To give variety to the landscape at my farm, I planted several other
kinds of trees. Among these were Kentucky coffee-trees which have
beautiful bronze foliage in the spring and honey locusts. I planted five
hundred Douglas fir but unfortunately, I put these deep in the woods
among heavy timber where they were so shaded that only a few lived.
Later, I moved the surviving fir trees into an open field where they
still flourish. About two hundred fifty pines of mixed varieties--white,
Norway and jack--that I planted in the woods, also died.
I decided, then, that evergreens might do better if they were planted
from seeds. I followed instructions in James W. Toumey's "Seeding and
Planting in the Practice of Forestry," in bed culture and spot seeding.
In the latter one tears off the sod in favorable places and throws seed
on the unprotected ground. In doing this, I ignored the natural
requirements of forest practice which call for half-shade during the
first two to three years of growth. Thousands of seedlings sprouted but
they all died either from disease or from attacks by cows and sheep. One
should never attempt to raise trees and stock in the same field.
Because of these misfortunes, I determined to study the growth of
evergreens.
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