Forestry and Silviculture at Westtown.

FOR

ORESTRY is a business, and therefore practical; silviculture is not forestry. There is some confusion of ideas along these lines, hence my title and this word of explanation.

Our problem from the foresters' standpoint is the problem of the woodlot. Silviculturally, we Silviculturally, we are working with the twofold aim of securing the most beauty and the highest educational good from our woods and trees.

As there is standing on our campus but one tree from the original woods, it is evident that treeplanting at Westtown has been going on for almost a century. What the men who were caring for the institution sixty years ago thought about the necessity of caring for the forest is made clear by the following extract from the report of the "farming committee" in 1844. Of the 599 acres composing the farm the report says:

"The timber land is estimated at (about) 182 acres: 32 acres of which is thicket, having been recently cleared; 34 acres is young wood; leaving 116 acres now under ripe timber, which will average 40 cords per acre; but if the timber suitable for sawing is left out of the estimate, it would cut about 35 cords per acre.

"The young wood is generally thrifty, and may increase at the rate of three-quarters of a cord an acre (annually) for forty years, dating from the period of its having been first cut off.

"A part of the wood has been lately much improved; the superintendent having caused the underwood to be gathered up, and such part of the standing timber as was not thrifty to be taken out, giving the timber of value a much better opportunity for improvement.

"The school consumes annually about 80 cords, the farmhouse about 30 cords and the tenements about 20 cords. The farm requires for the same period about 1200 rails, or 24 cords, making in the aggregate a consumption of 154 cords.

"From this estimate, which we think approximates the truth, our timber is evidently decreasing."

The last sentence is suggestive of the cause for this interest, as the question of substituting coal for wood in heating the school building was being discussed. Only a few years later the change was made, marking the end of this period of genuine forestry interest. However, about twenty years later, another superintendent proved himself a practical forester by having planted several score of black locust trees about the school grounds and in the woods, "to grow into posts. His purpose has been fulfilled. These trees are now at their max

imum value. A 10-acre field of 40-year old locusts would be a considerable asset.

From 1844 until the present generation the Westtown woodlands shared the fate of the large majority of farm woodlots. Trees were cut as wanted for use on the grounds, or considerable areas of woodland were cleared as there arose need for funds. The results of this no-policy of management are to-day in evidence.

Coming down to the present decade, we note an active interest, on the part of an organization of graduates from the school, in planting in the woods and about the grounds clumps of coniferous trees, mainly for æsthetic reasons: "So that our children may stroll under the hemlocks and spruces on the banks of Chester Creek," explained one of the committee, "and get at least a whiff of balsam." These trees, including some white pine, were planted mostly under the natural growth of chestnut, oak and tulip. Many were shaded out, and the survivors grew very slowly.

A more definite arboretum scheme of about the same period resulted in almost nothing. A grove of bald cypress was killed by cattle, a class tree planted on the proposed site died, and a row of moosewood trees on the campus has had a hard struggle with sunscald and oyster-shell barkscale.

In 1899 the Westtown Forestry Club was organized. Boys and girls were assigned trees on the campus for identification. Each attached his visiting-cards to his trees and then went to work. The instructor compiled the results and had an expert to check the list. Then the trees were marked with aluminum labels and charted. The labels have mostly fallen off, and we are waiting to discover a satisfactory method before re-marking.

Meanwhile, a large section of our North Woods had been cleared. This was magnificent timber, the management realizing nearly $300 per acre on the operation, in spite of several unfortunate deals. But the board-foot value of that woods meant nothing to the Westtonians of two generations, who had almost literally grown up under its shade. Closely bordering their playground, it was part of their home; and to them a walk through the unsightly clearing was like visiting the ruins of a beautiful palace.

It was out of the dispute over this method of cutting that particular piece of timber there came the determination to secure expert opinion on the merits of the controversy, and advice as to the best method of restoring, or of aiding nature in restoring, the natural forest condition.

An agent of the then Bureau of Forestry at Washington, who visited the woodland, stated that it was his opinion that the clearing of the North

Woods had been an unnecessary sacrifice; that in order to get the advantage of the ripe timber it would have been practicable, in a small tract so easily accessible, to have cut only the mature trees, leaving still a big woods, with favorable conditions for the continued growth of the many partly grown trees. When these were mature the process might have been repeated. Without deciding on the relative merits of the clean cutting and the gradual removal methods of harvesting the timber crop in general, in this case the æsthetic value of the wood as a part of the school demanded the latter method. As to remedies there was only one, by planting and trimming to aid nature's work of restoration. There was need here for money, and no money was available for the purpose.

In a strip of another wood, cleared at the same time as the one just referred to, the planting of white pine was recommended-either seed, by the seed-spot method, or young seedlings. This for the next spring, as it was now too late to get ready for extensive planting. In the case of the groups of under-planted conifers above referred to, cutting nearly all the native growth was recommended, to let light in to the trees it was desired to favor. Later this was done, partly by the boys and partly by regular choppers. In the latter case the trees to be removed were carefully " blazed, and all trees were cut. After the cutting, additional trees of the same kinds were planted to replace those that had been lost. This planting included 100 white pines, 400 hemlocks and some spruce and balsam. With the exception of the pines which had been dried out in shipment and died right away, about 75 per cent. of the planting lived.

movement.

But one other result of the forester's visit is significant. The time was ripe for a propagandist Everyone, teachers and pupils, had watched regretfully the fall of the North Woods, all had heard and taken part in the discussion arising thereupon. When the Board and some of the Faculty met the forester there was plenty of enthusiasm. The efforts of this young expert to show that Board that they had a chance to greatly improve the value of the property were met by a somewhat skeptical conservatism based on years of experience at lumbering in the old way, and no decision was made.

One other direct result of this first visit of the forester was the introduction into the regular school curriculum of a short course in forestry. In this the aim has been to acquaint the boys with the prevailing forest conditions, to show them what has been done, what ought to be done, and what may be done, with the idea of getting the

greatest profit out of that part of the school woodland which is used as a business forest essentially. Map making, including contour surveying; estimating timber by eye and by measurement; the study of species of particular value; and, finally, the making of planting and working plans for particular tracts,-such, in a general way, is the work of this and succeeding forestry classes,applied science.

By the time of the forester's next visit such a great change had come over the clearing in which it was proposed to plant white pine that it was manifestly impossible to do any planting there. The stool shoots from the tulip and chestnut stumps were in great bunches, 6 to 10 feet high, and the intervening spaces were tangled masses of briars and bushes. No planting could be done. The 2000 seedling pines, planted early in the spring in our nursery, had best be set out in a more open location after a year's acclimatization. With the pines came 250 Douglas spruce, which were added to one of the older evergreen plantings in the Walnut Hill woods, displacing a poor growth of dogwood and beech sprouts. Then, in order that there might be a resident forester at the school, the instructor in botany was sent to Axton to attend the spring session of the late New York State College of Forestry, on the 30,000 acre demonstration forest.

During this same year a mature stand of cottonwood, covering an irregular area, was converted into pulpwood and sold. This proved to be financially profitable and an interesting operation from the forester's standpoint. This species of populus having been, until the recent development of the pulpwood industry, simply a weed. As noted in a recent issue of FOREST LEAVES, the land cleared at this time is now covered with a dense stand of suckers from the old roots,—a vigorous growth for two years.

From this little piece of work in the woods, something was learned about the trouble foresters have with American labor. The work was done by three negroes. Needless to say, the trees being only thirty-five years old were easy cutting. Once a tree had lodged because carelessly thrown, and in their efforts to get it down four others had been cut, and all five trees securely lodged into a tangle of vines. This carelessness was habitual; but by a little careful instruction the men became interested in the preservation of trees. In the same work we cut some tulip trees to make even carloads of pulpwood. The Board asked me to mark such trees as should be removed for the good of the remaining trees. Here, again, as in the light cutting for the pines, the "blazes were entirely ignored; where any trees were cut all were cut.

provement cuttings, and it is recommended that these rules be enforced by penalties provided for in contracts.

More specifically, "The forest is to be managed so as to get the most out of it in the long run. This is accomplished by establishing and maintaining as far as practical such a continuity of production as will yield the highest average annual increment in quantity and quality of wood. The necessary work to be done is along three lines: (1) Parts of the forest are over-mature and at a standstill, the growth being offset by decay. A new crop should here be established and the old one removed. (2) Other parts of the woodland are still growing vigorously, but are too crowded for proper development of the trees; here improvement thinnings should be made. (3) There are many open spaces in the forest with no growth, which should be planted to trees." Then follows a clear setting forth of the advantages and the disadvantages of the clear cutting and the shelterwood methods of regeneration, summing up as follows: "The shelterwood system preserves the beauty of the forest much more than the clear cutting. The latter is less expensive, not requiring marking for cuttings and the cutting all being done at one time. The shelterwood system grows the best timber and the natural regeneration is more sure, as the clear cutting system more often requires tree-planting to fill up gaps."

Improvement cuttings are recommended along the general lines guiding last winter's operations. This work as outlined involves the cutting of 1200 cords in the ten years, the estimated income from which is $2000, as against an expenditure for administration and commercial planting of $1500, leaving a balance of $500 for arboretum work.

After suggesting a form of book-keeping for the forest, -a control book, showing just what is done in each compartment each year, the plan proceeds with a detailed description and plan for treatment of each compartment. As a sample plan, that for a compartment of the old North Woods may be cited:

"Compartment I.; Area, 28 Acres: Topography, Etc.

"The Forest. The forest of mixed seedling and sprout origin. Age 60 to 80 years. Prevailing species chestnut (26 per cent. of stand), tulip (14 per cent.), oak (red, white and black), elm, ash, pignut, beech, butternut, walnut, locust, and dogwood. Average height of dominant trees: 100 feet. Average diameter, breast high, about 15 inches; 20 per cent. of the trees are 18 inches and

over.

"Condition.-Dense forest, for the most part over-mature. The growth is offset by the decay. The large chestnut sprouts are rapidly decaying and many are already dead. Many broken-top trees are becoming infected with decay. Tulips which are not broken are mostly thrifty. Reproduction scant. Estimated yield: 70 cords per

acre.

"Treatment.—The forest is to be preserved, as far as possible, for æsthetic reasons, as a luxury forest; and for this reason is to be managed on the shelterwood system, though clear cutting would pay best. A heavy reproduction cutting should be made, taking out all the defective and decayed trees, especially chestnut. This will open up the ground for reproduction and get a new growth started. The vigorous tulip trees left will have a better chance to develop."

In regard to this and several other parts of the plan, it might be said that the work is actually being done this winter. On compartment I. a light rather than a heavy reproduction cutting has been made, hardly heavy enough indeed to be a reproduction cutting, but enough to make a great improvement in the appearance of the wood and in growing capacity. Some 400 trees or more have been felled, cut up and hauled out, and no appreciable damage has resulted, in spite of the repeated assurance of the skeptics that it could not be done. Less than a half dozen unmarked trees have been broken or felled.

Besides the working-plan as here described, a comprehensive planting-plan has been nearly formulated for the campus and nearby woodlands. Work has been begun on an extensive arboretum to be established in a portion of the clearing from which the old North Woods was cut. This spring over 31⁄2 acres are to be planted, and it is hoped eventually to have growing here all native trees and shrubs that will thrive in the latitude of Westtown.

With this plan before us, and the work under way, with the tree-planting interest and the forestry course well organized, it seems that one should feel fairly well assured for the future of these interests. The acreage in trees should be not the least productive part of the farm, the campus and neighboring woodlands should be continuously and increasingly the most beautiful part of Westtown's environment, and our pupils should get the greatest possible good from the knowledge of, and association with, this work, and those noblest of all plant forms, the trees.

ALFRED S. HAINES.

Let all of our members aid in observing one of the spring arbor days.