302 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



said. Progress in this respect is extremely slow. Since the writer, in 

 an address before the oldest agricultural society in this State, in 1850, 

 first urged upon the farmers the importance of tree-planting on the prai- 

 ries, the subject has been persistently pressed upon public notice by the 

 horticultural societies of Illinois. The idea of forest-planting is becoming 

 popular ; and as its inception was gradual, there is reason to hope that its 

 influence will be lasting. Sudden and violent outbursts of zeal seldom 

 produce permanent effects — witness the White Willow fever of a few years 

 since. One enterprise of the kind, well worth notice, has been under- 

 taken, during the past year, by Robert Douglas, of Waukegan, who has 

 begun to plant a tract of three hundred acres with forest trees, upon a 

 system which, if successfully carried out, will do much to determine and 

 illustrate the best mode of proceeding. 



In the present report remarks will be made upon three or four of the 

 most useful forest trees suited to the climate of Northern Illinois. The 

 planting of the White and Burr Oak, the Black Walnut and the Butter- 

 nut, is, doubtless, well understood by all who have paid any attention to 

 the subject. The White Ash is one of the most important timber trees 

 in the northern parts of the United States ; but, unfortunately, is not so 

 easily raised from seed as those above mentioned. If the seed be sown 

 soon after gathering from the tree, without drying, it will come up well 

 in spring ; but if dried, a great part will often fail to vegetate the first 

 year, even if kept through winter in damp sand — care must be taken not 

 to cover too deeply. Probably forest trees, as well as others, often fail 

 from this cause. When self-sown, they commonly have no other covering 

 than leaves or a little earth, when concealed by mice or squirrels. If 

 sown in autumn, Ash seed should be covered with litter during winter to 

 prevent washing out by rains. 



It seems very probable that the seed of the Green Ash is often gath- 

 ered and sown as that of the White. The Green Ash is common along 

 streams in the West — it produces seed more frequently than the White 

 Ash, and upon small trees — it is, therefore, more easily collected. The 

 seed vegetates with greater certainty than that of the White Ash, even if 

 sown dry ; and the young trees grow more rapidly for the first year or 

 two. When in leaf, it may easily be distinguished from the White Ash ; 

 the timber is similar in quality, but it has the disadvantage of never 

 becoming a large tree. 



The White Ash is somewhat variable in its characteristics, and some 

 of these variations have formerly been named and described by botanists 

 as permanent varieties, or even species. It belongs to northern latitudes, 

 and only obtains its fullest developments in colder climates than that of 

 Northern Illinois. The Blue Ash abounds in more southern latitudes 

 than the White ; it is in every respect as valuable, and has the advantage 

 of being more durable. The combination of strength, lightness and 

 elasticity in Ash timber renders it superior to any other native wood for 

 many purposes, and the demand for it must always be extensive. 



Much has been said and written in praise of the European Larch, but 

 nevertheless, little if any notice has been taken of its peculiar fitness for 



