STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 201 



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the other two, yet it is a winged seed, that can be distributed a con- 

 siderable distance from the tree on a windy day ; it has also the power to 

 float on the water, and is carried by the current, and eddied into every 

 little cove, and left on the shores and islands as the water recedes. So we 

 see that while these three trees are admirably fitted for the low lands, by 

 ripening their seeds in spring or early summer, that very habit would 

 really unfit them for growing indigenous on ordinary uplands, while the 

 trees that ripen their seeds in autumn distribute them so that they are in 

 a condition to germinate in spring. Hence we come to the conclusion 

 that, had we found our whole State covered with timber instead of grass, 

 we would have found these three trees only on the wet ground. We all 

 know that although we never find these three trees growing on the 

 upland, yet when planted by man they grow well there. 



No man can carefully study the conditions required for the ger- 

 mination of the different kinds of tree seeds, without coming to the con- 

 clusion that they have a great deal to do with the abundance or scarcity 

 of any given kind in a particular locality. 



Nature is so liberal with her tree seeds, that she probably produces a 

 million of seeds for every tree she brings to maturity ; and the same 

 ground on which she distributes them is also freely supplied with seeds of 

 shrubs, perennial and annual plants, and there is a continual strife going 

 on to see which shall get the mastery ; she seems also, in the main, to 

 have been very fair in her distribution, as the seeds that are most liable to 

 be destroyed are produced generally in the greatest abundance. 



The arbor vits produces very many more seeds than the oak ; on 

 the other hand, acorns will germinate more easily, and are not so liable 

 to be destroyed the first few months after germination, either by excess of 

 sunlight or shade. The oak may push its way through surface vegetation ; 

 the arbor vitaj can not do so. In my opinion the oak's greatest advan- 

 tage lies in its power to resist fire, and in its ability to retain life for a great 

 length of time when overshadowed by other forest trees. 



An experienced forester in Europe says: "The oak, after yielding a 

 heavy crop of timber, springs u[) from well dressed stools, far stronger 

 than in the best plantations newly, formed in virgin soil." 



He recommends that oaks be interspersed in pine plantations, and 

 says that "although these j)lants are scarcely discernible during the vigor 

 of the pines, yet being tenacious of life, they keep the ground, become 

 deep rooted, and are ready to spring up on the removal of the crop of 

 timber. In such cases, or in the case of fire destroying a plantation, the 

 oaks act a consi)icuous jnirt in speedily renewing the appearance and ulti- 

 mately becoming valuable.'' 



Now this man's experience with the oak in Europe agrees exactly 

 with our experience with it in the forests surrounding our prairies, and we 

 see how different it is with the evergreen timber. A fire that would run 

 through a forest, and only scorch the bark without injuring the oak trees, 

 would be likely to destroy all the evergreens in its path, as the bark is 

 much more sensitive to fire, and the foliage will burn much more readily 

 than the foliage on the oak. Even if the oak tree is severely burned it will 



