.
Along the Chemin des Danes, where
the doughboy made history.
around Lille Valenciennes and Hir-
son, at the doors of reviving industry.
IN the Forest of Sain Gobain and
around the ruins of the famous Coueyle-
Chateau"
A tremendous task faces the allied
countries, and the magnitude Of it is
shown in Commissioner Packs report to
the association, which brings out the fact
that Great Britain's program calls for
fourteen thousand pounds of seed per
annum, while France needs an equal
amount, and because of the summer
drought Belgium needs almost as much.
The seedlings were placed first of all
by the French government along the
Chemin des Danes, where the glory of
the doughboy is forever enshrined So
awful was the artillery fire hardly a
.charred stump remains Of the once thick
forest along the slopes. But now row
on row, like the peoples of Flanders, the
seedlings carpet the slopes once gouged
and torn by the battles heel in the
struggle against militarism. These
trees in the years to come will be a great
memorial In the region now supervised
by the American Commietee for ReYas-
tated France. Americas trees, toe, will be
found taking the place of their comrades
who fell In the Forest of Saint Gobain
end around the ruins of the famous
Coucyle Chateau, dynamited by the re-
treating Germans.
To the north the German army
cut every stick Of available timber for
its own use," says the report I'm the
Forest of Normal stand acres Of once
beautiful pine and beech forest. of which
nothing remains today except the stumps
So vast an undertaking is involved in re-
planting everywhere at once that here
the French have adopted q somewhat diff
ferent system-clearing and spading up
only little circle here and there. where-
in our seed has been sown directly. with
oct the intermediate nursery state. The
loss may be heavier, but the labor Of re-
forestation should be lightened.
This experiment with our seeds Is
of unusual interest to US in America.
where planting labor costs so high. ana
1t may be that an experiment made with
American Douglas fir in France win
prove to have real value to forestry in
America. The whole northern district
Lille, Valenciennes and Hirson-is part of
the great coal mining and manufacturing
center of France, which the German
army so thoroughly demolished, and be-
cause of their location at the door Of
reviving industry the woodlands here,
splashed with patches Of American trees.
will hold some of the highest commercial
value of any forests in the world. No
better proof of the importance of reforest-
ing our own Eastern areas need be
sought"