542 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



New York's Oldest Tree 



The oldest tree on the Island of Manhat- 

 tan, one that is declared to be more than 303 

 years old, has had its identity established and 

 the authenticity of its age proved by the city 

 administration after a thorough investiga- 

 tion into its right to be called the oldest in- 

 habitant. 



This is the discovery of a Uving tree that 

 flourished when Hendrik Hudson in the good 

 ship Half Moon sailed up the river which 

 was to receive his name. 



The city has taken this tree under special 

 care and henceforth it is to be guarded from 

 vandalism and as much as possible from the 

 ravages of insect warfare and the natural 

 process of decay. 



The tree is a tulip, and a giant at that. 

 The trunk at the base is about 24 feet in 

 circumference. The trunk bifurcates eight 

 feet from the base. Its top reaches up about 

 a hundred feet and near the top it spreads 

 out like a big elm with generous shade. 



It is the only tree so far as known that 

 existed before the first Hollanders set foot 

 on Manhattan soil. 



That work afforded an excellent piece of 

 scouting for boys, and the result has been 

 that Boy Scouts throughout the country have 

 written to James E. West, Chief Scout 

 Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, 

 asking for information about other diseases 

 and insects that attack trees and shrubs. As 

 a result George H. Merritt, one of the secre- 

 taries employed by the Boy Scouts of Amer- 

 ica, is compiling, with the aid of Gifford 

 Pinchot, former United States Forester, and 

 member of the National Council of the Boy 

 Scouts of America, a chapter for the manual 

 and for the scoutmasters, outlining different 

 diseases of the most important trees. 



Appointed as Forester 



E. C. M. Richards has been appointed tem- 

 porarily as forester of the Park Department 

 of Queens Borough, New York. The exam- 

 ination for a permanent appointee will be 

 held in the near future. Mr. Richards was 

 graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School 

 and from the School of Forestry at Yale 

 University. 



Reforestation at the Capital 



Reforestation of the Capitol grounds by 

 prominent statesmen is the latest fad at 

 Washington. The old German custom of 

 planting a tree every time one is destroyed 

 has been inaugurated, and there is a rush 

 among Congressmen for planting privileges. 



A purple beech that grew in northern New 

 York, near the home of Vice-President Sher- 

 man, now adorns the Capitol grounds, near 

 Delaware avenue and B street northeast, at 

 the brow of the hill on the north drive. 



Other public men, including Speaker Clark, 

 former Speaker Cannon and a number of 

 prominent candidates, will be invited to plant 

 trees, and there promises to be a lively arbor 

 campaign. Among the trees that will be 

 planted are the walnut, hickory and red oak, 

 each man selecting the tree under which he 

 loved to linger in his boyhood. 



Superintendent Elliott Woods is providing 

 photographs of the recent tree planting, to 

 be filed away with the official records, and 

 reforestation is now having its innings on 

 the Capitol grounds. 



Boy Scouts to Save Trees 



The Boy Scouts of America have leagued 

 themselves together as an army to save the 

 trees and shrubs of America from insects 

 and diseases. The work started in Pennsyl- 

 vania, where thousands of chestnut trees are 

 being destroyed. The boys have been of 

 great help to the Forestry Department in de- 

 tecting this disease and reporting the trees 

 thus afflicted to the department. 



A New Douglas Spruce 



Arthur Smith, of Reading, Pa., writes that 

 a French explorer, Dr. Dode, has discovered 

 a new species of Pseudotsuga, the habitat of 

 which is a limestone district, 8,000 feet above 

 the sea, in the province of Yunnan, China. It 

 is reported to be closely allied to Pseudotsuga 

 Japonica, Beissner, a native of Japan and 

 Formosa, with which it agrees in having its 

 leaves emarginate at the apex, but differing 

 in having larger cones and seeds, with more 

 numerous scales. The new species has been 

 named Pseudotsuga sinensis Dode, and it ap- 

 pears probable that it will prove a valuable 

 addition to our cultivated forest trees. 



May Form Forest Protective Association 



Wisconsin paper and pulp manufacturers 

 are interested in a movement started at a 

 meeting held at Oshkosh, looking toward the 

 formation of a forest protective association 

 operative in the northern forests of Wiscon- 

 sin. Several of the companies were repre- 

 sented at the meeting. Lumbermen and tim- 

 ber land owners predominated, however. 

 After debating and discussing the question 

 one entire day, the meeting voted that pre- 

 liminary steps be taken in the matter of form- 

 ing a definite organization. More than a 

 half million acres of timber land were spoken 

 for at the meeting, and it is believed that 

 this amount can be more than doubled when 

 active organization work is undertaken. 



