Rbodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 7 July, 1905 No. 79 
REFORESTATION AT WOODS HOLE, MASSACHU- 
SETTS.— A STUDY IN SUCCESSION: 
MINTIN ASBURY CHRYSLER. 
(Plates 62, 63.) 
ALTHOUGH the principle known as succession in plant societies is 
supported by convincing evidence, it does not frequently happen that 
the process occurs with sufficient rapidity to pass through one or 
more cycles within the period of one man's observations. Further, 
because of the newness of the dynamic point of view, records of a 
kind valuable to the ecologist are not numerous. It is also true that 
in this country few experiments in forestation have been made. The 
tract of forest known as Fay's Woods near the village of Woods 
Hole, Massachusetts, presents, however, a remarkably good example 
of quick succession of vegetation, aided by artificial planting. 
The area in question lies between Buzzards Bay and Vineyard 
Sound at the southwestern extremity of Cape Cod, comprising about 
four hundred acres now largely covered with a mixture of pines and 
deciduous trees. As may be seen from plate 63, fig. 1, the land rises 
rather abruptly from the sea, and there are abundant evidences to 
show that the area forms a terminal moraine. Boulders of all sizes 
are plentiful, and the surface of the tract is particularly uneven owing 
to the presence of numerous ravines and * kettle holes," as described 
by Shaw? The general height of the forested area is sixty feet above 
the sea. 
lThis investigation was conducted at the Marine Biological Laboratory, 
Woods Hole, during the summer of 1903 and 1904. I am indebted for many 
helpful suggestions to Miss Sarah B. Fay and Prof. Bradley M. Davis. 
2 Bot. Gazette 33: 437-450. 1902. 
