564 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



Within the limits of 50 miles of such a route there occur 12-i indigen- 

 ous arborescent species, and 13 varieties ; and of shrubby forms 192 

 species and 9 varieties, many of them endemic. Suitable habitats could 

 be found for most plants of the Carolinian zone to its very southern 

 termination in the Edwards Plateau in Texas, and in western Okla- 

 homa, and for many species from other parts of the Atlantic drainage 

 so as to augment this naturally rich collection. 



The economic benefits, however, which would result from the 

 assembly and study of native forms would probably be slight compared 

 with the advantages which might follow the introduction of foreign 

 species from corresponding life zones, especially from eastern Asia, 

 the silva of Vv'hich has many affinities with that of eastern America. 

 Nature has already worked out for this continent what are the dom- 

 inant species best adapted to each forest type, and it will probably be 

 necessary to secure from similar life zones on^.other continents species 

 which might prove superior to the native ones. Southern China, the 

 mountains of northern Siam and Indo-China, the northern and eastern 

 slopes of the Himalayas and the mountains of Formosa and Hondo 

 offer the possibility of valuable species; species for such uses as to 

 replace on highly acid and sub-peaty sites chestnut now being extermin- 

 ated by a Japanese fungus ; or to supplement the inferior Spanish 

 oak and low grade black pine. More than 20,000 persons have yearly 

 ascended the Black Mountains, and many of these visitors in the future 

 would carry away with them a lasting impression of such an Arbor- 

 etum. It would combine an appeal to those in quest of recreation ; be 

 of high interest to such as desire to study a richly varied flora, and a 

 matter of supreme economic importance. 



