Studies of Trees Part 20

When the fire runs along the surface only, the injury extends to the b.u.t.ts of the trees and to the young seedlings. Such fires can be put out by throwing dirt or sand over the fire, by beating it, and, sometimes, by merely raking the leaves away.

Ground fires destroy the vegetable mold which the trees need for their sustenance. They progress slowly and kill or weaken the roots of the trees.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 133.--A Top Fire near Bear Canyon, Arizona.]

Top fires, Fig. 133, are the most dangerous, destroying everything in their way. They generally develop from surface fires, though sometimes they are started by lightning. They are more common in coniferous forests, because the leaves of hardwoods do not burn so readily. Checking the progress of a top fire is a difficult matter.

Some fires will travel as rapidly as five miles an hour, and the heat is terrific. The only salvation for the forest lies, in many cases, in a sudden downpour of rain, a change of wind, or some barrier which the fire cannot pa.s.s. A barrier of this kind is often made by starting another fire some distance ahead of the princ.i.p.al one, so that when the two fires meet, they will die out for want of fuel. In well-kept forests, strips or lanes, free from inflammable material, are often purposely made through the forest area to furnish protection against top fires. Carefully managed forests are also patrolled during the dry season so that fires may be detected and attacked in their first stages. Look-out stations, watch-towers, telephone-connections and signal stations are other means frequently resorted to for fire protection and control. Notices warning campers and trespa.s.sers against starting fires are commonly posted in such forests. (Fig. 143.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 134.--Sheep Grazing on Holy Cross National Forest, Colorado. The drove consists of 1600 sheep, of which only part are shown in the photograph.]

The grazing of sheep, goats and cattle in the forest is another important source of injury to which foresters must give attention.

In the West this is quite a problem, for, when many thousands of these animals pa.s.s through a forest (Fig. 134), there is often very little young growth left and the future reproduction of the forest is severely r.e.t.a.r.ded. Grazing on our National Forests is regulated by the Government.

As a means of protection against insects and fungi, all trees infested are removed as soon as observed and in advance of all others, whenever a lumbering operation is undertaken.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 135.--A Typical Montana Sawmill.]

How forests are harvested: Forestry and forest preservation require that a forest should be cut and not merely held untouched. But it also demands that the cutting shall be done on scientific principles, and that only as much timber shall be removed in a given time as the forest can produce in a corresponding period. After the cutting, the forest must be left in a condition to produce another crop of timber within a reasonable time: see Fig. 122. These fundamental requirements represent the difference between conservative lumbering and ordinary lumbering. Besides insuring a future supply of timber, conservative lumbering, or lumbering on forestry principles, also tends to preserve the forest floor and the young trees growing on it, and to prevent injury to the remaining trees through fire, insects and disease. It provides for a working plan by which the kind, number and location of the trees to be cut are specified, the height of the stumps is stipulated and the utilization of the wood and by-products is regulated.

Conservative lumbering provides that the trees shall be cut as near to the ground as possible and that they shall be felled with the least damage to the young trees growing near by. The branches of the trees, after they have been felled, must be cut and piled in heaps, as shown in Fig. 122, to prevent fire. When the trunks, sawed into logs, are dragged through the woods, care is taken not to break down the young trees or to injure the bark of standing trees. Waste in the process of manufacture is provided against, uses are found for the material ordinarily rejected, and the best methods of handling and drying lumber are employed. Fig. 135 shows a typical sawmill capable of providing lumber in large quant.i.ties.

In the utilization of the by-products of the forest, such as turpentine and resin, Forestry has devised numerous methods for harvesting the crops with greater economy and with least waste and injury to the trees from which the by-products are obtained. Fig.

136 ill.u.s.trates an improved method by which crude turpentine is obtained.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 136.--Gathering Crude Turpentine by the Cup and Gutter Method. This system, devised by foresters, saves the trees and increases the output.]

Forestry here and abroad: Forestry is practiced in every civilized country except China and Turkey. In Germany, Forestry has attained, through a long series of years, a remarkable state of scientific thoroughness and has greatly increased the annual output of the forests of that country.

In France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Russia and Denmark, Forestry is also practiced on scientific principles and the government in each of these countries holds large tracts of forests in reserve. In British India one finds a highly efficient Forest Service and in j.a.pan Forestry is receiving considerable attention.

In the United States, the forest areas are controlled by private interests, by the Government and by the States. On privately owned forests, Forestry is practiced only in isolated cases. The States are taking hold of the problem very actively and in many of them we now find special Forestry Commissions authorized to care for vast areas of forest land reserved for State control. These Commissions employ technically trained foresters who not only protect the State forests, but also plant new areas, encourage forest planting on private lands and disseminate forestry information among the citizens. New York State has such a Commission that cares for more than a million acres of forest land located in the northern part of the State. Many other States are equally progressive.

The United States Government is the most active factor in the preservation of our forests. The Government to-day owns over two hundred million acres of forest land, set aside as National Forests.

There are one hundred and fifty individual reserves, distributed as shown in Fig. 137 and cared for by the Forest Service, a bureau in the Department of Agriculture. Each of the forests is in charge of a supervisor. He has with him a professional forester and a body of men who patrol the tract against fire and the illegal cutting of timber. Some of the men are engaged in planting trees on the open areas and others in studying the important forest problems of the region. Fig. 138.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 137.--Map Showing Our National Forests.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 138.--Government Foresters in Missouri Studying the Growth and Habits of Trees. They are standing in water three feet deep.]

Where cutting is to be done on a National Forest, the conditions are investigated by a technically trained forester and the cutting is regulated according to his findings. Special attention is given to discovering new uses for species of trees which have hitherto been considered valueless, and the demand upon certain rare species is lessened by introducing more common woods which are suitable for use in their place.

Aside from the perpetuation of the national forests, the U.S.

Forest Service also undertakes such tree studies as lie beyond the power or means of private individuals. It thus stands ready to cooperate with all who need a.s.sistance.

STUDY II. CARE OF THE WOODLAND

Almost every farm, large private estate or park has a wooded area for the purpose of supplying fuel or for enhancing the landscape effect of the place. In most instances these wooded areas are entirely neglected or are so improperly cared for as to cause injury rather than good. In but very few cases is provision made for a future growth of trees after the present stock has gone. Proper attention will increase and perpetuate a crop of good trees just as it will any other crop on the farm, while the attractiveness of the place may be greatly enhanced through the intelligent planting and care of trees.

How to judge the conditions: A close examination of the wooded area may reveal some or all of the following unfavorable conditions:

The trees may be so crowded that none can grow well. A few may have grown to large size but the rest usually are decrepit, and overtopped by the larger trees. They are, therefore, unable, for the want of light and s.p.a.ce, to develop into good trees. Fig. 139 shows woodland in such condition.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 139.--Woodland which Needs Attention. The trees are overcrowded.]

There may also be dead and dying trees, trees infested with injurious insects and fungi and having any number of decayed branches. The trees may be growing so far apart that their trunks will be covered with suckers as far down as the ground, or there may be large, open gaps with no trees at all. Here the sun, striking with full force, may be drying up the soil and preventing the decomposition of the leaves. Gra.s.s soon starts to grow in these open s.p.a.ces and the whole character of the woodland changes as shown in Figs. 140 and 141.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 140.--First Stage of Deterioration. The woodland is too open and gra.s.s has taken the place of the humus cover.]

Where any of these conditions exist, the woodland requires immediate attention. Otherwise, as time goes on, it deteriorates more and more, the struggle for s.p.a.ce among the crowded and suppressed trees becomes more keen, the insects in the dying trees multiply and disease spreads from tree to tree. Under such conditions, the soil deteriorates and the older trees begin to suffer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 141.--Second Stage of Deterioration. The Surface Soil of the Wooded Area Has Washed Away and the Trees Have Died.]

The attention required for the proper care of woodland may be summed up under the four general heads of _soil preservation_, _planting_, _cutting_, and _protection_.

Improvement by soil preservation: The soil in a wooded area can best be preserved and kept rich by doing two things; by retaining the fallen leaves on the ground and by keeping the ground well covered with a heavy growth of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. The fallen leaves decompose, mix with the soil and form a dark-colored material known as _humus_. The humus supplies the tree with a considerable portion of its food and helps to absorb and retain the moisture in the soil upon which the tree is greatly dependent. A heavy growth of trees and shrubs has a similar effect by serving to retain the moisture in the soil.

Improvement by planting: The planting of new trees is a necessity on almost any wooded area. For even where the existing trees are in good condition, they cannot last forever, and provision must be made for others to take their place after they are gone. The majority of the wooded areas in our parks and on private estates are not provided with a sufficient undergrowth of desirable trees to take the place of the older ones. Thus, also, the open gaps must be planted to prevent the soil from deteriorating.

Waste lands on farms which are unsuited for farm crops often offer areas on which trees may profitably be planted. These lands are sufficiently good in most cases to grow trees, thus affording a means of turning into value ground which would otherwise be worthless. It has been demonstrated that the returns from such plantations at the end of fifty years will yield a six per cent investment and an extra profit of $151.97 per acre, the expense totaling at the end of fifty years, $307.03. The value of the land is estimated at $4 per acre and the cost of the trees and planting at $7 per acre. The species figured on here is white pine, one of the best trees to plant from a commercial standpoint. With other trees, the returns will vary accordingly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 142.--A Farm Woodlot.]

The usual idea that it costs a great deal to plant several thousand young trees is erroneous. An ordinary woodlot may be stocked with a well-selected number of young trees at a cost less than the price generally paid for a dozen good specimen trees for the front lawn.

It is not necessary to underplant the woodlot with big trees. The existing big trees are there to give character to the forest and the new planting should be done princ.i.p.ally as a future investment and as a means of perpetuating the life of the woodlot. Young trees are even more desirable for such planting than the older and more expensive ones. The young trees will adapt themselves to the local soil and climatic conditions more easily than the older ones. Their demand for food and moisture is more easily satisfied, and because of their small cost, one can even afford to lose a large percentage of them after planting.

The young plants should be two-year-old seedlings or three-year-old "transplants."

Two-year-old seedlings are trees that have been grown from the seed in seed beds until they reach that age. They run from two to fifteen inches in height, depending upon the species.

Three-year-old "transplants" have been grown from the seed in seed beds and at the end of the first or second year have been taken up and transplanted into rows, where they grow a year or two longer.

They are usually a little taller than the two-year-old seedlings, are much stockier and have a better root system. For this reason, three-year-old transplants are a little more desirable as stock for planting. They will withstand drought better than seedlings.

The best results from woodland planting are obtained with native-grown material. Such stock is stronger, hardier and better acclimated. Foreign-grown stock is usually a little cheaper, owing to the fact that it has been grown abroad, under cheap labor conditions.

The trees may be purchased from reputable dealers, of whom there are many in this country. These dealers specialize in growing young trees and selling them at the low cost of three to ten dollars per thousand. In States in which a Forestry Commission has been inaugurated, there have also been established State nurseries where millions of little trees are grown for reforestation purposes. In order to encourage private tree planting, the Forestry Commissions are usually willing to sell some of these trees at cost price, under certain conditions, to private land owners. Inquiries should be made to the State Forestry Commission.

Great care must be taken to select the species most suitable for the particular soil, climatic and light conditions of the woodlot. The trees which are native to the locality and are found growing thriftily on the woodlot, are the ones that have proven their adaptability to the local conditions and should therefore be the princ.i.p.al species used for underplanting. A list from which to select the main stock would, therefore, vary with the locality. In the Eastern States it would comprise the usual hardy trees like the red, pin and scarlet oaks, the beech, the red and sugar maples, the white ash, the tulip tree, sycamore, sweet gum and locust among the deciduous trees; the white, Austrian, red, pitch and Scotch pines, the hemlock and the yew among the conifers.

With the main stock well selected, one may add a number of trees and shrubs that will give to the woodland scene a pleasing appearance at all seasons. The brilliant autumnal tints of the sa.s.safras, pepperidge, blue beech, viburnum, juneberry and sumach are strikingly attractive. The flowering dogwood along the drives and paths will add a charm in June as well as in autumn and an occasional group of white birch will have the same effect if planted among groups of evergreens. Additional undergrowth of native woodland shrubs, such as New Jersey tea, red-berried elder and blueberry for the Eastern States, will augment the naturalness of the scene and help to conserve the moisture in the soil.

Two or three years' growth will raise these plants above all gra.s.s and low vegetation, and a sprinkling of laurel, rhododendron, hardy ferns and a few intermingling colonies of native wild flowers such as bloodroot, false Solomon's seal and columbines for the East, as a ground cover will put the finis.h.i.+ng touches to the forest scene.

As to methods of planting the little trees, the following suggestions may prove of value. As soon as the plants are received, they should be taken from the box and dipped in a thick puddle of water and loam. The roots must be thoroughly covered with the mud.

Then the bundles into which the little trees are tied should be loosened and the trees placed in a trench dug on a slant. The dirt should be placed over the roots and the exposed parts of the plants covered with brush or burlap to keep away the rays of the sun.

When ready for planting, a few plants are dug up, set in a pail with thin mud at the bottom and carried to the place of planting. The most economical method of planting is for one man to make the holes with a mattock. These holes are made about a foot in diameter, by sc.r.a.ping off the sod with the mattock and then digging a little hole in the dirt underneath. A second man follows with a pail of plants and sets a single plant in this hole with his hands, see Fig. 129, making sure that the roots are straight and spread out on the bottom of the hole. The dirt should then be packed firmly around the plant and pressed down with the foot.