1899] Stone, — Floral conditions in central Massachusetts 147 
the size of those found in the too frequently deforestated and thickly 
populated region of the eastern part of the state. There is no plant, 
however, which shows such a decline in Massachusetts as the straw- 
berry, and this is within the memory of men now living. Among 
other plants which possess much less limited habitats are Hadenaria 
Hookeri and H. orbiculata, which thrive best in old pine woods; and 
Orchis spectabilis, Cypripedium parvifiorum and C. pubescens do not 
find the requisite conditions for their growth and luxuriant develop- 
ment after successive deforestation, while species like Zabemaria 
ciliaris, which possess an extremely limited habitat, have to my own 
knowledge become already exterminated in certain localities, owing to 
deforestation. So would the beech drops become less abundant with 
the decline of the beech, as this only grows parasitically upon its roots. 
And then there are hosts of plants, such as the Aralias, numerous 
species of Fungi, Mosses and Liverworts, which once thrived more 
abundantly and luxuriantly than at the present day. On the other 
hand, there are many plants such as the blackberry, raspberry, and 
checkerberry which grow more abundantly and luxuriantly after the 
first removal of the virgin forest, although these have undoubtedly 
declined, on account of the diminished organic matter in the soil. 
In closing, however, it may be mentioned that the mere increase 
of certain species and decline of others, does not convey to us an 
adequate conception as to the difference in the external configuration 
which has taken place in our forest growths. In the decline of the 
hemlock, one of the most potent factors in the production of pictures- 
que scenery has disappeared. Old forest growths of these somber 
trees resembled the “ misty darkness of a cavern" and added much to 
the beauty of our pellucid streams. The original size of the forest 
trees was also an important factor in the make-up of the primitive 
forests. The pine at the present day is seldom seen with a diameter 
of over eighteen inches, whereas, in the old forests, specimens could be 
found six feet in diameter and two hundred and fifty feet high. The 
canoe birch trees could be found growing three feet in diameter, but 
to-day they rarely escape the axe after they have attained the thickness 
of eight or ten inches. The majority of pitch pines at present have a 
height of about twenty-five feet and a diameter of about fourteen 
inches, but I have seen individual specimens of mature old growth — 
150 years old — which were eighty feet high and two feet in diameter. 
1 See Garden and Forest, ix. 82 (1896). 
