Studies of Trees

by Jacob Joshua Levison

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 principal 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 sassafras, 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 grass 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 finishing 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 scraping 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.

Improvement by cutting: The removal of certain trees in a grove is often necessary to improve the quality of the better trees, increase their growth, make the place accessible, and enhance its beauty. Cutting in a wooded area should be confined to suppressed trees, dead and dying trees and trees badly infested with insects and disease. In case of farm woodlands, mature trees of market value may be cut, but in parks and on private estates these have a greater value when left standing. The cutting should leave a clean stand of well-selected specimens which will thrive under the favorable influence of more light and growing space. Considerable care is required to prevent injury to the young trees when the older specimens are cut and hauled out of the woods. The marking of the trees to be removed can best be done in summer when the dead and live trees can be distinguished with ease and when the requisite growing space for each tree can be judged better from the density of the crowns. The cutting, however, can be done most advantageously in winter.

Immediately after cutting all diseased and infested wood should be destroyed. The sound wood may be utilized for various purposes. The bigger logs may be sold to the local lumber dealers and the smaller material may be used for firewood. The remaining brush should be withdrawn from the woodlot to prevent fire during the dry summer months.

In marking trees for removal, a number of considerations are to be borne in mind besides the elimination of dead, diseased and suppressed trees. When the marker is working among crowding trees of equal height, he should save those that are most likely to grow into fine specimen trees and cut out all those that interfere with them. The selection must also favor trees which are best adapted to the local soil and climatic conditions and those which will add to the beauty of the place. In this respect the method of marking will be different from that used in commercial forestry, where the aim is to net the greatest profit from the timber. In pure forestry practice, one sees no value in such species as dogwood, ironwood, juneberry, sumac and sassafras, and will therefore never allow those to grow up in abundance and crowd out other trees of a higher market value. But on private estates and in park woodlands where beauty is an important consideration, such species add wonderful color and attractiveness to the forest scene, especially along the roads and paths, and should be favored as much as the other hardier trees. One must not mark too severely in one spot or the soil will be dried out from exposure to sun and wind. When the gaps between the trees are too large, the trees will grow more slowly and the trunks will become covered with numerous shoots or suckers which deprive the crowns of their necessary food and cause them to “die back.” Where the trees are tall and slim or on short and steep hillsides, it is also important to be conservative in marking in order that the stand may not be exposed to the dangers of windfall. No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to what would constitute a conservative percentage of trees to cut down. This depends entirely on the local conditions and on the exposure of the woodlot. But in general it is not well to remove more than twenty per cent of the stand nor to repeat the cutting on the same spot oftener than once in five or six years. The first cutting will, of course, be the heaviest and all subsequent cuttings will become lighter and lighter until the woodlot is put in good growing condition. On private estates and parks, where beauty is the chief aim, the woodland should be kept as natural, informal and as thick as possible. Where the woodland is cut up by many paths and drives, density of vegetation will add to the impression of depth and distance.

Protection: This subject has already been discussed considerably in the previous study on Forestry, and here it becomes necessary merely to add a few suggestions with special reference to private and park woodlands.