Arboriculture

“ The traveller, as he passes through the country, will, often, be struck with the care, he cannot but observe, has been bestowed on arboriculture. He sees that the rocky mountain side is supporting as many trees as could possibly be made to grow together on the space devoted to them; and that each individual tree has been carefully looked after, and scientifically pruned and trained, so that they shall not interfere with each other, but each have its fair share of space and light. In this work nature aids man’s labour and thought by giving to the forests abundance of moisture ”

“ The success of arboriculture on the formerly treeless plains and plateaus, however, decreases as one travels westward. On the western border of the prairies and on the great plateaus, remote from streams, trees can be made to grow only by the aid of irrigation. If this region had never been swept by fire it is safe to say it would still be treeless. ”

“ The profusion of trees and shrubs planted around suburban villas and country mansions, as well as in town squares and public parks, shows how much arboriculture is an object of pleasure to the people. ”

“ Though the soil is fertile and well watered, agricultural products are not so important as arboriculture. The oak, beech, pine, chestnut, walnut and plane grow in abundance on the hills and mountains; pears, apples, cherries, almonds, figs, roses and olives in the valleys, and even oranges and lemons in sheltered spots. ”

“ Although few extensive forests now exist, woods of small area, belts of planting, clumps of trees, coppice and hedgerows, are generally distributed over the country, constituting a mass of wood of considerable importance, giving a clothed appearance in many parts, and affording illustrations of skilled arboriculture not to be found in any other country. ”

“ The tree progresses very slowly in thickness of bole all this time, and generally soon falls a prey to disease. On the other hand, when the tree has its naturally fine large roots preserved, and is situated in open forest, and mixed with other kinds, these large roots diverging widely from the tree and each other, have a much larger less-sought space to forage in; and the tree enjoying a long period of luxuriant growth before it fall much into seed-bearing, acquires strength of constitution to thrive and increase for ages under this drain. ”

“ It displays its ramification chiefly near the top; while the imperfection of its life is manifested in the whole character of its vegetation. In open exposures, on the other hand, the tree developes its existence, in full health and luxuriance. It reaches a height, such as the soil and situation admit, and sufficient to allow the branches, which are thrown out on every side, to expand their leaves freely to the sun. ”

“ An account of the management of the Royal Forests, 182 Reasons why government should rather purchase than raise timber, and that they should sell off the Royal Forests, 185 The Billingtonian system of pruning, 187 Remarks on planting soils not easily permeable by water, 188 Mr Billington’s directions for planting these soils, 189 ————— ————— for clearing away weeds, and for cutting in or pruning the points of the branches, 192 IV.—FORSYTH ON FRUIT AND FOREST TREES, ib. ”

“ It is common, therefore, for the foresters abroad to plant what they call nurse-trees along with those which they intend to make the staple of the ultimate and full-grown forest, the final outcome of their one hundred and twenty or one hundred and sixty years of watching and culture. If, for instance, they propose to raise what shall be at last a forest of oak-timber, they will plant with the oaks successive rows of the pine, the beech, the maple, the larch, or the birch, each at a distance perhaps of twenty feet from its own kind, but each only four feet from some neighbor. ”

“ The greater the success of the forester, the more profound is the solemn stillness of the forest—and the more monotonous. In place of the natural forest, with its varied and teeming life, we have what Wordsworth called a timber factory. In the natural forest, with its mixture of many kinds of trees, the undergrowth of shrubs, and carpet of grass and weeds, the stronger trees spread out their arms in all directions, and fritter away (as the scientific forester would say) their wood-producing powers in making much firewood and little valuable timber. ”

“ The farmer who appreciates the importance of caring for his home forests is always interested in knowing how much timber will grow on an acre during a period of twelve months. The Government reports that where the farm woodlots are fully stocked with trees and well-cared for, an acre of hardwoods will produce from one-half to one cord of wood—a cord of wood is equal to about 500 board feet of lumber. A pine forest will produce from one to two cords of wood an acre. The growth is greater in the warmer southern climate than it is in the North where the growing season is much shorter. ”

“ Our knowledge regarding tree planting and the peculiarities of the different species is, as yet, very meagre. We must discover the best methods of cutting trees and of disposing of the slash. We must investigate rates of growth, yields and other problems of forest management. We must study the effect of climate on forest fires. We must continue experiments in order to develop better systems of fire protection.
We need more forest experiment stations to promote the production of more timber. Twenty of our leading industries utilize lumber as their most important raw material. ”

“ Men may level the forests, clear the land and fence it; but as long as they plant orchards, bird life, at least, will survive and prosper.
"From the barn to the orchard."
Except for the warblers, one acre of apple-trees is richer in the variety of its birds than ten acres of woods. In the three unkempt, decrepit orchards hereabout, I found the robin, chippy, orchard-oriole, cherry-bird, king-bird, crow-blackbird, bluebird, chebec, tree-swallow, flicker, downy woodpecker, screech-owl, yellow warbler, redstart, and great-crested flycatcher—all nesting as rightful heirs and proprietors. ”

“ The kind of study required is as easy and natural as breathing. Without any great knowledge of botany or wood-craft, in a single season you may learn the name and something more of nearly every kind of tree in the park.
With few exceptions all the Sierra trees are growing in the park,—nine species of pine, two of silver fir, one each of Douglas spruce, libocedrus, hemlock, juniper, and sequoia,—sixteen conifers in all, and about the same number of round-headed trees, oaks, maples, poplars, laurel, alder, dogwood, tumion, etc. ”

“ After observing trees for years, I am convinced that there are certain strains or families of trees in the forest that have outstanding traits. Those traits in growth might be dwarfs or they may be giants; they may have short lives or long lives, like different varieties of apples. The fruit or seeds may be large or small. I believe as reforestation progresses there will be certain trees located which have value as seed trees and which will improve the forest equal to the improvement in livestock on the farms today. ”

“ The exacting demands of our modern artificial civilization have drawn ceaselessly upon [Pg 89] these resources, and the assiduous ax and the fire that follows in its train have invaded even the most secluded regions. The resulting barren spaces, where they have not become cultivated land, have either reverted to the young white pine itself or have been transformed into oak barrens and open forests of broadleaf trees. Thus the aspect of the region has been altered, though many a limited spot may be found in which the tall majesty of the primeval forest still finds its full expression. ”

“ After three hundred years of cutting down trees, we have begun to re-plant and protect them. Even the schools have a tree-planting or arbor day, so little citizens can help in the work of winning back our lost trees. The more you know about trees, the more you can help in this work. Don't you want to know and to love them as Eagle Heart knew and loved them? The first thing to do is to visit trees, and make some pictures of them with your little kodak eyes. (See Arbor Day, Forest Reserve, Forest-service, Lumbering and the names of different trees.) ”

“ If we were to start an artificial pine forest it would be by planting seedlings—nursery grown trees—two years old, four feet apart, requiring at that rate 2,722 seedlings per acre. If land we purpose using happens to be part of an abandoned farm or is land from which natural forest was cut twenty or thirty years ago, probably five per cent, of the area is already well stocked by nature with valuable kinds of timber trees. ”

“ Every tree feels the sting of his sharp feet. Nature has made him master-forester, and committed the greater part of the coniferous crops to his management. Probably over half of all the ripe cones of the spruces, firs, and pines are cut off and handled by this busy harvester. ”

“ By establishment, is meant the planting of new forests and the cutting of mature forests, in such a way as to encourage a natural growth of new trees without artificial planting or seeding. The planting may consist of sowing seed, or of setting out young trees. The establishment of a forest by cutting may consist of the removal of all mature trees and dependence upon the remaining stumps to reproduce the forest from sprouts, or it may consist of the removal of only a portion of the mature trees, thus giving the young seedlings on the ground room in which to grow. ”

“ The shortleaf pine will reforest the old areas, and spread over a widening territory, if only it is given a chance. One hundred years is enough time to restore a forest,—to grow a crop of these trees. Young ones spring from the roots of old trees, a habit not at all common among pines. Let us hope that before the Southwestern forests are gone, new ones east of the Mississippi River will take their places, so that the shortleaf shall not disappear from the lumber markets as the white pine of the Northeastern states has done. ”

“ I will not go into the larger fields of forestry, or even into shade trees, except to emphasize the fact that while the shade tree is a very important one, and especially in the cities, we must never lose sight of the larger fact that after all it is not forestry, it does not stand for that, and that our arbor day, where we plant the one tree, should extend far beyond that. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lumbermen who own forests from which they desire to harvest a timber crop should first of all survey the woods, or have some experienced forester do this work, to decide on what trees should be cut and the best methods of logging to follow. The trees to be cut should be selected carefully and marked. The owner should determine how best to protect the young and standing timber during lumbering. He should decide on what plantings he will make to replace the trees that are cut. He should survey and estimate the future yield of the forest. ”

“ Through forest management and its implements, including timber cutting, National Forests are cared for in their own best interests and in the interests of man. The most useful trees are perpetuated in their proper environment through silviculture (silva, the forest, and culture, to cultivate) , the science of producing and caring for a forest. ”

“ To make good timber, the forest, when young, must be crowded so as to secure height growth. Mixed wood, managed on forestry principles in the Black Forest of Germany, has per acre, at the age of twenty years, 3,960 trees ”

“ Lastly, if in planting any the most robust forest-trees, (especially oak, elm, chesnut) at competent spaces, and in rows; you open a ring of ground, at about four foot distance from the stem, and prick in quick-set plants; you may after a while, keep them clipp’d, at what height you please: They will appear exceedingly beautiful to the eye, prove a good fence, and yield useful bush, bavin, and (if you maintain them unshorn) hips and haws in abundance: This would therefore especially be practis’d, where one would invite the birds. ”

“ The same general causes have led to the filling up of every place in nature with some specially adapted form. Thus we find a forest of smaller trees adapted to grow in the shade of greater trees. Thus we find every tree supporting numerous other forms of vegetation, and some so crowded with epiphytes of various kinds that their forks and horizontal branches are veritable gardens. Creeping ferns and arums run up the smoothest trunks; an immense variety of climbers hang in tangled masses from the branches and mount over [p. 67] the highest tree-tops. ”

“ When you cut down an oak wood, a pine wood will not at once spring up there unless there are, or have been, quite recently, seed-bearing pines near enough for the seeds to be blown from them. But, adjacent to a forest of pines, if you prevent other crops from growing there, you will surely have an extension of your pine forest, provided the soil is suitable. ”

“ For so large a tree it is astonishing how many find nourishment and space to grow on any given area. The magnificent shafts push their spires into the sky close together with as regular a growth as that of a well-tilled field of grain. And no ground has been better tilled for the growth of trees than that on which these forests are growing. ”

“ A tree lying on the ground in the shade, absorbs and retains moisture and it soon decays and is unfit for use for any purpose. Thus, while conserving live forest trees, one may obtain material better suited to his purpose than if he had used green timber having a market value. ”