78 Forestry Quarterly. 



SOIL, WATER, CLIMATE. 



In a study of the plant cover of portions of 

 Soil the Mississippi River Valley, Mr. Henry 



and Hus enumerates the members of the various 



Plant. plant habitats, and from this enumeration 



one may get a good idea of the distribu- 

 tion of trees in passing from one bluff of the Mississippi River 

 to the other. To one acquainted with their habitats in the north, 

 the statement that Quercus albo and Q. coccinea tinctoria are 

 "moisture loving" (p. 170) is interesting and supporting the 

 general law, that in the northward distribution species seek drier 

 soils. 



The paper contains distributional and phenological tables of 

 the 850 species of plants which were found in the twenty-four 

 habitats stvidies. In the summary, the author makes the state- 

 ment that for the majority of soils their chemical condition seems 

 to be of the slightest importance in determining the presence or 

 absence of a plant. After making an exception of the soils of 

 salt marshes and alkali lands, he goes on to say that soils con- 

 taining lime are also an exception to the above statement, for the 

 presence of lime increases the amount of humus, causes the soil 

 to assume a darker color, and aids in the germination of seeds. 

 The basal rock of the region studied is limestone, and it influ- 

 ences chemically the soils of nearly all the habitats. Because of 

 the general distribution of lime in the soils, its presence does not 

 explain the diversity of the vegetation and the author concludes 

 that such diversity is chiefly due to the varying soil-water con- 

 tent of the different habitats. 



An Ecological Cross-section of the Mississippi River in the Region of 

 St. Louis, Missouri. Missouri Botanical Garden, 19th Report, 1908. 



A thoughtful exposition of the value of soil 

 Soil work in silviculture was given before the 



Preparation. Hessian Forestry Association by Forst- 

 meister Sellheim. While, according to 

 him, the use of fertilizers is hardly practicable except in nur- 

 series and possibly where on difficult sites it is necessary to help 

 young plantations over the juvenile period, soil culture to un- 

 importance of the physical condition of the soil and its influence 



