VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 10, 1911.
NO. 23
EXPERT      ANSWERS      TO      FARM
yl KSTIONS   ALONG   THK   LINE
OF FORESTRY.
By C. H. Goetz, Forester, O. S. U.,
Columbus, Ohio.
viil Method too Slow and Costly to
be Practical.—Troy, Ohio. To the for-
«ter O. S. IJ. Please Inform me
whether the combination of sulphuric
icid and nitric acid will dissolve
rtumps, as I have some stump land
which I want to clear.—1_ B. Baker.
Answer: The acid will dissolve the
■tump, but it ls too slow a process and
too costly to be practical. The use of
powder, the stump puller and Are is
much cheaper, quicker and more profitable In many places where the land
can be left in a pasture it will do but
little hurt to leave the stumps until
they are well rotted so that they can
be pulled with but little trouble.
Cedar and Arborvitae Slake Good
Wind Braeaks.—Marion, Ohio. To the
forester O. S. U. Please inform me as
to what is best for planting in this section for windbreaks.—George J. Davis.
Answer: Ohio was at one time cov-
««il With hard woods and there were
few evergreens found here, and
.i'M in later years it has been found
that many of the coniferous evergreens
will grow well in Ohio if they have the
water supply they need through the
summer. Wherever then there is
enough of thio water supply arborvitae
and cedars will do well, and there is no
question about these trees not being
aome of the best windbreaks for an all
year around use. As a rule the hardwoods are of use only in the summer,
and when the windbreak ls most needed in the winter they furnish but little
protection. Any hardwoods that can be
Planted closely together will make
aome kind of a windbreak for summer
use.
Plant Grasses or Trees to Stop Hillside Erosion.—Sidney, Ohio. To the
forestry Department, O. S. U. I have
•ome land near a creek and there is
•orne of it quite steep so that I can not
'•rm it. The soil is washing a good
deal. What can I do to prevent the
•oil from washing?—Jim Dolan.
Answer: Fence In that part of your
•ind and do not allow your stock to
run over it until you have again a good
Sround cover. I would advise you to
•ow clover or any kind of grass. If,
however, the erosion Is too strong and
•he grasses will not take hold, plant willows and poplars and sow the seeds of
'he trees which formerly stood on the
Sfound. If there are gullies throw
'ocks and brush into them and In this
*ay stop the erosion.
Trees for Waste Place**—Stone
Oeek, Ohio. To the Department of
forestry, O. S. U. Please inform me
*hat is the best thing that I can do
*:,h land which ls too poor to produce
*°od crops. I would like to put it to
•oine use and have thought of locust
:'  «?—James Creeley.
Answer:     If your land has plenty of
"■  «ture, perhaps fruit trees would be
'iter     than     locust.      Examine   your
""il and  observe  whether there are
; fruit trees raised  in your neighbor-
! on similar soil.      If the soil Is too
and sandy for fruit trees, perhaps
** and alfalfa would do well. While
o^ust would no doubt grow even in a
might be disappointing to you. As a
rule the poorest kind of soil will produce forest trees If there is moisture
at hand during the growing season and
the proper amount of heat.
Do not Cut Down the White Oak Unless You Must Have the Land for Other
Crops.—New Paris, Ohio. To the Forestry Department, O. S. U. I have
about 10 acres on which there Is a very
heavy stand of second growth white
oak. Do you think it would pay me
to let the land remain In white oak or
would you advise me to cut it and use
the land for agricultural crops?     I do
inform  mo    whether    the    eucalyptus
would make a good shade tree?
Answer: The eucalyptus can not be
grown where there is frost enough in
the winter to frost the ground, even
slightly. A half inch of frost in the
ground would destroy this tree. This
tree is a semltropic tree, an evergreen
boadleaf tree and so far has not been
acclimated further north than cental
California and southern Texas or Florida. As to it being a good shade tree,
where it grows, we can advise that It is
not, for in the heat of the day when th
sun is the hottest    it turns its    leaves
ter,
Poor and  sandy soil  there  would
r-ver be but a slow sctwth aad it
A 20-year old Black Walnut Plantation    from    seed.    Tippecanoe
Ind.—From TJ. S.   Yearbook   1909.
County,
not need the land just now as I have
plenty to do with what land I have under cultivation.—Dick Harrison.
Answer: As you are not In need of
the land for other crops, my advice
would be to allow the land to remain
in white oak. It is my opinion that
lt will prove a good investment, as the
time is coming when white oak will be
worth good money, and although you
may not harvest the crop yet it will be
just as if you had money laid up in the
bank either for yourself or for your
family.
Locust Trees a Good Crop.—Lancaster, Ohio. To the Forestry Department,
O. S. U. I am about to give up farming my land as the locust trees are giving me so much trouble, keeping me
busy grubbing them out. What would
you advise me to do in order to get rid
of the locust trees? As the locust trees
sprout the more readily if their roots
are disturbed the mere grubbing out
will not kill them unless all the roots
are taken out.—Jack Sand°rs.
Answer: A very deep plowing is
perhaps the best method if followed
with a careful raking out of all the
roots. However if the farm Is so situated that lt will not produce extra
good crops It would be perhaps as good
an investment to give over the land to
raising locust fence poses, as the time
is not far oft when fence posts will
bring prices high enough to make it
very profitable to raise locust trees for
posts.
Eucalyptus Can Not Withstand the
Frost.—Cincinnati. Ohio.—To the Forestry Department of O.  S.  V.      Please
edgewise to the sun and there Is practically no shade under the tree. It
has but a small amount of leaves for
its size. It is, however, a valuable tree
for raising fuel in a short time as it is
a quick growing tree, the wood is also
valuable for posts and  piling.
Start Locusts from Seeds to Get the
Baest Results.—Lafayette, Ohio. To the
forestry department of O. S. U. Please
inform me as to what is best for me to
do for getting some locusts started on
my farm? Should I start them from
seeds or should I get seedlings?
Answer: We advise the propagation
from seeds on the farm as the best
and cheapest method. The seeds should
be treated In the following rnnner Get
a jar or can that will hold at least
three times the amount of water the
seeds will occupy. Then bring the
water in the jar or can to the boiling
point. After it has boiled a few minutes pour In your seeds and keep the
water stirred while you are pouring In
your seeds, but do not allow the water
to boil after the seeds are in. aLeave
the seeds in the water without further
heating for 12 hours.
Plant Lux-ast for Fenee Post.—Bell-
brook, Ohio. I have some land on my
farm which I can not use for agricultural purposes and I would like to
plant it to some trees good for fence
posts. What trees would you advise
me to plant?..A Subscriber.
Answer: We advise in this case the
two thorned acacia or black locust, not
the honey locust. You can either buy
the seedlings from some of the nurseries nearest to you or buy the seed.    If
you buy the seed and wish to plant
them so that they come up this year
or right away you should place them
Into hot water at boiling point over
night. Using three times the amount
of water per volume as the seed occupy; this will start the germination of
the seed. The water must only come
to the boiling point and then must be
taken from the fire and the seeds must
be stirred while they are placed in the
water. The aeed should be planted In
rows immediately after taking from
the water.
Plant the rows close enough so that
the weeds will have but little chance to
come in. The seedlings can then be
planted out in the woodlot or field in
the fall or next spring. The plantation for fence post should be planted
4x4 or 6x6. They should be so thick
as to shade the ground and the trunk
of eaeh other.
Sandusky, Ohio. I have some rich
bottom land not very well drained near
my hay farm, and I would like to plant
some trees that would make good fence
posts, some hardwood trees.—P.
Barnes.
Answer: The American white ash
and black ash, also erm or tamarac
would do well on such land. The walnut also should do well. The hardwood trees mentioned are not as good
for fence posts as the tamarac. The
European tamarac is the best for this
purpose, as It is a fast grower, next I
would recommend the walnut and ash.
HOLD THE SOIL MOISTURE.
If every farmer wero compelled to
haul and pour over each acre of his
farm over 200 barrels of water per day,
he would gain some conception of the
amount of moisture evaporated from
an exposed, uncultivated soil, at this
season of the year. This evaporation
varies according to the kind and condition of the soil, weather, location,
etc., but under average conditions the
sun and wind are rapidly drawing from
the soil moisture that will be needed
later In the season for crop growth. It
is Just like drawing dollars from the
farmers' pockets.
Now is the time to prevent this loss.
Soil moisture is valuable. Past records
show that an inch of rainfall in July-
means $5,000,000 worth of corn to the
state of Ohio. While farmers cannot
make an Inch of rain fall ln July, they
can carry an Inch of soil moisture over
from May until July, and that means
the same thing.
An inch of rainfall means 113 tons of
water per acre. If this Is allowed to
escape at the rate of 200 barrels per
day, It will require only four days to
lose the entire Inch. Every farmer
who falls to prevent this evaporation Is
losing his share of tbat $5,000,000. Are
you one of the losers?
How can this evaporation be prevented? By cultivating the soil. Keep
the surface of the soil ln a flne, loose
condition. Follow the plow with the
harrow. Harrow the corn fleld often
enough to keep a good soil mulch.
Don't be stingy with the use of the cultivator.
The amount of moisture in the soil
this spring is below normal. Moisture
is essential to maximum crop production.
Conserve your soil moisture. Do it
now.—A. B. Graham, Supt. Agricultural  Extension  of Ohio.