1882. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



369 



a pot, and which would be no object if never 

 used again, and, being square, enabled the plants 

 grown in them to be packed easily for transpor- 

 tation. 



Our idea of potting seemed ahead of the 

 times, and so Mr. Eyder's excellent cheap 

 little boxes were not called for. At length 

 people have awakened to the vast advantage 

 of these plants, and Mr. Ryder comes con- 

 veniently on hand with his cheap chip boxes, as 

 the reader can gather from the following card : 



"We send with this mail one of our box- 



growing strawberry plants as a sample. Wish 

 you could find time to examine it and to com- 

 pare with a pot-grown strawberry plant. We 

 are anxious to have a fair and disinterested 

 report on what we deem an important improve- 

 ment on the method of growing plants over the 

 pot system, especially for transportation. You 

 will notice the difference in the root-growth and 

 those in pots." 



We can only add, if we have not already 

 made this clear, that we heartily endorse the 

 boxes referred to. 



Forestry. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



succession: OF forest growths. 



BY R. DOUGLAS, WAUKEGAN, ILLS. 



This is an interesting and very important sub- 

 ject, which has occupied my mind for many 

 years. 



My observations lead me to believe that when 

 forests are cut down by the woodman's axe, and 

 the fires kept out, they, in the main, reproduce 

 the same species, as there are nearly always 

 enough trees left to seed the ground, and, if a 

 pine forest, decayed logs, brush, &c., to protect 

 the young seedlings from the sun till they can 

 take care of themselves. 



Where a settlement is formed, and cattle 

 allowed to run in the cut down woods, is an 

 exception, as in that case the seedlings are 

 destroyed as they appear. In a burnt forest 

 everything is changed, all vegetation is swept 

 away, even the soil is changed, and the surface 

 soil, if thin, is destroyed. 



It is very interesting to me to watch the pro- 

 cess this burnt land has to pass through before 

 it is re-clothed with timber. The first tree that 

 will make its appearance is the Aspen, Populus 

 tremuloides, a tree which naturally grows on low 

 moist lands; this tree predominates, as far as I 

 have noticed, in the burnt forests in Colorado, 

 Wyoming, Dakota, in the Black Hills, in Min- 

 nesota, Manitoba, Wisconsin and Northern 



Michigan. In Wisconsin, and in the Black 

 Hills, it is mixed with the White Birch ; in 

 North-eastern Wisconsin sometimes the White 

 Birch predominates. 



The Aspen is well adapted for this purpose, as 

 when a fire runs through the forest and destroys 

 all other trees, it, being in the damp places, 

 even if burned to the ground, throws up suckers 

 from the roots, forming trees ; seeds when young, 

 the seeds ripen in spring, fly like thistle down, 

 and germinate immediately. The burned sur- 

 face is the very best place for small delicate 

 seeds like these to germinate. Indeed they 

 could not germinate except for the land being 

 burned over ; for it is a noticeable fact that where 

 a land slide destroys the timber, you never see 

 the Aspen taking its place. 



It is easily to be seen that the coniferous trees 

 have not an opportunity to reproduce them- 

 selves, for a fire destroys both the trees and 

 seeds, except that sometimes Pinus Banksiana 

 may be found in Northern Wisconsin, and Pinus 

 contorta at high altitudes in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, mixed with the Aspen in burnt forests; 

 but as both these species have very hard and 

 persistent cones, the fires may not always con- 

 sume them ; in that case it would be very likely 

 to burst the scales and put the seeds in proper 

 condition to germinate. Be that as it may, the 

 fact is apparent that these are the only two 

 kinds that can be found reproducing themselves 

 under such circumstances as are related above. 



