White pine is the species recommended for general use wherever it naturally reaches good development. With it should be planted a 25% to 50% mixture of other trees as fillers and for an understory-western larch, Engelmann spruces, and western red cedar-since white pine is too intolerant to do well in an absolutely pure stand. The white pine and larch stock should be either 1-2 or 2-1 transplants, while the Engelmann spruce and red cedar should be 2-1. A spacing of 8 x 8 feet is probably ideal for this type when both cost and silvicultural results are considered. If 60% of the plants are white pine and the balance of the other species there would be 408 white pines per acre. An estimate of the cost of establishing such a plantation of mixed species is as follows:

It is estimated that this white pine land is capable of producing at least 600 board feet per acre per year. The length of rotation necessary to give timber of a fair commercial size is 120 years, so that plantations made now should yield 75,000 board feet after 120 years. Thinnings would, of course, yield returns somewhat sooner. But even at the relatively large initial cost of planting, the planting of white pine on ultimate forest land is a profitable investment for a long-term concern, when it is considered that its stumpage is steadily and rapidly rising in value. This is one of the few forest types of the West of which this may be said.

The volume growth of white pine stands is probably somewhat less than that in the Douglas fir type, but its wood is of higher value. Therefore the monetary yield from the white pine type should be comparable with that from the Douglas fir type. The tables showing the cost of growing Douglas fir may be used also to determine the profit in growing white pine.

FIR TYPE

The upper slopes of both sides of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington, the upper slopes of the Sierra Mountains of California above the zonal ranges of the commercial sugar pine forests, and the upper slopes of the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, are occupied by a forest which may be called the fir type, because it consists largely of various species of Abies-A. nobilis, amabilis, concolor, lasiocarpa, shastensis, and magnifica.

Practically all the land embraced within the exterior limits of this type was originally and still is forested. Since the most of it lies above the highest climatic contour at which agriculture can be practiced successfully, this type is practically all ultimate forest land. For this reason it is of the greatest economic importance.

Denuded burned lands require reforestation and planting may be occasionally practicable after logging in the place of natural reproduction. Growth is slow in this type and initial cost of reforestation large, hence planting cannot be considered financially profitable. Its chief importance rests upon the necessity of protecting the flow of important streams.

SUB-ALPINE TYPE

There is no commercial forest planting in this type. It is purely a protective forest composed principally of lodgepole pine, Alpine fir, mountain hemlock and white bark pine. It occurs on the high mountains throughout the Pacific Coast region above the fir type and the zone of timber of commercial size.

AFFORESTATION of Treeless LAND WITH EUCALYPTS

Most of southern California and a considerable proportion of the lowaltitude valleys of northern California are naturally treeless, yet these regions, ⚫ particularly southern California, are very much in need of trees for several purposes for timber, for fuel, posts, poles, ties, and lumber; for watershed protection on the mountain sides, for wind-breaks, and for scenic effects about ranches. The problem here, therefore, is the afforestation of desert lands, and it is a problem which has baffled foresters for a number of years and which is still far from being satisfactorily settled. There are several types of treeless land in this great region—chaparral-covered mountain sides at both high and low altitudes, almost vegetationless desert plateaux, and deep-soiled valley land, both irrigable and non-irrigable. No one method of afforestation is, of course, applicable to all these types of land, and care must be exercised to apply the proper treatment on each tract.

The small annual precipitation, its great irregularity, the heat and dryness of the atmosphere, all combine to make the operation of afforestation extremely difficult here. To attain success good judgment in the choice of species and methods and care in the selection of the planting stock are essential. Eucalyptus has been the favorite genus to use in this region in the past few years, and its merits have been advertised widely by commercial real estate and nursery companies. Phenomenal yields have been ascribed to it, and its hardiness and adaptability have been much exaggerated.

At low altitudes throughout California, various species of eucalyptus are planted for shade and ornament, and in southern California are a good many thousand acres of commercial woodlots and of wind-breaks, chiefly of blue gum (E. globulus). Eucalyptus planting in California is therefore by no means wholly in the experimental stage. The question is on what sites and under what conditions is it practicable and profitable, and what methods should be used.

First, it may be said that eucalyptus should not be planted where a temperature below 26° F. is experienced, or, to be still safer, where 30° F. is the minimum. Eucalyptus is really successfully planted only where it can be cultivated or irrigated at the start, except possibly in the humid coastal belt or in subirrigated valleys. Where it is not irrigated, the water table must be within 12

feet of the surface. This limits the range for commercial planting in arid regions practically to agricultural or semi-agricultural areas. It is a mistake to believe that successful plantations can be established on dry rocky mountain sides. The planting of such sites and of the chaparral-covered slopes has usually met with failure, after repeated attempts with a variety of species.

Even after a favorable site for planting is found, the establishment of the plantation requires more skill and money and consequent care than an ordinary coniferous plantation in a forested region.

Methods: The only method of establishing a plantation is by planting nursery-grown stock. Direct seeding is entirely out of the question. Since many species of eucalypts are good sprouters, subsequent crops will start from the coppice sprouts, so that a plantation, once established, may be kept forested indefinitely.

It is best to grow the plants in seed boxes or flats for a few weeks until they are about two inches tall, then transplant them to individual pots in which they are left for a few months more. They will then be 5 to 7 inches tall, but may be set out in the planting site without disturbing their root systems. This method of pot planting implies that the nursery is close to the planting site. Where it is not, the plants will be transplanted in the nursery in the usual manner.

A year before the field planting is done, it is very desirable to plow the area to get the soil in good condition for the plants. The setting of the trees is done in the usual manner after danger of frost is over and when the ground is moist between January and April. A spacing of 8 x 8 feet is usual for woodlot planting, and 4 x 4 feet in a double row for wind-breaks. The plantation should be cultivated during its first year, as any agricultural crop is, so that it may survive until the roots reach subsoil moisture, and so that it may not be handicapped by weeds. In woodlot plantations Monterey cypress is often used with eucalyptus with good success; otherwise the plantations are usually pure.

Species: There are hundreds of species of eucalypts, but of these five are particularly worthy of attention by the forester in this region-the blue gum (E. globulus), sugar gum (E. corynocalyx), red gum (E. rostrata), grey gum (E. tereticornus), and manna gum (E. viminalis). "Whenever the selection of species lies between blue and sugar gum, the kind of product desired and the amount of soil moisture present must determine the choice. If firewood, piles, or dimension stuff is desired, the blue gum should be selected, especially if there is no marked deficiency of soil moisture. If poles, ties, or a wood of unusual durability and strength is desired, the sugar gum should be chosen, particularly if the situation is rather arid. The sugar gum is the more drought-resistant, but the blue gum is the more rapid growing. Outside the planting range of the blue and sugar gums, the red gum commends itself, owing to its frost hardiness and the durability of its timber. In frosty or swampy locations it should receive first preference. The uses of its product are limited, however, by the fact that it is inclined to a crooked, brushy form. It is of rapid growth, and furnishes a product which is very durable in contact with the soil. The grey gum is equally rapid in growth, but is somewhat less frost hardy than the red. It grows in good

form, especially in plantations, and furnishes a very durable timber. Manna gum grows very rapidly, but it is hardly worthy of consideration, since it is but slightly more frost hardy than the sugar and blue gums, while its timber is inferior to that of either species."*

Yields and Returns: On proper sites there can be no doubt of the profitableness of commercial eucalyptus planting, contingent, of course, upon a reasonable initial investment for land and planting, intelligent management, and accessibility to market. Areas suitable for eucalyptus planting, that is, near transportation and where the minimum temperature is not less than 24° F., can be purchased for about $30 per acre. The cost of preparing an acre of ground for planting does not ordinarily exceed $6. Seedlings can be purchased for $6 per thousand. The planting of 1,000 trees (enough for an acre) costs about $4. The cost of cultivating and caring for a plantation for two years does not usually exceed $7 per acre, including the purchase of trees to fill blanks in the plantation. Any thinnings made up to the time of the first cutting should pay for themselves. The cost of establishing a plantation and carrying it through the first two years, excluding the cost of land, is therefore about $23 per acre.

Taxes on the class of land used for growing blue gum amount to about 30 cents per acre per year. Ten cents per acre per year should be expended in protection from fire. These two items represent a fixed annual charge per acre for the 10-year period before the first cutting. Discounted at 4 per cent, this amounts to a present investment of about $3.25 per acre. The total investment involved in establishing 1 acre of plantation is, therefore, about $56.25.

Actual measurements show that an average yield of about 6.4 standard cords, or 8.5 California cords, per acre is produced by the best blue gum groves in the State. Individual groves have occasionally done better. One grove was found which produced 185.9 standard cords in 25 years, or about 7.4 cords per year. Another produced over 59 cords in nine years, or nearly 6.6 cords per year. On the other hand, three groves under average conditions, with fair soil and the water table not more than 25 feet from the surface, show an annual growth per acre of only 4.05, 3.9, and 3.7 cords, respectively. Under unfavorable conditions, with a deep water table or with hardpan near the surface, the annual growth in two cases has been as low as 1.6 cords and 1.1 cords per acre. An annual yield of 6.4 cords per acre, or 64 cords per acre in 10 years, may therefore be accepted as a fair estimate of what may be obtained upon the best sites under the methods of management heretofore used.

Assuming a stumpage price of $2.50 per standard cord, this yield would. return $160 in 10 years from the wood alone. This represents nearly 13% compound interest on the original investment of $56.25. Out of that amount $30, the cost of the land, may be considered as restored to the investor with the harvesting of the crop, and is, in effect, an additional return.

Since blue gum sprouts rapidly, the same return of 64 cords, worth $160, should be obtained periodically at the end of every 10 years for at least several

*"Handbook for Eucalyptus Planters," by G. B. Lull, Circular 2, California State Board of Forestry.

rotations. In this case, however, no additional expenditure is necessary for establishing or caring for the plantation. The amount invested is, therefore, $33.25 ($30 for land and $3.25 for capitalized taxes and protection). A return of slightly more than 19% would thus be realized in growing each of the sprout crops following the first, or planted, crop. This is assuming that the value of the land remains unchanged and that this amount is re-invested periodically after each crop is harvested.

In the figures just given it is assumed also that the operation is handled by the individual investor on an area large enough to be managed economically. This should be not less than 50 acres.*

Eucalyptus planting has not solved the problem of the afforestation of the treeless southern California hills, as the more optimistic hoped it would. No tree is superior to the eucalypts for the better class of arid land. The unfavorable chapparal-covered hillsides, however, which have so far resisted all attempts to reforest them with eucalypts and with conifers must probably long remain forestless.

THE DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST

PLANTING

HE Chairman: The very admirable report presents an exceedingly important question, analyzing, as it does, the situation and making it clear that forestry is not all planting as it used to be thought.

Professor J. W. Toumey, of Connecticut: What has interested me the most in recent years has been the growing tendency for the artificial establishment of forests by corporations and municipal organizations, where I think there is a great outlook in the future. Even in the State of Connecticut, a public corporation, the New Haven Water Committee, has nearly 10,000 acres of land, and that company is planting some 3,000 trees a year. The whole forest is organized, and it is a sufficiently large body of land that it can be maintained as a working circle. and handled progressively with somebody in charge of it. The Hartford Water Company has a forest which protects its water shed, which is an admirable illustration of what can be done in the artificial establishment of forests. The water company of the city of Bridgeport has several thousand acres.

In the aggregate, these public corporations, water companies and municipal organizations which control the water sheds from which they derive their water, are going to be, in the near future, an enormous factor in the East, and it is going to extend elsewhere. Those are the people who will promote the regeneration of forests, and it seems to me almost better than any other body of men, except where it is done by the State and by the nation.

Furthermore, as expressed in the report, there is a great need for the different States to undertake systematic reforestation of certain portions of those States that are absolutely non-productive at the present time. For instance, where a

State like Connecticut, I am bringing these things down to the specific cases, can put up a million dollars to build good roads, it can put up some money to improve waste lands, and where Connecticut will now put up $1,000,000 to build State roads and only $2,000 to improve her forests, that is entirely out of proportion. What Connecticut ought to do and what the other Eastern States ought to do is to put up money, not by $2,000 and $1,000 and $3,000 amounts, but by $50,000

*"Yield and Return of Blue Gum in California," by T. D. Woodbury. Forest Service Circular 210.