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.
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 principally 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.