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The Lives of Trees and the Lives of Men: February: Pines

In the Gulf States, with their sandy soils, the Pines are usually best suited to the purpose. While so many Pines belong to the "intolerants" we have been talking about, still this is an advantage under the circumstances; for it means that, although they can't share the soil with other, more tolerant, species, it also means that, for this very reason, they have learned to make their homes and live happily on comparatively barren land. Especially on sandy soils they will sprout and grow to beat anything -- be ready to go to market at the age of five, and, merely in connection with the necessary thinning, yield a crop every five years thereafter!

If in the logging operations there has been left, as there should have been, a few properly distributed "mother-trees" to produce the seed, you can leave the reforesting largely to Mother Nature. About all you and the folks need to see to is that nobody sets your woods afire through his carelessness. If mother-trees are lacking, you can probably get from your State Forestry Department seed of the variety needed. It is better to seed than to transplant Pines, especially the long-leaf variety. The first time you help grub up a Pine stump you'll see why -- the tap-roots dig incredibly deep for the family water-supply, and to move even a young tree without injury to this tap-root is difficult; but this tap-root is the secret of the ability of the Pine family emigrants everywhere to rough it and grow fat in all the waste places of the earth.

So that you won't think this phase of forestry is too easy, let me just add that your young Pines will do best if, for a year or there-about, you keep the land free from brier-patches and such quick growers as Sumach, Scrub-Oak, Sweet-Gum, and other trees of comparatively little value. The Geography of Trees that we had in Chapters III and IV comes in handy in the home-forestry business. For example, if you live in the New England States, you'll probably find you get the best results from White and Red Pine, Red Oak, Ash, Tulip, Poplar, and Basswood; in the Piedmont region from Ash, Tulip, Red and White Oak, Hickory, Loblolly and Short-Leaf Pines; in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, from Ash, Yellow Poplar, Cucumber, Black Locust, Red and White Oak, Black Cherry, and Hickory.

But I must warn you of a deadly enemy of the magnificent White Pine, the White Pine blister rust. One would never think how to protect the Pines unless he knew the tricks of this particular band of forest outlaws. The rust fungi "gather their forces," so to speak, i.e., reach the early stages of their development, not on the Pines themselves, but on the wild currant and gooseberry bushes in the vicinity and make the attack in their "flying-machines"; that is to say, the dust-like spores which serve them for seed are carried by the winds to the bark of the Pines. Hence, as we shall see a few paragraphs later, in the story of certain quite recent "colonial wars," the strategy employed against them is to destroy these bushes in which they lie in wait.

Many other species of fungi not only "ambush" their victims in this way, but, while hiding, wear disguises like other professional highwaymen; that is to say, they look so different at different stages of their development that nobody would know they belonged to the same class of people, if it were not proven by their records in the "rogues' gallery," kept by the skilled detectives of our Forest Service!

Moreover, like other outlaws, the members of this "fungi gang" do most of their work at night, for the reason that the surface of the trees is them most apt to be covered with the moisture necessary for the spores to germinate. Apropos of Washington's Birthday and the colonial history which his name suggests it is both interesting and instructive to know some of the history which is being made to-day by two of the original colonies, New Jersey and New Hampshire, in their warfare on two very formidable enemies of Uncle Sam and the tree republics.

As you probably know, it is quite an undertaking, sometimes, just to look after the diseases and insects which attack the trees in our home yards and along our streets, so you may well wonder how it is possible to do this successfully when it comes to dealing with trees covering thousands and even millions of acres. But, even on such vast areas, trees can be saved when sufficient care is taken and when legislative bodies make the moderate appropriation required.

Take, for example, the "war on the gypsies" in New Jersey. A short time ago the gypsy-moth was found to be doing a great deal of mischief. Scouting (that's just what it's called) by the State Forestry Service showed that, in the six counties infested, there were 855 colonies, containing, as such colonies run, 3,000,000 eggs. The finding and destruction of these colonies, which would have spread not only over Jersey but into other States and destroyed trees worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was accomplished at a total cost to the State and the National Forest Service of only $292,000. Pretty big interest on the investment, wasn't it?

Now note the thoroughly military manner with which the campaign against the common enemy was planned and carried out, some of it over the very soil on which the troops of Washington marched -- then tell me if it isn't as interesting a bit of "war history" as you ever read. First of all, the infested territory was mapped into divisions, with each in charge of a division foreman, who directed the work of several crews of six to eight men, each with a foreman. These crews scouted the territory for egg masses, inspecting every tree, fence-post, or telephone or telegraph pole with the keen eye of a woodpecker in search of his breakfast. Every egg mass was painted with creosote, which kills the eggs. Then the work of the scouting crews was checked by specially picked men, called trailers, who went over the territory for egg masses that had been overlooked. High-pressure motor-spraying machines sprayed a poison, arsenate of lead, to kill caterpillars hatched from the eggs in the tops of the tallest trees. Partly dead trees, with broken limbs, cavities, and loose bark, which afford hiding-places for the egg masses, were cut down. During the caterpillar season, in June, thousands of trees were banded with burlap and sticky material to trap the caterpillars. These trees were visited each day and the caterpillars killed. As in the case of other leaf-eating insects, the gypsy does all of its damage in the caterpillar stage, and such trees as the Apple, the various species of Oaks, Gray Birch, Alder, and Willow are favorite food plants, but when the caterpillars are plentiful nearly all kinds of trees are fed upon.

For several years the Forestry Department of New Hampshire has been waging war on the White Pine blister rust. The State co-operates with town and individual Pine-owners, and, working over more than a million acres of land, has saved Pine worth many millions of dollars at a cost of only twenty cents per acre. I could tell you of a lot more of this kind of practical patriotism, but this is enough to show you how the work is done and to help you remember, in celebrating Washington's Birthday, that the "colonial wars" and the struggle for independence are not over yet. And if you want to know how you can help, you'll notice that in the corners of many gardens and fields -- possibly in your own -- rubbish is allowed to accumulate year after year. Well, these rubbish piles are hotbeds for many kinds of fungi, and are the cause of epidemics of tree disease which run through entire communities.