ARBORICULTURE 



25 



<iuantities of timber. The invention of the art 

 is said to be due to the Egyptians, aUhough the 

 first builders of ships on a large scale were 

 probably the Phoenicians, who had the then 

 magnificent forests of Lebanon from which to 

 ■draw the timber for this purpose. From the 

 time of the Phoenicians onwards, with the dis- 

 covery of new countries and the increase of 

 -commerce and intercourse between different na- 

 tions, the number and size of ships throughout 

 the world continued to increase. In the year 

 1840, just before the invention of iron vessels, 

 there were over twenty-one thousand ships reg- 

 istered in Great Britain alone, and when we 

 consider that the construction of a medium- 

 sized vessel meant the destruction of two thou- 

 sand full-grown trees, we may gain some idei 

 of the influence exercised by this industry on 

 the diminution of the world's forests in the 

 past. Although we are no longer dependent on 

 wood with which to build our ships, in other 

 ■directions, especially in the construction of rail- 

 ways, the consumption of timber increases with 

 leaps and bounds every year, whilst the sources 

 ■of supply continue to decrease in an almost 

 •equal ratio. Not only, however, have trees in 

 all ages ministered to the material wants of 

 mankind, they have also taken their part in the 

 development of the religious and intellectual 

 life of the human race. Most of the temples 

 of antiquity had their sacred groves or forests 

 attached to them; many of the lower tribes of 

 Africa and other countries at the present day 

 have their fetish groves, which they regard as 

 the dwelling places of the spirits which control 

 the destinies of the people. 



Amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans 

 trees were dedicated to the gods, and from 

 them, modern nations have adopted the bay 

 tree as the emblem of victory and the cypress 

 as the sign of grief and mourning. As the 

 intellectual life of nations mcrease, trees are, 

 however, regarded for their own beauty more 

 than for any mythological associations, and one 

 may often gauge the refinement of a people 

 very accurately by the numbers of trees around 

 their dwellings. Although it is impossible to 

 say where and when the custom of tree-plant- 

 ing originated, we know that it was practiced 

 by some of the oldest nations. Whilst Solomon 

 must have considerably thinned the forests of 

 Lebanon by the "four-score thousand hewers" 

 which he sent to cut timber there, he, however. 



did something to repair the destruction. Jose- 

 phus tells us that Solomon planted cedars in 

 Judea, and in the Scriptures we read that "he 

 made cedars to be as the sycamore trees, that 

 are in the vale, for abundance." Nebuchadnez- 

 zar, we know, raised terraces and planted them 

 with trees to improve the naked and flat appear- 

 ance of the province of Babylon. The Romans 

 also were great tree-planters, and a man who 

 was skillful in the art was always highly hon- 

 ored. They, however, probably confined them- 

 selves to planting trees for shade and orna- 

 ment, elms to support the grape vines, etc., and 

 forestry as practiced to-day was then unknown. 

 It is to Germany that the credit is due of first 

 establishing a system of forestry on a scientific 

 basis, although France has also done a great 

 deal to advance our knowledge of the best 

 methods of afforestation. Both countries have 

 their laws relating to the conservation of exist- 

 ing foresis and the planting of waste lands. In 

 Great Britain practically nothing has been done 

 in this respect, although there are thousands of 

 acres of land either lying idle or only used as 

 game preserves to provide sport and amuse- 

 ment for the rich. Now, however, a few of the 

 more intelligent of the landed proprietors are 

 beginning to realize the importance of the sub- 

 ject, and we may hope soon to see tree-plant- 

 ing for profit become as general in this country 

 as it has been in the past to plant trees for 

 ornament. T. W. B. 



CATALPA TREES AT FLORIDA 

 STATE FAIR. 



I\lr. J. F. Corrigan sends us a photo- 

 graph of his catalpa speciosa trees and 

 says he exhibited trees at the State Fair, 

 Tampa, which were five feet and three 

 inches high, with diameter of l5^ inches 

 at the ground, grown from seed wliich 

 was planted on April 7, 1905, one sea- 

 son's growth from seed. The seed was 

 sent Mr. Corrigan by John P. Brown. 



This demonstrates the success of pure 

 catalpa speciosa in the sands of Florida. 

 Mr. Corrigan is planting large forests 

 of catalpa in Southern Florida. 



