The Man-Made Forest

By MI. C. O. GerhardV, {ssistant Forester, Union Lumber Company, Ft. Bragg. California

In April t922 tttc Union Lumber Company of F'ort Bragg, California establishcd thc first rcdwood nurscry in the United States dcvoted to the raising of redwood sccdlings for rcfo'restation of cut over lands. At the inception of the Union Lurnber Company nursery many skcptical individuals voiced thcir doubt as to thc practicability of such an undcrtaLing. Litdc did their doubt detcr the convictions of thc men who wcrc responsible for placing their timber holdings on a permanent yicld baris-to inrure a cut for their millr whcn thc virgin supply of redwood will becomc exhausted.

Thc Union Lumbcr Company in addition to raising tre6 to rcforest thcir o*n cutovcr lands producc trees to bc plianted on thc holdinge of othcr opemting companics in Mendocino County. Other companreo cngagcd in rcforc#ation wor}, arc as follows: Albion Lumbcr Company, Caspcr Lumbcr Company, Glcn Blair Redwood Cornpany and Mcndocino Lurnbcr Company.

All trcca raiscd at the Union Lumbcr Company Nurecry are grown fronr sccd cxtractcd from concs which arc collcctcd during thc fall monthr. Thrcc *pccics of trccs arc rabcd for reforestation purposcs; DougLas fir, Port Orford cedar and rcdwood, which composea cighty fivc pcrcent of the production. From a mcrc fcw thourand trces raiged n 1922 thc nurcery has cxpanded cvcry ycar until with this scason 1,500,000 trees will be taken to the woods to bccomc the man-made forcsts which rill bc thc mainstay of our lurnbcr supply in years to cotne.

Conc collection begins about the first wcek in Octobcr or aa soon ag thc foresters are able to say that thc firc scason is over. Two methods of conc collection have been in use for several years; 6rst, following thc choppcrs and removing the ripc cones from the branchcs of the fallen gian6 and second, by robbing squirrels of theit winter caches. Rcdwood treer produce largc quantities of secd which should make cone collcction eary; however only a very small pcrccnt of the seeds are good and many tree8, altho literatly covcred with concs bear no viabl,e sccd. Men gathering concs must cxamine many in o'rdcr to determine whether or not the quaEty of seed gathercd will iustify the cxpcnse of the labor in harvesting.

Not so with thc qoncs gathcred from squir- rel workings or caches, fot the energetic squirrcl* in their progratn of cxistence havc loarned to harvct only the best concs and ones that contain.the largcst seed. Wdking thru the virgin rcdwood forcst with an understory of tan oa\ onc can hear the concs dropping on thc broad tan oah lcavcs, raaking a noiec similar to largc drops of rain pattcring on a roof. Thcn too, thc squirrel in his ccampcring about thc limbs, cutting a cone hcrc and thcrc and lctting it fall to thc ground, posdbly one or two hundrcd fcct bclow maybc disturbcd in hir activity by a mcddlcsomc blue jay and beginr rcold- ing mort revcrcly. This scolding is in thc nature of a squeal which can bc heard ap- preciable distancc in thc quict woodr.

Men in scarch of squirrel-cut conca are listening for thcac rorurds and arc so aidcd in finding squircl workingc. Thc forert foor under trees whcrc squirrclc arc busy may be covcrcd with cones; this indicatcs a fresh working, but on closcr obscrvation of the condition of thc lltter on the forcat floor one may notice wherc the leaves and trigs havc been disturbed. Raking thc dcbris away and diggtng a fcw inches into thc mineral soil onc may find cones neatly storcd away for rinter use. Onc of these dirt caches will yicld from a few concs to thrce or four hundred. Cacheg havc bccn found, in hollow logs and dccaying stumps which havc yicldcd ar high as twenty-fivc pounds of concg; however, caches of such' yields arc fcw. Onc man in hir dalr work will average about twcnty pounds of sguirrcl- cut concs; while on thc othel hand in folIowing ttrc choppers the daily gathcring averagcs closc to 6fty gounds pcr man a day.

Peoplc have said that it is wrong to rob thc squirrel of his winter food supplg thus cxposing thc poor little animal to the mcrcy of the clcments. If his cntire wiatet food supply was taken it undoubtedly rould bc wrong,' but men are not ablc to 'cope with anirnals of thc forest in concealing and disguising, and the tiny rquirrel bcing ro proficient in his conccalment of food mekcs it impossible for man to unearth all of thc concs which have bcen eo carefully rtorcd away. Othcr typcE of cones and fced arc atorcd away-, typcs of food we arc not intercEted in, so thc defcmclcsr rquirrcl ir not suficring from .starvation a! !o many pcoplc belicvc.

The concr of thc redwood arc rmalt an averagc cone rarcly bcing as largc ar oncr thumb bctwccn thc tip and first joint, and contaiirs from rerrcnty fivc to onc hundrcd and fifty reed, of which, if thc concr arc worth collccting will producc froln tcn to twcnty fivc rcedling trcar. Naturc ir ractG. ful in hcr program-in thc large quantiticr of eced shc produccr only a rrnall pcrccnt trow. A pound of clan rcdrood rccd will avcragc about 135,000 rccdr. Whcn thcsc arc planted with climatic conditionr t[ruout the germination pcriod optimum, poesibly 15,fiX) sccdlings will bc produced.

The cones are rhippcd from thc collcction points to thc Union Lumbcr Company Nursery whcre a specially dcrigncd sccd cxtrac- tion plant, for handling redv.ood concs only, has been constructed. Thc cones arc full of moisturc when collccted, lo in order to cr(Continucd on pagc 20)

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