Deer & Diane

The 5000 has largely been eaten by deer; I went out in early November and it was a sad sight. I think the trail groomer has run its path straight out to the Williamsburg road. Back when the trees still had a fighting chance this would have enraged me. (Now, only the deer have cause to complain. I maintain this log at about the same rate at which the trees grow.) Meanwhile, Johnny has put a seepage bed in the midst of what was once a half-acre of struggling (not very successfully) red spruce seedlings. Diane's mini-home sits on most of the rest of them. All that remains is a triple row of black spruce, most of which came from Sugar Bear's leftover stock, supplemented by transplanted natural regeneration. That part is starting to look like something; it has been in the ground for about seven years. Of all the trees we have planted, the larch have shown the most gratitude. They are very tall--about 20 feet--and flourishing. The red pine are beginning to make their presence felt, too. Only the red spruce were real failures. I have trouble finding any, and we planted about 800.

I should mention, while I remember it, that this summer past I sprayed the pines for a fungal infestation that was rotting off the needles about mid-way. Some were very badly affected. It seems to have developed because of the very cold weather late in the winter, coupled with a wet spring. I mixed up the powder in the sprayer and gave them several treatments. By late July there was hardly a sign of the fungus and everything looked healthy again--hope it lasts. I also dealt with a few aphids, though they did little harm this year.