/^ SD 401 .F8 Copy 1 FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE BY WILLIAM F. rOX R.eprinted fr«m tHe Eli^htH and NintK R.eport8 of tKe Forest, Fiah and Game Commission, State of Ne'w "VorK J. B. UYON COMPANTf. STATE PRINTERS ALBANY. NEAV YORK N ^ ^^ centuries or more, justilies clearly the adoption of this system iii America. The New Forest in ICngland was "afforested" by order of William the Conqueror, in lo-ji), and since then reforestation has been practiced from time to time in European countries, mitil cultivated forests are now the rule rather than the exception. Throughout ("icrniany, I'Vance, IJelgiuni and Italy most of the wooded areas sh(.)\v high forests of a tlensity and regularity that indicate plainly their artificial growth. For these and other reasons the planting of forests is engaging the attention of American foresters to-day. It is no new idea. A iilanted forest, like the prnnitive one, is grown from seed, but in the former the dissemination is under intelligent control. This ma_\' be done bv l)r(}adcast sowing, liy the seed-spot method, or by the intermediate process of raising small seedlings in garden or nursery beds; and, large areas of trees are jjropagated from wnid-sown seeds, skilfully directed and managed. Broadcast sowing may be a desirable method under certain conditions — where economy is necessary, where a supply of seedling j)lants cannot be obtained con- veniently, or where a rocky, uneven surface, covered with a scrubby gi-owth, compels Its use. But it has the disadvantages of uncertainty, irregularity and the subseciuent expense of filling in the blanks where seeds failed to germinate. As the planting of seedlings at regular intervals gives the forester better control 201 202 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. of his future work, this plan is in general use abroad. It necessitates, however, the establishment of nurseries for the propagation of the young plants. The management of tree nurseries, in connection with forest plantations, has been carried on for so many years in Europe that the American forester who is about to engage in this liranch of silvicultural work will find there an ample field in which to study and gain the information available for similar efforts. These nurseries will be found in most of the forest regions abroad — the bauviscliule in Germany, the pcpinicre in France, and the pianloHaio in Italy. The object of these pages is to describe briefly, but as plainly as possible, the technical methods employed in the forest nurseries of various European countries. For this purpose the descriptions are confined to certain ones in which the construction and management are fairly typical of the others in that particular country. To attempt more would involve needless repetition and unnecessarily extend the scope and province of this article. We have heard so much of German forestry and its superior methods that our American foresters, when they go abroad for study and information, are too apt to devote their time exclusively to travel within Germany. It would be well if, when not limited as to time or expense, they were to extend their observations to some of the other continental forests and nurseries. But few of our foresters seem to have paid any attention to Italy. This may be due to the small per- centage of woodlands in that country. But the Italian Government is steadily increasing its forest areas, and is conducting silvicultural operations of a higli order. The nurseries have an annual output of about 9,000,000 jjlants, and new plantations of large areas are made each year. The surplus seedlings, or trans- plants, not necessary for fieldwork are distributed free to persons who may need them in reforesting private lands. The location, area and product of the various nurseries maintained by the Italian Government are as follows: PROVIN'CE. Firenze Arezzo Firenze Belluno Bergamo Name of the forest nursery. Vallombrosa Camaldoli Boscolungo Pian Spiiii Pradoni Area in hectares.* 5-4538 7-3354 2.9605 2.9836 I . 6022 Yearly e.xpenditure for maintenance. Francs. 6.538.25 6, 20J.00 2,978.40 3,071.76 669.18 Numher of plants produced. 1,000.000 800, 000 600, 000 1 , 200, 000 140, 000 FOKi:.sr N UKSKklES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 20' PROVINXE. Brescia Cagliari Caserta Cliieti Cosenza Foggia Gcnova Grusscto ]\racerata No vara Palermo Potenza Sassari Teramo Name of the forest nursery. Area in I „ ^^^/'^ , hectares * I •^•''Penditure for maintenance. Begotta P>aiiilio .... Marticc .... Migliano .... Giacomelli Trincata .... Follonica .... San Giuseppe Aldec Lavatoio .... Vigna Fraigada Pisanu Buragna Paggiara . 2000 Aie, Maitoppi 1.8000 I 19.36 2.0479 10.6900 I . 0000 I . JOOO 4.0107 I . 3000 3 . 8000 4 . JOOO .9416 2.9994 2.1814 Total ' 58.1001 Francs. 250. 883. 276, 1.509. 680. 960. 4.235- 859. 2.504. 1.232. 743- 1,298. f 4 1 . 028 . 56 Number of plants produced. 20, 000 110,000 TOO. 000 300. 000 600, 000 100,000 125,000 , 500. 000 35,000 500. 000 400, 000 200, 000 130.000 118,000 8, 978, 000 * .A. hectare is equal to 2.471 acres. f Or, $7,795.43. The above statement will give some idea of the hirg-e extent to which nurseries are used by European governments in their work of forest extension. In Germany and France the nurseries are much more numerous, owing to the larger area of forest, greater amount "f timber cutting, and more extensive replanting. The different species of trees propagated in these Italian nurseries are shown in the f(illi.>wing list, which was kindly furnished by Inspector A Franchi, of the Forestry Department of Tuscany. The l.)otanical designations, some of which are not used in this country, are as given in his list, and include some species which are rare in America: Silver fir Adics alba Willd. {Pinus picca Linn.) Norway si)ruce Abies picca Willd. {Finns ahies Linn.) Norway maple Acer plalaiioidcs Linn Sycamore maple Acer pscndo-platanus Linn. European alder Alnus glutinosa Gaertn. Speckled alder . . . . A/iius iticana Willd. Chestnut Fai^its castanea Linn. Beech Fagus sylvatica Linn. European ash Fraxinus excelsior Linn. Flowering ash Fraxinus ornus Linn. Walnut Juglaiis rcgia Linn. 204 REPORT OF THE FOREST FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. Larch Larix europaea Dec. Austrian pine .... . Pinus austriaca Reich. Aleppo pine .... Piiuis halepeiisis Mill. Corsican pine Pinus laricio Poir. Maritime pine Pinus pinaster Ait. Stone pine Pinus pinea Linn Scotch pine Pinus sylvcstris Linn. Turkey oak . . ... Quercus ccr^-is Linn. Hull}' or evergreen oak . . Quercus ilex Linn. English oak Quercus robur Linn. Siberian oak . . ... Quercus sessili flora Smith. Cork oak Quercus suher Linn. Locust Robinia pseudo-acacia Linn. Basswood Tilia grandifolia Smith. English elm Ulmus catupestris Linn Cypress Cuprcssus sentpervirens Linn. Besides these forest nurseries there are those belonging to the societies for the replanting of forests, which receive subsidies from the government. In the forest nurseries of the government additional native plants are cultivated as well as many foreign species. This year at Vallombrosa and Camaldoli the hard, or sugar, majjle, Acer saccliaruiii IMarsh. will be cultivated from seeds furnished liy the Forestry Department of New York. At Camaldoli arc some of the finest forests in Europe and a large nursery that, in size and cultural methods, will compare favorably with any. In most of the forest managements abroad a preference is given to small nurseries, of two acres or less, distributed so that each will be near the place where the seedlings will be planted. But at Camaldoli and ^ligliano large areas have been set apart for the propagation of seedling trees, and nearly all the public forests in Italy are supplied with young plants from these nurseries. Camaldoli is in the Apenines, Province of Tuscany, and should not be con- founded with the well-known place of that name near Naples. The former is easily reached by rail from Florence to Arezzo, thence by a branch railroad to Bibbiena, and thence by a drive of fifteen miles up the mountain pass to the old monastery, which has been converted by the government into a commodious, fashionable hotel. The nursery, or piantonaio, at this place covers about thirteen acres, and has an altitude of 2,910 feet above the sea. The groimd, which has a gentle slope to the northeast, is laid out in terraces so as to afford a level situation for the beds. The exposure is favorable, as it furnishes protection from late frosts and NUKSKKY ;U':ds shaded by plaxted trees. AT CAMAI.IIOLI, PRO\IN(~E OK Tl'SCAXV, ITAl.V. FOREST TREE NURSERY, ITALY. WEEDINr, T}IE TRAXSPLANT BEDS. FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 205 the rapid t;vai)()i-atii>n raust-d by south winds. Alth(>ui;h imt closely surrounded on all sides by high forests, there is a dense tree growth near by of various age classes. Owing to the altitude the natural soil is thin and jioor, but the entire surface of the nurserv is deeply covered with rich, friable earth composed largely of humus mixed with fertilizers. It has ihe appearance of a fine loam, with no black earth in it aside from that brought from the forest near by, and with enough clay and sand to give it a light color. The beds for conifers are four feet wide, and of various lengths to suit the terraces, most of the beds being about thirty feet long. The greater part of the area is occupied by transplants, the seed beds needing comparatively small space. In preparing the seed lieds the seeds are planted in rows running across the beds. Formerly the seeds were sown broadcast in these l)eds, but this was abandoned because, as claimed by the forester in charge, by sowing in rows a much smaller amount of seed is used, the plants grow stronger and more even in size, are more easily weeded, and can be taken up with less work and injury to the rc>ots. The seedlings are taken from the seed beds when two years old and trans- planted into the long beds, where they remain two or three years more. The transplants are then four or five years old, from twelve to eighteen inches high, and are ready for transfer to the grounds where the final planting for the future forest is made. The Italian foresters seldom use two-year-old seedlings in their fieldwork, preferring to wait ftel at Camaldoli seemed satisfied with this embar^;ii nn luinberint;' in his immediate vieinity, and lamented the fact that on an atljuinini;' tract of 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) a fine forest was being cleared away l)y its non-resident owner, a member nf the Austrian ni)iiilit_v. At Valhimbrosa there is also a well-managed nursery belonging to the Forestry Institute at that place. It is in Tuscany, and the forester desirous of \isiting this famous resort can go by rail fmni I'lorence to San Ellero, thence by a cog- wheel raj'lway uj) the mountain, five miles, to Saltino. From the latter place it is only a few minutes' walk to the Hotel di Foresta and the " Istituto Forestale " at Vs'lombrosa. The nursery at this place is on the college grounds, with an altitude of 3,050 feet. The air is quite cool in summer, although the temperature may be excessively warm in the Tuscan valleys. A high elevation is a desirable condition for a forest nursery in this latitude. The plot contains between one and two acres, and is situated on a level terract surrounded by groves of forest trees. It is further sheltered from wind by the mountain which, densely covered with tall firs, slopes upward from the rear of the college buildings. The beds, planted mostly with silver fir, are in fine con- dition and divided by well-kept paths. Through years of repeated working the earth has been converted into a composite of rich soil in which there is a large admi.xture of f(.)rest humus. Some of the seedlings are taken up when two years old and sent to the plantation direct, without any previous transplanting. At times a free distributicju of seedlings is made to farmers or landowners who may wish to reforest their denuded lands. The nursery at Vallombrosa has a capacity of about 800,000 plants. In 1903 the species growing there, and the number of each, were as follows: Silver fir 400,000 Norway spruce ... 30,000 European larch 10,000 Scotch pine 45,000 Corsican pine 32,000 Austrian pure 55,000 Beech 50,000 Chestnut 30,000 Norway maple 1,000 Sycamore maple 3,500 Locust 125,000 Other species 15,000 Total 796,500 2o8 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. Adjoining the nursery is an arboretum of several acres, mostly young trees. It contains many of our common American species, and to the forester from over the sea their familiar appearance is as welcome as the sight of old friends in a strange country. With the nursery and arboretum so close at hand, the students of the Forestry School have a fine opportunity for study and experience in this branch of silvics. The dense forests and leafy conditions about Vallombrosa recall readily the literary quotation which has made this place so famous. The mountain slopes are tliickly covered with fir and spruce, while near the college there are mixed woods of pine, locust, sycamore, mountain ash, white birch, chestnut, oak and poplar. France. In a country where the forests are managed mostly under the selection system and for the formation of coppice growth, as in France, the need of nurseries is consequently not so great as in one where clean cuttings are the rule. But whatever the method employed in reforesting, there is always a need for nursery- grown plants til fill the fail places. Hence there are pepinieres in all the forest districts of France, some of which are absolutely perfect, not only in the technical methods employed but, also, in their attractive appearance. One of the best, perhaps, of these may be found at Xettes, in the mountains of the French Vosges, near Gerardmer, Southeastern France. The plot is rect- angular, 200 by 175 feet in size, and is inclosed by a rustic fence of neat design. It is surrounded closely on all sides by a dense, high forest of Norway spruce. The ground is nearly level, with a slight slope to the south, and has an altitude of 906 meters. The neat fence, clean paths, long, well-kept beds and pretty summer- house at one side well repay the long climb up the mountain from Gerardmer to find this secluded spot. The polite and attentive forester in charge wears a distinctive uniform, as is the case in all the government nurseries and forest reviers in Europe. The entire area is devoted to the propagation of conifers — spruce and fir. To maintam the regular annual output nine seed beds are made, each about sixteen feet long, and inclosed in frames of wide boards placed on edge. These seed beds are covered with wire screens to protect them from the depredation of birds, and the screens are allowed to remain in place untd August, or until the germination has advanced far enough to permit their removal. The seedlings, when two years old, are transplanted into the long beds, where they remain two years more. The beds conrainina; these transplants are four A. KNF.CHTl-L, )*HOTO. ROYAL FORESTRY INSTITUTE, VALLOMBROSA. ITALY. THE LOCATION OF THE NURSERY APPEARS IN THE BACKCRO L'NH. f 5^fRi?*<" K-^t^^mi^^'^ i ■ '>.i,f)t ■ ^55 -ff:^^,>»- H. G. STE\-f:NS, )-HoTO. FOREST TREE XURSERY, AT XETTES. IN THE FRENCH VOSGES. FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 209 feet wide and extend from the central walk to the side of the inclosure. The seedlings are placed in longitudinal rows, the latter being eight inches apart. The natural soil is a rich loam, mixed with humus, to which fertilizers have been added each year after the removal of the plants. As a result the four-year-old transplants when taken up are strong, thrifty, and from fourteen to eighteen inches in height, with a well-developed root system. Owing to the moist climate of the French Vosges, the great altitude and the close proximity of the forest, it is but seldom that the beds require any watering. In other districts of France many of the nurseries are used in part, and in some instances entirely, for the propagation of broad-leaved species. In the Forest of Roumare, near Rouen, there is a pepiiiicrc which is stocked whollv with beech and oak. The beech is raised in seed beds, and then transplanted the same as is done with the conifers. The surrounding forests, however, are composed almost entirely of Scotch pine in pure stands. But it will be noticed throughout Northern France that, where a clean cutting occurs in a forest of the latter species, the ground is often left to reforest itself by natural dissemination. There are several nurseries in the Forest of Rouvray — Department of the Seine — which are largely occupied by conifers, and in which the coniferous beds are frequently failures, owing to the depredation of rabbits. The foresters seemed to be unable to protect their inclosures from these pests. This is not surprising, for our American nurseries suffer serious injury at times from rodents. In the winter of 1904, after a fall of snow, one of the large forest-tree nurseries in Northern Illinois suffered a loss in white pine seedlings, caused by a swarm of field mice that cut off' the stems close to the ground and inflicted damages estimated at §5,000 before their presence was discovered. I^clcjiam. Although Belgium has no place on the pages of our forestry textbooks, seventeen per cent of its area is well woodeii. Its forests are of a high class that indicate an intelligent, intensive management, and the extensive formation of artificial ones is provided for by numerous nurseries. In the great Forest of Soignes, at Groenendael, there is a pepiiiicrc of two acres, in which some interesting experiments are carried on at the present time in addition to the regular work. Some germinating beds are set apart for testing the relative efficacy of various materials for covering and protecting the tender yearlings. For this purpose trials are made of straw, dead leaves, moss, dried manure, humus, plain earth pressed down around each plant and plain earth applied 14 2IO RErtJKT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND (lAME COMMISSION. loosely. The results thus far are indeterminate, but seem to favor the use of dead leaves. Mention is made of this matter here, because each of these materials is in use in one place or another. Other beds are devoted to experiments in deep, medium and shallow planting. Thus far the best results have been attained by a medium depth in which the root-collar was slightly covered. E.Kperiments are also being made with reference to quick and delayed transplanting. As might be naturally expected, of the plants which were set out immediately all lived, while most of those which were delayed died sooner or later, according to the period of delay. Interesting tests were made in trimming the roots of the two-year-old seedlings before transplanting. The thriftiest plants were obtained from those with uncut roots, a fact which seems to be at variance with tiie practice in some of the German nurseries. Experiments were also made to ascertain the relative ability of seedlings to withstand the effects of sun and frost. While it was found that certain species were much more susceptible to injury in this respect than others, it also appeared that none were hardy enough to enable the forester to dispense entirely with some kind of protection. In one part of the inclosure mustard plants are used to furnish shade for the tender sfiecies growing there, while some of the beds are covered with racks on which straw and brush are placed for protection from the sun. Many of the beds which had been planted with broad-leaved species contained young trees from six to eight feet high. The coniferous transplants were not over twelve inches in height, although four years old. In general, the minor details of the technical work is the same as that described later on in connection with the German nurseries. This nursery, which is quite irregular in outline, is nearly level, with a slight slope to the south. Labels, neatly and plainly lettered, which can be read at a glance by one standing in the paths, are placed in each bed to show the species planted there. About one half of the area is occupied by broad-leaved plants, conspicuous among which are ash, beech, European chestnut and oak, the latter including the red, scarlet, English and pedunculate. This place is well worth visiting by any forester who may happen to be in its vicinity. Adjoining the nursery, and separated by a fence, is an arboretum which was commenced in 1S97, and hence the trees are small. But it already contains three hundred and twenty-one species, among which our native American trees are largely represented. H. <.. STH\ E.\S IHulO, FOREST TREK NURSERY, NEAR GERARDMER, FRANCE. SEED BEDS CCUERKD WITH WIRE SCREENS TO PROTECT THE SEED FROM lilRDS. ■w — ^Km — ^wpism^ "^ t» 1 1 ■'^ ■■■;■ ,W' ■-,- »*: m^^ n '7 K: ^ mA. ■'> NORWAY SPRUCE, FOUR YEARS OLD, ONCE TRANSPLANTED. BLACK FOREST. FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROl'E. 211 leaden. The extensive areas of planted woods in the BLick Forest require a large number of nurseries for carrying on the work and for renewing the growth on lands as fast as the timber is removed. The well-managed baiiiiisclnilc at Geioldsau, near Baden-Baden, is a fair type of the small but numerous nurseries that may be found in the various districts of the Schwarzwald. It has a sqiuire area of about half an acre, is located in a valley running east and west, and is situated aliout one hundred feet above the bottom of this \-alley on the southern slope. The forest approaches closely on three sides, while the precipitous slojje on the opposite side of the valley is also well covered with tree growth. The nursery is surrounded by a paling fence, and a good road, used mostly for hauling timber, skirts the lower side of the inclosure. The area contains one hundred and si.xty-eight beds, each fifteen feet long and forty inches wide, separated b)' paths of convenient width. Two broatl paths, four feet wide, one running thrcjugh the middle up the slope and one at right angles to it, divide it into four equal parts. The main paths which separate the beds, and which run up the slope, are three feet wide, while the crosspaths at the ends of the beds are twelve inches wide. The earth in the beds is a rich, s:indy loam, prepared by mixing one loatl of ordinary f(.irest soil with one of maniu'e. This compijst, until used, is piled just outside the fence, where it is allowed to remain undisturbed for three years. Three large heaps are necessarily kept on hand to furnish the proper annual supply. The seed beds, eight in number, occupy only five per cent of the total area. These beds ha\'e a framewcjrk of boards aniund their edges, eight inches high, and are covered with vi'ire screens of a small mesh, which are kept there until the seeds have germinated to protect them from the depredation of birds. The seeds are sown thickly and broadcast instead of in rows. If the supply of plants from the seed beds is insufficient to stock the area set apart for transplants, the deficiency is made up by gathering two-year-old seedlings from the adjacent forest. In 1903 the species growing in this nursery were: (i) Weisstanne, or silver fir, three and four years old. {2) Rottanne, or Norway spruce, four years old. (3) Sitka spruce (Abies sitchiiisis), three years old. (4) Forle, or Scotch pine, f(.>ur years old. (5) Douglas spruce, four years old. 2 12 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. In addition there were, in a few beds which contained an assortment of species, some larch, sycamore, maple, Colorado spruce, white fir [Abies concolor) and Larix leptolcpis. The seedlings, as customary in most nurseries, are allowed to remain in the seed beds until they are two years old, when they are transplanted into other beds in the same nursery. These transplants are set out lengthwise of the beds in eight rows, fifty in each row, four inches apart in the row, and with a space of about six inches between the rows. This is closer than usual, but the forester claims that if the rows of transplants are set too far apart there is a tendency to fork, to the formation of two leaders, which, by the way, is one of the disadvantages urged by some against a plantation formed of nursery stock. In transplanting a furrow is first made with a "hand-plough," which is drawn by one man and guided by another. Then a board with notches cut in the edge at distances corresponding to the spaces between the plants is placed on the bed with the notches over the furrow. The seedlings are then placed, one in each notch, the roots covered with prepared soil, and pressed into place. In some nurseries a planting board* is used which has half circles along the edge at the required spaces instead of V-shaped notches. The longer roots of each seedling in the Geroldsau Nursery are clipped slightly to insure a greater amount of branching and a better root system in the transplants. This is deemed desirable by the forester, as it saves the expense of making a deeper hole when the final planting is made in the forest, and because there is less liability to loss in transplanting. The transplants of the Weisstanne remain from three to four years in the beds, mostly four years, while the Rottanne are held in the transplant beds from two to three years, the length of time in each case depending on the height-growth attained. For the Rottanne a height of about twelve niches is deemed desirable in the transplant before removing it from the bed and taking it to the forest for final planting; but the Weisstanne, which is slower in growth, is removed from the nursery when eight or ten inches high. At the corners and sides of each bed there are posts, about three feet high, which support long jioles placed horizontally on top of the posts. If the post has no natural crotch in which the poles can rest, a hole is bored near the top of the stake and a round sticK is inserted to furnish a bearing. From the first to the *In New York we use this kind of board in our nursery work, but we set out our transplants here in rows running across the bed, which enables us to use a shorter board and to make the hirrows by hand with a trowel pressed deeply into the soft earth. Furthermore, with rows placed this way a man sitting in the path can do the weeding more easily. Still, each way has its advantages, and, some disadvantages also. ' ' -^ ■-...: .,:J E^, MANCHOT, PHOTO. SEED BED OF SCOTCH PINE, TWO YEARS OLD. IN NURSERV AT GEROLDSAU, UADEN. <>>W^ ./* G. SIii.\ENs, IHUTO. BEDS OF FOUR-YEAR-OLD TRANSPLANTS, NORWAY SPRUCE. IN NURSERV BELONGING TO A PRIVATE FOREST, GERMANV. FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METllOUS IN EUROPE. 2 \ T, twentieth of May these horizontal poles are covered with brush to protect the transjilants from the frost which is Hable to occur in the valley. The total number of transplants in this nursery, in 1903. was 65,000, of which 17,000 si.\-year-old Weisstanne were to be set out in plantations the following year. The Weisstanne formed the principal species raised in this plot, comprising ninety per cent of the plants. The Rottanne, or Norway spruce, occupied only five beds, or about three per cent of the area. There were also a bed of Sitka spruce, one of Douglas fir and one vi Scotch pine. But there is another nursery in this revier, under the same fdrstmeister, in which the plants are nearly all Rottanne. The cost of the plants, when placed in their final position in the forest, is from 2 to 4 pfennig (one half to one cent) per plant, a laborer being able to set out from 1,000 to 1,200 in a day. In setting out these plants in the field he uses a kind of mattock for making the holes, the same as is used in nuv plantations in New York. The daily wage of a laborer in this range is i mark So pfennigs, and hence the cost of annual planting in the fores';, at the rate of 1,100 plants per day, is 1.6 pfennigs per plant, which leaves the apparent cost of the nursery work from .4 to 2.4 pfennig per plant, not including certain incidental expenses, which increase it somewhat.* There arc six nurseries in the Baden Revier, each about the size of the one at Geroldsau; but they yavy greatly in the species propagated, some of them having ninety to ninety-five per cent of their area devoted to Norway spruce. The broad-leaved species are cultivated only to a sn.iall extent in this jiart of the Schwarzw lid. The nursery in the Wendlingen Revier, near Freiburg, is also devoted largely to the propagation o( the silver fir. It is a permanent one, so denoted to distinguish it frcnn the temporary ones often made to supply a local need. The natural soil is from gneiss, and is a limy sand. ^Manure is used as a fertilizer, that from cows being preferred. This is spread over the ground and spaded under before the seed is sown. Thomasmehl and kainit also are used. The seeds in the seed beds are sown in rows, the rows being three inches apart, and are dropped so thickly in the row that they nearly toucli each other. The l)eds are then covered with branches of fir or beech, which, are allowed to remain all summer, at first chjse to the groimd, after which they are raised gradually until they are about twenty inches high. These shades are also left on through the winter to keep the ground from freezing and heaving with the frost. Moss, or fine brush, laid between the rows might serve this purpose as well. * These figures seem somewhat qiiestionaljlc, but they were noted down carefully fruin tht forester's personal statement. 214 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. The seedlings are transplanted, when two years old, in rows six inches apart and at spaces in the row of about three and one half inches. They are held in the transplant beds until they are five years old before removing them to the plantations. Although the purchase of seeds for nursery purposes is a common practice in some localities, the forester in charge of this revier gathers his own supply. As to the silver fir, a full mast occurs about every five years, although this species yields a small amount of seed each year. The cones are gathered about the middle of October. A man climbs up among the branches and breaks off the cones, which are carried immediately to the storehouse and spread out so that the air can circulate through them freely. They are stirred every day and kept in the drying-room until the scales have fully opened or fallen apart. They are then put into baskets and shaken vigorously until the seeds have fallen to the bottom, after which they are easily separated from the refuse material. The seed beds are sown in autumn, sometimes in November or December, if snow does not fall too early. If the weather is very moist the cones may not open in time for fall planting. In that case the seed is, of course, sown the next spring. The absence of nurseries in some parts of the Black Forest, or elsewhere, does not necessarily imply that young plants are not used there in reforesting operations. In the Sulzburg reviers, for instance, the oberforster, as explained by him, is doing very little in the way of seed plots, because he can buy seed- lings from the commercial nurseries as cheaply as, if not cheaper than, he can raise them himself. This is not remarkable, as it is evident that in a nursery of one hundred acres or more, devoted solely to commercial purposes, the plants can be raised more cheaply, and with a profit, than in one of two acres, espe- cially as in the latter case the forester has other and more important duties that engross his attention. Furthermore, under the excellent and intensive management of the Sulzburg reviers a satisfactory reproduction is obtained through natural dissemination. N^Avfit^ertand. As most of the forests in this country occupy slopes, more or less steep, they exercise protective functions which necessitate the selection system in their exploitation, and hence there is not the same need for nurseries as in countries where clean cutting is practiced. Reproduction by natural dissemination is largely the rule, noticeably so in the forest of the Sihlwald, famous for its intensive management and the highly profitable returns per acre which have been main- FukK.^1 Ikhli NUkSKkV, NEAk LUZERNE. SWITZlCkLAXlJ. ENCLOSKD Willi A llEPi.E INSTEAIl OE A EENCE. A. KNtCHTEL, I'HOTO. TEMPORARY XL'RSEkV. PATHS PLANTEIl I'ERMAN ENTLV WITH NORWAY SPRUCE, WHICH WILL BE LEET IN IM.Ai K WllEX THE STOCK IN THE BEDS IS EINALI.V REMOVEIl. A I'LANTATION THUS TAKES THE I'LAC E OE THE NURSERY. FOREST ^■URSEKI^;s AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 215 tained annually for a long term of years. Still there are several nurseries con- nected with the management of the various cantonal forests, but the technique as observed does not vary materially from that already described. Although nurseries are not as essential to the management of high forests in Switzerland as elsewhere, a large number are used in the work of forest extension and the formation of new forests on wild or cultivated land that had hitherto not been used for the production of timber. Fri:>m 187S to 18S5 the annual output i_)f the nurseries devoted to this purpose amounted, on an average, to 5,263,474 conifers and 351,430 broad-leaved ])lanls.''' In the Wiuterthur range temporary nurseries are used to a consideralile extent. In some (jf these, when the stock is removed, a sufficient number of traiisplants are left standing at pro|ier intervals in the beds to form an artificial forest in time on the site of the abandoned nursery plot. The permanent nurseries wherever seen are in admirable contlition and have an attractive appearance. One of them, near Luzerne, is enclosed by a well-kept hedge instead of a fence, as customary e\ciy where else, and is equipped with water pii)es and several hydrants for sprinkling the beds. In the canton of Zurich there is a nursery connected with the Forest Research Station, in which experiments a]'e carried on with different species of forest-tree seedlings and plants. It is situated at Adlisberg, foiu' miles from the city of Zurich, at an elevation of two thousand three hundred feet above the sea. To determine the species suitable for [jlanting in various parts of Switzerland, soils from these places are brought to the nursery, seeds are planted, and the little trees as they grow are studied and their development carefully recorded. An important experiment is being carried on with the seed of Norway spruce. Good seed collected in the mountains, some from trees growing at an altitude of one thousand five hundred feet aljove sea le\-el, and some from similar trees at an altitude of six thousand feet, were planted in a bed in the nursery, half of the bed being given to each kind of seed. The seedlings, now six years old, show a remarkable difference in height, those from the seed taken at the lower altitude being twenty-four inidies tall, while those from the higher altitude have a height of only twelve inches. The natural laws under which the roots of trees are developed are being studied as follows: Boxes thirty inches high, eighteen inches wide and six inches through, with the sides made of glass, are filled with earth and sunk into the ground their full length, the glass sides standing vertically in close contact with the earth out- side the box. In each box is planted a tree, which, as it grows, sends some of *U. S. Consular Reports. 1887. 2l6 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. its roots against the glass sides. From time to time the boxes are pulled out of the ground and the root growths observed and recorded. Observations upon white pine, Scotch pine, silver fir, beech, oak, birch and maple have been carried on for three ^-ears on plants aged from one to six years. During the winter, from November till !March or April, the roots of the needle trees, as observed in the boxes, make no growth. Those of deciduous trees, on the contrary, do not go through this period with complete rest, but grow wher- ever the temperature becomes mild, even in midwinter. In February and the beginning of ]March, however, the roots show very little growth. It is noticed that in the spring the roots begin to develop before the buds, in some cases several weeks. The larch and alder are an exception to this rule. The buds of these species have been observed to unfold even a month before the roots started. Since the soil has a temperature below that of the lower air it follows that the roots begin their growth at temperatures lower than that necessary for the develop- ment of the aerial parts. The minimum temperature necessary for the growth of needle trees, as recorded by a thermometer placed in the boxes, is from five to s'x degrees Centigrade ; for the maple and beech, from two to three degrees. The roots have also a summer rest, in August and September, a time when the water content of the soil in the nurser)' is at its minimum. This interruption may last from three to eight weeks, according as the summer is wet or dry. Then fiillows in October a period of more active growth and of longer duration in the deciduous trees than in the conifers. The most rapid development takes place at the beginning of summer. The oak has its maximum at the end of June or the beginning of |ulv. The root growth is then about 3.54 inches a day, that of the fir and Scotch pine about 2.36 inches. From these observations a judgment is formed as to the most favorable time to plant trees in the forest. For the success of a jjlantation it is essential that, as soon as the trees are placed, the roois shoukl enter upon a period of active growth to replace the water taken from the tree by evaporation. On the other hand, the plantation should be made when transpiration is at its minimum. These conditions are usually best secured in the spring. In a country, however, where the spring is usually dry and the fall mild and moist, the plantation should be made in the autiunn. For deciduous trees to grow well when planted in autumn they must form root hairs before the arrival of the great cold, and must lose very little water bv evaporation during the winter. Hence, in countries where the winter is very cold and dry these, as well as the conifers, should be planted in the spring. FOREST NUKSliKIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROTE. 21/ Alsace. The Oberfnrsterei :\[iiiister, in tlit- (lerman Vosges, has an area of 21,325 acres, of which one half, or thereabouts, is occupied by silver tir;* the remainder by Norway spruce, Scotch pine (1,500 acres), beech (mixed with majile), elm and carpinus (5,000 acres), oalc (1,150 acres), chestnut (180 acres) and locust. The total nursery area lor the tract is four acres, which furnish an average annual output of 160,000 coniferous plants. This nursery area is in several small plots distributed conveniently throughout the tract. One of these, located about five miles frrts it is stated that there is probably no country in the world where higher revenues from the forests are obtained, nor where greater or more intelligent care is bestowed upon them, and the forestry publications, official or otherwise, issued in that country indicate that this statement is well founded. Forests of wide extent e.xist everywhere, not only on the Erzgebirge and on the mountains of the Saxon Switzerlantl, but also in the vicinity of the principal cities. The area devoted to the formation of coniferous forests is six times that given to the growth of deciduous species. Gen. C. C. Andrews,* in his "Notes on European Forestry," says of the Saxon forests: "The entire area planted annually varies according to circumstances. On the average it will reach 6,900 acres. Of this area 800 acres are planted up with seeds, and 6,ioo acres are planted up with plants." This statement will give some idea "f the large number of nurseries in .Saxony which are necessary in making such extensive plantations. On the Olbernhau Revier, in the Erzgebirge, there are several nurseries. This revier contains 4,694 acres, of which four fifths is covered with Norway spruce. The nurseries are temporary ones {saatschiilc iiiistdudige), small plots situated convenient to the areas in which the plants are to be set out. The soil is good, consisting of disintegrated gneiss with considerable lime. For the temporary nurseries, small areas only are used. When a new place is selected for a "saatkamp," as the plot is called, the ground is not fertilized at first; but if it is used for a second crop the ground receives an addition of Thomas slag or kainit. Potash (kali) is sometimes applied instead of kainit, as the latter is too strong, and if used when fresh it injures the plants at times. ■Ninth Annual Report, ^linnesota Forest Commission. St. Paul. 1904. '"^iSSS^ \}-A. H I Kl . iHur NURSERY WITH SEED REDS PROTECTED FROM BIRDS AND MICE BY WIRE SCREENS AND STONE BORDERS. AT DLIlEUXIIAr, IN THE KRZCKIURCK, SAXONV. i.;.iL> 11 1 1-,L, 1 llOTo, YOUNG PLANTATION (iF NORWAY SPRUCE .MADE BY THE SEED-SPOT METHOD. TIlARA.XliT. SA.XONY. FOREST NUKSKRIICS AND XUKSEKV METHODS IN EUROPE. 2I9 These fertilizers are applied immediately after the plants are removed from the nursery, which is j;enerally done in Apiil. They are mixed with the soil, after which the ground is left undisturbed for two weeks. The beds are then made and the seed ia sown in them. ^Vhere the nitrogen in the soil has been lost through washing and leaching, lupine is sown in the spring and left to grow until September, wb.cn it is spaded under. The seeds in each row are placed thickly, nearly touching each other, in a depression made by a square-edged slat two and erne cpiarter inches wide. The dejiression thus made is about three quarters of an inch in depth. The rows are about four inches apart. The beds are forty inches (one meter) wide, with intervening jiaths of one foot in width. For sowing an area of one are {1,076 square feet) about seventeen and one half pounds of spruce seed is used. The seeds are not soaked, but are coaled with red lead to prevent the birds from eating them. After sowing, the seeds are covered lightly with sand which has been mixed with a cnmjjost made from leaves and grass. The beds are covered with low screens of brush, preferably pine, which are left on the frame until the latter part of Jidy. Water is not used for sprinkling unless there is a supply conveniently at hand. Seedlings are left in the seed l.)eds until they are two years old, when, as a general rule, they are transplanted into other beds; but sometimes they are left in the germinating beds until they are four years old, in which case they are sent ilirect to the field plantation. The climate in the Erzgebirge, however, is so imfavorable that the foresters deem it advisable, in general practice, to use transplants. The expense of raising two-year-old seedlings in the Olbernhau Revier is from one ti) two marks per thousand [dants; to prepare the soil and transplant them costs one and one half marks more jier thousand; and to set them out in a plantation, from ten to fifteen marks [)er thousand. Field planting by the seed-spot method, a motlified form of nursery work, is exten- sively practiced in vSaxony, and plantations of this kind are made at Tharandt, the seat of the Royal Forest Academy. The Saxon foresters generally sow the seeds along the edge of the strij) or patch, where they are not so liable to be heaved or thrown nut by frost. In the Erzgebirge, wherever this method is used, spruce 13 not mixed with pine or larch as at Tharandt. At the latter place a mixture is used to protect the spruce from the deer. A few seeds of pine and larch are mixed with the spruce seed, and as the former have a more rapid growth, and are preferred by the deer, the spruce remains iniinjured. 220 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. At the Oberwiesenthal Revier, in the Erzgebirge, along the Austrian border, the technical work in the nurseries is about the same as that just described. The nurseries are devoted almost exclusively to the propagation of Norway spruce. The soil for the most part is of a kind known there as fillet, which is composed largely of fine particles of gneiss. For fertilizing bone meal {aitfgeschlossciics) is used exclusively, sixteen pounds per are. In making a plot ready the trees are cut, the stumps taken out, the ground dug up and thrown into heaps in autumn, after which the bone meal is mixed with the heaps. In the following spring these heaps are spread over the ground, beds are made and sown, the seed having been mixed with lead-oxide, two pounds of the latter to sixteen pounds of seed. The depression in the bed having been made, the seed is sown thickly in them and then covered with a thin layer of fine earth that has been put through a sieve, after which the surface is pressed down gently. Dry branches of spruce, bare of foliage, are laid on the beds for shade, and are held in place by poles laid on them. This brush is left on the beds until the plants come up through the ground, when it is removed and is not used again. Dead branches are used, because the spruce needles, which otherwise would fall on the beds, are heating in their efifect and would injure the plants. In July or August fresh humus is strewn between the rows, two cubic meters per are. This keeps the ground moist, hinders the growth of weeds and prevents heaving out by frost. This humus, composed of decayed needles, is found in the forest underneath the layers of freshly fallen leaves. The plants are not watered. The foresters in these reviers claim that if water is once used during a drought the sprinkling must be continued until rain comes, or the plants will deteriorate in a noticeable degree. The seed beds are made one and two tenths meters wide and of any convenient length. On a slope they are laid out lengthwise across the slope so that the flow of water from a heavy rainfall is checked or hindered. Side paths are twenty-five centimeters wide, and are made shallow, so that the beds will not dry out too much along their sides. The end paths are fifty centimeters broad, and are a little deeper. If the slope is such that there is danger of flooding and washing, a ditch is dug near the upper side of the inclosure, which is fenced for protection from deer. As usual, the plants are left in the seed beds until two years old, when they are transplanted into other beds in the same nursery and treated with a fertilizer the same as the seed beds. At Oberwiesenthal the transplant beds are nearly square, three and five tenths centimeters on a side, with paths fifty centimeters wide. •■-:>! ;r -J;^- ■^ -^.. ,'"*' Tl'MI'ORARY NURSERY. NORTHERN AUSTRLV. THE GROUND nL TSIDI-: THE FENCE IS TLAXTED WITH I- OUR-VEAR-OLD TRANSPLANTS. 5-; C PART dl" F()Ki:ST TREE NURSERY, TIIL'RIXGLX. GERMANY. THE BEDS I.\ Tin-; ]'..\(;K(:k( U'N D, WITH ROWS SnoWINc"; DISTIXlTL\', ARI'- WHITE I'lNE. FOREST NUKSKRIKS AMi NURSERY MKTllOIiS IN EUROPE. 22 1 Square beds are very unusual in Eunipean nurseries, althout^h in some of the commercial nurseries in Ciermany large areas tilled with transplants may be seen in which there are no jjaths. A spade is used to take u|) the seedlings fur transj)lanting. It is shoved down between the rows, then jiressed upwards, after which the jjlants are gently and carefully removed 1)_\' the workman with his fingers and placed in a boxdike frame math; of slats. The seedlings aie carried to the new bed, where they are set out in drills fuur inches apart and the earth ])ressed hrmlv by hand around the roots. The rows or drills in the transplant beds are made at intervals of five inches. The infant trees are transj^lanted only once in the nursery and are left there until they are five years old, as the climate is somewhat severe. \\'eeding is necessary only twice a year, in the spring and fall. In the Erzgebirge a jjlot is generally used for a nursery only once or twice, after which it is abandoned. If used a second time, bone meal and humus are api)lied in the same t]uantities as at first. The humus is not only a fertilizer, but 'it acts mechanically, making the soil looser where it is too firm and firmer where it is too loose. Field plantations are made from the middle of May until the middle of June, the spring being late in these reviers, as they are situated 2,Soo feet or more above sea level. The stumps are not removed from the ground which is to be })lantcd, but good earth is hauled there and distributed in small heaps, and in quantities of about ten cubic meters per hectare (two and one half acres). Transplants are taken out of the nursery bed and heeled in. At the proper time they are hauled in a wagon to the planting groimd, and heeled in again as deep as they stoud in the nursery. They are taken up again as fast as needed, placed in pails or baskets and carried to the men who do the planting. They are planted 1.4 meters apart, and are set in the earth that is thrown iqj at the side of the hole (/oc-/////i^r//'//a/t.::ii)/^-), twi:) or three handfuls of the good earth being- packed around the roots of each. By this method the plants receive nourishment from the grass and sod beneath the hillock. Tlie preparation of the ground for a seed plot costs about 22 marks per are, the expense being made up as follows: Clearing and digging the ground, 10 marks; bone meal, 1.20 marks; seed, 1.20 marks; making the beds and sowing the seed, 5 marks; covering with l.)rush, 2 marks; lead oxide, o.io marks: spieading hiniius, 3.2 marks — or about $5-50 for a plot 33 feet square. These figures may seem rather high, but they were furnished by the oberfiirster from his account book. Transi)lanting costs: Digging over the ground in autumn, 10 marks; bone meal, 1.2 marks; making beds, 3 marks; trans[)lanting, 10 marks, and humus, 222 UEPORT OF TIIH FORKST, I-ISII AND GAME COMMISSION'. 3.2 marks; total, 27.4 marks per are, or about $6.75 per area of t,t, feet square. Removing the plants from the nursery and setting them out in a plantation costs about §4.25 per 1,000 plants, and to grow the trees in the nursery, ready for planting, about $1.75 per 1,000. TI)arincjia. At Eisenach, in the Thuringian Forest, there is a revier of about 11,000 acres in which there are six permanent nurseries, each in the vicinity of the planting groimds where the young stock will be needed. The soil is fertile, being composed largely of disintegrated gneiss and feldspar. The nurseries are located on gentle slopes, where the plots can have a northern or eastern exposure in order to avoid so far as possible any injury from frost, and preferably on land from which a growth of beech has been removed. In many of them sufficient space is maintained between the sides of the enclosure and the forest so that the ground will not be shaded by tall trees. Protection from wind is deemed unnecessary. In preparing the plot the trees are cut and the stumps taken out. The ground is spaded to the depth of one foot, so that it may freeze and pulverize in the winter. In the sjjring it is again dug over and beds are made, thirty-nine inches wide, with narrow sidepaths one foot in width. Fertilizers are not applied for two or three years. Then humus and rich earth are mixed with the soil immediately after the plants are removed. Seed is sown as soon as the danger from frost is passed, about the last of April. The coating of the seeds with red lead is deemed unnecessary here. The rows in the seed beds are four and one half inches apart. A narrow slat of wood, pressed into the earth with the foot, is used to mark the rows and make the depression in which the seeds are placed. Spruce is sown twice as thickly as pine and about one fifth of an inch apart. Larch is sown as thickly as spruce, because fifty per cent of the seeds do not germinate. Spruce and larch seed is covered to a depth of a quarter of an inch with humus or sand, or with a mixture of both, while pine is sprinkled with it so lightly as to barely hide the grains from sight. Branches of jiinc are then laid on the beds; but spruce brush is not used, as the dead needles, falling on the ground, are liable to become heated and thus injure the seedlings. When the plants appear and are a month or so old, the branches are placed upright for shade. These are taken off in a dry time to allow the night dew to refresh the plants, and are removed entirely when the seedlings are strong enough to do without shade. K :.hi^ HTEl I'liO I O. FOREST TREK NURSERY IN THE THURINGEK WALD, SAXE-GOTHA. XURSEKV PLANTED EXCLUSI \ i,|. V WlTil N.)R\VAV Sl'RUCE. AT RUKLA, SAXE-GOTIIA. FOKKST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 223 Ammnniatcd superphosphate is scattered broadcast over the beds in June, twenty grammes per square meter, preferably just before a rainfall. It may be added a second time a month later, but usually this is not necessary. In autumn moss is laid between the rows to keep the seedlings from heaving; if a su[)ply of moss cannot be obtained conveniently, dead leaves are used for the same l)urpose. This covering is removed the next spring, as soon as the danger Irom frost is over. vSeedlings are transplanted when one year old, as they grow better tlian wi.en left in the seed bed until they are two years old, and the transplanting i:; Ijss expensive. The seedlings are put into water when lifted from the seed bed to prevent them from drying out in any degree whatever during the transfer. They are set out in the transplant beds two and one half inches apart and in rows five inches apart, just wide enough to permit the use of a hoe in weeding. They are left in the transplant bed two years; but if they are to be used in a plantation on grassy land they are held there one year more, or until they are four years old. The nursery near Annathal has a rectangidar area of 100 by 13S feet, sloping sliglitl}' to the southeast. The natural soil is a fertile loam, enriched by a liberal admixture with forest humus and supplemented annually v.ith mineral fertilizers. In the gri.)und jilan the beds are laid out sixtv-tive feet long and three and one quarter feet wiile. A walk, three feet in width, runs across the middle of the [ilot and around its sides at the fence-. Long paths, twenty-t\\o in num1)er and a foot wide each, se[}arate the beds, with one wiile i)ath down the middle. The seedlings in the germination beds, one and two years old,* are in rows running across tlie beds, the seed having been sown in furrows or depressed lines, not broadcast o\'er the entire surface as practiced in many European nurseries. But the transplants are set out in rows running lengthwise of the beds, six rows in a bed. The coniferous sjiecies propagated in this nursery consist entirely of Norwa}- spruce and Scotch jMue. In a small portion of the enclosure there are some thrift}- broad-leaved plants — horse chestnut, Euro[)t*an alder and speckled alder. Another nursery, in an atljoining range (in the road to Liebenstein, has an area of 120 bv 150 feet, and is situated on ground sloping to the south, where it is bordered on that siile by a t'learing of ten acres or more. The other three sides are closely hemmed in by a dense forest. The beds are three and one quarter liy fifty feet, C(_intaining fi\e rows of plants, lengthwise, mostly Ni.irway sjiruc:,'. Quite a large area, comparatively, is occupietl by sycamore maples, three years old. In making a forest plantation in Thuringia the transplants are set out by women mostlv, who work for one and one half marks jier day of ten hours. The *Seed beds are made each year. 224 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FESH ANM GAME COMMLSSIOX. plants are placed in the field at a cost of one pfennig each, including all incidental expenses. They are planted at intervals of one meter, or 10,000 plants per hectare — about 4,000 per acre. ilost of the nurseries in the Thiiringer Wald are small, each with an area of less than one acre. But at Ruhla there is a permanent one of two and one half hectares (six and one quarter acres) planted entirely with Norway spruce. In fertilizing, four centners (four hundred and forty pounds) of Thomasmehl and two centners of kainit are used for one morgen or cjuarter hectare. , After the seeds have germinated in the seed beds ammoriated superphosphate is strewn between the rows. The seed is sown by hand, about the end of ^Nlay, in drills along the beds so that the plants can be jjrotected with moss in the late autumn. The seed is sown thickly. No screens are used. The seedlings stand in the seed beds until two years old, when they are removed to other beds, where they remain two years more. As a general rule, four-year-old transplants are used in making a plantation. Prcissia. The forest at Fricdriclisruh, near Hambiu-g, covers 18,750 acres, divided into eight reviers. The eight nurseries necessary for the annual planting occupy, in all, four hectares, or about ten acres of ground. One of the best of these is situated ab(.)ut two miles from the railroad station at Friedrichsruh, in the Bismarck Forest, a large tract of woodland presented to the German Chancellor by the government in recognition of his services in the Franco-Prussian war. This nursery has an enclosure iif 200 by 150 feet, is on level ground and is surrounded on all sides by an old forest, mostly beech, which comes close to the fence. The coniferous plants raised here are mostly rottanne, with a few beds of Douglas spruce. About one fourth of the area is devoted to broad-leaf plants, the greater part of which are pedunculate oak. There is no arrangement for screening the seed beds to protect them from birds; but a stuffed hawk, perched on a stake close by, seems to answer the same purpose to a satisfactory extent. At the Revier Ilohne, in the Hartz, temporary nurseries located in the center of the planting ground are the rule. The soil, derived from granitic formations, has a natural fertility that is sufficient for the propagation of plants; but if a plot is used a second time, mineral fertilizers, of the kinds already described, are applied, with some lime (kaik) also in a few instances. Its elevation is only forty- five feet above the sea. In both seed beds and transplant beds the rows run lengthwise. *■ * *^#.-^4 * ■ T-, f^ FOREST TREE Nl•RSER^■, NEAK I'RIEDRirHSRl'H. NORTH ]^RUSSL\. V ^e ■s .!<* -« ■< pi NURSERY FOR DlsCIDEOL'S TREES, BISMARCK FOREST. GERMAN' I-iiI;KSTr-KS IX UXIFOKM. FOREST NURSERIES AM.) NURSERY MEIHODS IN EUROPE. 2J5 As usual, in Xorthern Germany, spruce is cultivated alnmst exclusively, nr to a large extent. Seed, enated with lead-oxide, is thickly sown in the germinating betls about the middle i:)f May, in rows four and one half inches apart. Brush is not laid on the beds, as this is considered unnecessary except as a protection Irom birds; but moss is used to pi-otect the seedlings during the winter. 'Idle latter is placed on the beds in < ictobcr and is not removed in the spring until the snow has melted. Seedlings are usuad)- left in the beds two yeai's — <>v one year if very strong and thrifty — ami are then transplanted in rows six inches apain, where they remain two years; but if the held where they are to be set (Jut linally is covered witir grass the plants art; given one year more in the nursery beds. The Forest of Crabow, in Mecklenburg, belongs to the city. It has an area of 0,470 acres A forester (stadtfdrster) manages it; a hunter (stadtyager) protects the game, and an overseer (forstaufseher) guards it against tire and trespass. The overseers ai'e not technically educated men, Imt are chosen from the ranks of the workmen. The revi.nues are paid into the city treasury, after which the net income is ap|ilied to the reduction of taxes. This custom is common in most of the citv and communal forests in Germany. As the soil in the vicinity of Grabow is sandy, its forests consist almost entirely of Scoieh [liiic (J'iiiiis sj'/:'tS/?-;s), a small area only lieing planted with spruce {Pici;! i:u.rtancc is attached tn the ()uestirc phitini,' it uii the lip t»f llie Icailer. Commercial Nctrticrtcs. The commercial nurseries in Germany are remarkable for their great areas, intelligent management and economical methods. Their annual outi)ut of plants and seedlings is figured in millions — many millions •'■■ — and their superior advantages enable them to supply, at a profit, the demantl from forest reviers and also from the smaller nurseries in bhirope and America, the pro])rietors of which jirefer to buy their seedlings instead of operating seed f)eds themselves. These commercial nurseries are well worth the careful attention and personal observatii.m of any one who is interested in this branch of silvics. The ])rincipal nurseries of this class are located at Halstenbck, in Holstein, and at Knittelsheim (railroad station at Bellheim), in the Rheinpfalz. The former is near the city of Hamburg, and the Amaricair forestry student who crosses the ocean im the Hamfmrg line will find Halstenbck a convenient place to visit in pursuing his studies. The latter is not far from the northern part of the Black Forest, and is easilv reached from there. * The advertising circular of one firm tliis year showing the number of plants of each species for sale indicates a stock on hand of 56.959,000 seedlings and transplants. 2;o REPORT OK THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. There are several firms at Halstenbek engaged in this business one of them having 200 acres or more laid out in beds, or large plots without paths, with an annual product of several million plants. They supply the managers of State, communal and private forests who have nn nurseries of their own, or who find that they can purchase their plants cheaper than they can propagate them on their own reviers, or who may need an extra supply at times in addition to that raised on their own land. Shipments are also made to America, both to foresters and nurserymen. The latter import one and two year old seedlings, and set them out in their nurseries. A visit to the commercial nurseries of Germany, and an observation of their immense annual output, will give some idea of the great extent which the planting of artificial forests has attained throughout Europe. It indicates clearly the prac- tical value of the system and commands the attention of American foresters, who will find in it a good precedent for similar work at home. A notal)Ie feature of the business at these places is their large sales of two- year-old seedlings and three-year-old transplants. The demand for four-year-old transplants is comparatively small, due largely to the extra price and greater expense of packing and freight. The three-year-old plants may be seedlings, or yearlings that, having been transplanted, remained two years in the beds; or, two-year-old seedlings that were taken up and given one year in the transplant beds. The prices of coniferous plants at the commercial nurseries, delivered free on board cars at the nearest railway station, are about as follows: SPECIES. AgC; years. Inches. Per I White pine, once transplanted . W'liite spruce, once transplanted Norway spruce, once transplanted Wliite pine, once transplanted . Norway spruce, once transplanted Douglas spruce, once transplanted Larch, once transplanted . Scotch pine, once transplanted . White pine seedlings .... Larch seedlings Norway spruce seedlings . Douglas spruce seedlings . Scotch pine seedlings .... 8 to 15 8 to 16 ID to 18 4 to 6 6 to J2 8 to 16 16 to 22 4 to 6 3 to 4 6 to 15 4 to 12 5 to 12 2 to 3 $- 75 2 50 2 50 I 75 I 75 5 50 4 50 I 25 1 50 2 00 75 3 00 50 !HMiMiaMtWIMMaM«NMw9MMMMn " by the "Swiss Control Office for the E.xamination of Seeds," at Zurich, Switzerland. Foresters who gather seed fur use in their own nurseries have various well- known tests of a simple character tn determine its value. lUit there are several government stations to which sam[iles of stock may be sent to be tested and to determine the percentage of germination. The i)rincipal ones are located at Eberswalde and Tharandt, in Germany; Zurich, in Switzerland, and Marial runn, in Austria. These official tests enable the nursery manager to avoiil anv loss caused b\- sowing worthless grains, to protect himself against fraud on the jiart of unscrupulous dealers and to determine the ([uantitv that should be sewn. If a report is needed immediately from the station, a number of seeds are cut open and examined for color, ])lunipness, taste, odor, etc. I'or example, the kernel of the beech and the chestnut, if all right, is white and verv pleasant to the taste; that of the oak is reddish white; the ma[ile, green; the ash, white and waxy; pine, white with a strong odor of tiu'iientine. Coniferous seeds are crushed with the finger nail upon a piece of white paper, upon which a gootl seed leaves an oily stain. If time jieriuit the seeds may be actually germinated. The larger sorts, such as the oak seeds, are placed in vessels filled with earth, covered the proper depth, kept moist and at a temperatin-e favorable to germination. Conifer seeds are placed between folds of flannel which are dipped into water kejit at a medium temperature. There are also several forms of porous vessels made specially for such tests. It is ho;'ed that the descriptions given in the foregoing pages, together vrith the illustrations accompanying them, may be useful in calling public attention to the practical value of planted forests. In America the reforesting of denuded lands Ijy artificial means — the formation of planted forests — is a (piestion that sooner or later will confront our fores'.crs. The student, on graduating from a forestry school, sh mid supplement his course of study with a trij) aliroad in order to see tl:e plantations there and the nin'serics which are an indispensable adjunct to this particular system oi forestry. 000 881 694 3 IMIIIIIIIIIIIIinillllllHIIMIIIIIIIIllll OODDfifilbTH Hollir Pl LIBRARY OF CX>NGRESS DDQDaaihTHa Hollinger Corp. pH 8.5