340 



ARBORICULTURE. 



THE ACME OE EOOL/ISBXES^i. 



The U. S. EorestiT Bureau sends out a 

 great deal of trash}- misinformation. One 

 sneh paper just sent out to the press, w-K 

 be printed by thousands of newspapers 

 throughout the country beca-use it is au- 

 IHORITATIVE, eoming from the go vein - 

 ment. This is lengthy and ^ye only gi\-e 

 space for a small portion : 



TKEES CAX NOT BE AOCEIMA- 

 T.LZED. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 

 FOREST SBRVIOB. 



Wasliington, D. C, July IG, 1907. 

 "Tices are fixed, almost inflexible, in thei: 

 habits. For centuries, indeed as long as we 

 have record, each species has kept in its 

 beaten ways; insisting on the same average 

 of temperature and refusing to grow where 

 this could not be found; seeking and occupy- 

 ing certain kinds of soil and demanding cer- 

 tain amounts of moisture and avoiding situa- 

 tions where these were wanting. 



"The latest authorities go so far as to de- 

 clare that trees can not be acclimatized; that 

 is, that even the ingenuity and perseverance 

 of man are unable to induce trees to change 

 their habits far enough to adopt a country 

 not closely like their native haibitat. For a 

 time the forester may use various devices to 

 surround a tree with artificial conditions 'by 

 which, so to speak, the tree is deluded into 

 feeling at home. But as soon as the forest- 

 er's care is withdrawn in such cases, the tree 

 is seized with homesickness and dies of it.' 



^Vliat fools these gardeners of long ex- 

 perience who are in charge of the Kerr 

 Botanical Gardens of England, the U. S. 

 Botanical Gardens of Washington, the 

 1^'renchj German, Japanese and many other 

 great national and private collections of 

 trees and plants, who having successfully 

 cultivated a hundred thousand vai-ieties 

 and species of trees and plants during the 

 past century must now admit their egi-eg- 

 ious error as the beardless youth of the 

 I'oresti7 Bureau proclaims this to be im- 

 passible. 



A few instances among the tens of 

 thousands may be alluded to. 



Sequoca Gigantioa habitat the highest 

 mountains of the Sierra Nevada range: 

 nowhere else in the Morld, and I)ut two 

 small gTOves in existence, limited to })rab- 

 £',bly two thousand trees. 



'J' his Sequoia has been transferred to alJ 

 kinds of soils and elevations, and is gi'jW' 

 ing successfully in Europe, Asia and 

 America in numerous loealcties. 



Sequoia semporvijens, redwood, coniined 

 to a narrow nuTrgin along the coast of 

 Calif oi-nia, yet transplanted and growing 

 in several localities many thousands oi 

 njiles distant. 



The Eucalyptus family, tropLcal in chav 

 aoter, from Australian archipelago. Ha 

 waii and other Pacific Islands. Now grow- 

 ing in Arizona, California and South 

 Florida, only I'estricted by presence of 

 frost. 



CataJpa speciosa, confined to remarkabh 

 small area in Wabash Valley. Now grow- 

 ing successfully in every state of the 

 Union, Germany, Ei'ance, Italy, Greai 

 Britain, Japan, Korea, various Sotiiii 

 American countries, Mexico and South 

 and West Africa. 



Seed distribution is the only cause of 

 tree and plant dissemination. 



Birds, squirrels, wind and flowing water 

 are the agencies used by nature to scat- 

 ter seeds, find if these agencies fail from 

 any cause to plant tlie seed, there can be 

 no trees or plants. 



The Forestry Bureau should be more 

 careful in regard to sending out such mis- 

 leading statements, which may prevent 

 citizens from planting trees and making 

 experimental forests. 



CATALPA SPHYNX. 



Mr. George Hampton, Bridgeton, N. J., 

 reports his catalpa forest as doing very 

 well. He destroys the sphynx with paris 

 green. Other arsenicus preparations 

 teemed to burn the leaves. He will double 

 the size of his forest this coming season. 



