16 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



Fourth, f^imple fertilization arose out of the search for food. 



Fifth, Tlie spermatozoon rather than the ovum must be considered 

 primarily important in development. 



Sixth. The union of the pronuclei is a mechanical necessity and as a 

 result the second polar body (reducing division) is eliminated as a waste 

 product. 



Albion College, January, 1000. 



SOME OF THE UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN MICHIGAN FORESTRY. 



W. J. DEAL, PH. D., AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



In June, ISST, one thousand dollars was placed by the Legislature at 

 the disposal of a State Forestry Commission which made some observa- 

 tions, held one convention, and i)ublished one report. After four years 

 the act was repealed. Since that time the interest in forestry has in- 

 creased as the timber rapidly disappeared. 



The Legislature of 1899, passed an act to create a second commission 

 to canvass the subject and recommend legislation in 1901. In the minds 

 of most people, there is a vague notion that something should be done, 

 but what to do is not clear. A very small number believe it best to 

 leave the subject, as in the j^ast, entirely to the people in each locality 

 to do as they please. 



In the report of the State Horticultural Society for 1898, I presented 

 a paper recommending twenty-five things as already established regard- 

 ing the management of forests. At this time and in this place it seems 

 eminently suitable to mention about seventy-five things that should be 

 investigated, or concerning which, careful experiments should be made 

 in the interest of the forests. 



There are so many things to be learned, and trees need so much time 

 to mature, that it is time we w^ere at the subject with energy and 

 financial support. 



It took Germany one hundred years to prove that our w^hite pine was 

 an excellent tree for producing timber in that country. 



In November 1887, w^hen B. E. Fernow, then chief of the Forestry 

 Department at Washington, was aslced to name some of the things most 

 necessary to do regarding the forests of Michigan, he replied, "On the 

 whole, studies in the natural w'oods, observations seem to me more 

 needed than experiments.'' 



Here is an enumeration of some of the work that ought to be done 

 in Michigan: 



1. Have the harbors at the mouths of rivers needed more dredging 

 since the trees were cut off along the margins of the streams? 



2. Note the influence, if any, on different farm cro])s and orchards at 

 diff(»rent distances from forests of various degre(^s of density and height. 



3. Observe the effects of spring and summer floods and mill-ponds on 

 timber and note which kinds perish and which continue to thrive, with 

 the view to learning what may be planted on such ground. 



4. Note the effect of drainage of the land on forest trees. 



