532 



CHIPS. 



[Dec. 1885. 



Chips. 



As the result of arboriculture, birds 

 are making their appearance in Dakota 

 that were never seen there before. 

 Quail, in particular, are abundant. 



It is stated that of 100,000,000 feet 

 of lumber on the docks at Oscoda and 

 Au Sable, only about 5,000,000 feet 

 remains on the market. The bulk of 

 the stock sold goes to Chicago. 



The forests of the United States are 

 disappearing at the rate of 25,000,000 

 acres a year, and there are only 

 445,400,000 acres of forest in the 

 country. 



By carefully conducted experiments, 

 Mr. J. C. Arthur has demonstrated 

 that bacteria are the direct cause of the 

 disease known as pear blight. Sap 

 from an affected tree invariably pro- 

 duced the disease when inoculated into 

 a healthy tree. 



Belgian State Forests. — Since the 

 1st of August, the administration of 

 these forests has been detached from 

 the care of the Minister of Finance and 

 reunited to the Department of Agri- 

 ulture and Public Works. 



The 26th of October, E. J. Copley's 

 circular mill at Copley, Lake Co., Mich., 

 cut 129,552 feet of pine lumber with 

 one saw in eleven hours. This is 

 claimed to be the largest cut ever 

 made with one saw. 



One of the reasons why small groves 

 of forest trees on old land make slow 

 progress is because the vegetable 

 matter in the soil is exhausted. It 

 takes time and the shedding of leaves 

 for several seasons to renew the soil. 

 Mulching such land even with straw 

 will pay, as it will keep down the grass 

 until the increasing shade from the 

 trees is sufficient to do it. 



The Lime. — It is said the first two 

 lime trees brought to this country were 

 planted at Hatstead in Kent, in 1590. 



Sugar Maple is found in gi-eat 

 quantities in all the middle States of 

 the American Union, but those which 

 grow in New York and Pennsylvania 

 yield more sugar than those produced 

 in Ohio. The wood of the sugar 

 maple is reckoned the best of any of 

 the American trees, and its ashes 

 afford an exceptionally large amount 

 of potash. The tree arrives at matu- 

 rity earlier than perhaps any other of 

 its tribe, or within a period of 20 to 

 30 years. 



Growth of the Horse Chestnut. — 

 The growth of this tree is in ordinary 

 circumstances made in shorter time than 

 that of most deciduous trees. Within 

 three weeks of the time of the unfolding 

 of the buds, the entire length of the 

 shoot for the season is usually attained, 

 and it is only in exceptional seasons 

 when the summer may have been very 

 hot and dry, and followed by earlj'' 

 autumn rains, that any attempt is made 

 at second growth, which even when it 

 occurs is more partial than in the case 

 of most other deciduous trees in the 

 same circumstances. Not any other of 

 our cultivated trees makes its growth 

 more quickly nor requires so long a 

 period to consolidate its tissues and 

 mature its buds. 



The Wood of the Chestnut 

 (Castanca vesca) so greatly resembles 

 that of the oak, that differences of 

 opinion have arisen as to which of these 

 timbers old structures are comj^osed. 

 Such is the case with regard to the 

 roof of Westminster Hall, formerly 

 thoughttobeof oak, but nowascertained 

 to have been constructed of chestnut ; 

 these two woods are distinguished from 

 each other by the transverse fibres 

 of the chestnut being more confused 

 than those in the oak, and much less 

 perceptible to the naked eye. 



