G(J THE WHITE PINE. 



pine. The history of the plat, as yiviii in Bulli'tin No. l'(i nf the I'liiversity Agriciiltaral Experiment .Station, is iia 

 follows: 



White Piii(> seedlin;;8 were collocteil in thr sprln;; of ISiid. put in close unrsery rows and shaded with lath 

 frames. .\l>out X per i-ent ilied the first year. Of a U-w hujidrcd trees, )iiirposely left without shadinK. Ii2 j)er cent 

 died, .\ftcr having grown in the nnrsi-ry three year-, tlicy were dei-nied in jrood condition for transplanting. 'I'licy 

 were at this tinii' 12 to 1.5 inches high, will-fornicd, liealtliv trees. 



The land, 1 acre, where thi' \\ liile I'iiic- are pl.inted. is i|iiite Hat. what slope there is being to the sonth; and 

 at least one-half of il is too Avet in sprini;. anil often in the early jiart of summer, for the hest results in tillage. 

 The soil is lilaik. ])art of it mucky, 1 to 2 feet in dejitli, and underlaid, for the most l)art, with a rather stiff, Idue 

 clay. The trees were planted May 4, 1ST2, 4 feet apart each way. The White Pine is a cotu]>aratively hard tree to 

 transplant successfully ( ?). The roots are soft, long aii<l naked, with very few small or fibrous roots mar the tree. 

 Knowing the necessity of careful handling, no ettort was spared, from digging in the nursery to setting in permanent 

 j)lace, to secure successful results. 



riiroughout the season the ground was kept in a good state of tillage 1 y freiinent cultivation, hut it was 

 exceedingly dry; and of nearly three thousand trees planted, two-thirds died during the summer. Of Norway 

 Spruce, jilanted the same day, in the same manner, and on very similar soil, not more than 2 per cent diod. It is 

 difticnlt to explain this greater per cent of lo.ss in the pines, excejit as we take into account the comparative method 

 of development of the roots of the two sjiecies [and its high transpiration factor. — li. K. F.]. 



In the spring of ixl'.i the vacant spaces were lilleil from the nur.sery, and again in J874 tiees were set where 

 needed. The result of the three plantings was an alnmst perfeit stand of tries. The cultivation with borge and 

 hoe was kejit u]) thoroughly for three years. I luring the fimrtli, liftli, and sixth years the weeds were mowed. But 

 little cultivating was done, because the ground was too wet in the early part of the season. 



For a number of years after the White Pines were fairly started they made admirable growth, and jiromised to 

 furnish very valuable timber for the prairie soil here, as well as for their native regions. In a rejiort made in ixsi] 

 the following statement is made : " From the (irst the living trees have done exceedingly well. Very few trees have 

 died from any cause since they began their growth in their present position. They are now remarkably healthy and 

 vigorous, and the plantation vies with tliat of the European Larch in beauty and ))rospective value.'' At present 

 they are not maintaining the early jiniiiiise. 



No thinning or pruning of any kind was done, excejit what nature does, until the winter of, 1889-90. During 

 that winter and the next tlio dead branches, to an average height of about 10 feet, weio trimmed olf, and the dead 

 trees (some more than three hundred and fifty) were cut out. During the winter of l><;il-!'2 sixty-eight more dead 

 trees were cut out. and there are at present lifty-two still standing that have died since the last were cut. The trees 

 cut out the first time had not all died recently. Snnie of them ga\ e evidence of having bein dead for a number of 

 years, while others had died so lately that they still carried dead leaves. Must of the trees that have died were the 

 smaller ones, such as were oviMgiown or badly crowded. A few only of the larger trees have died. ( >f the trees 

 still alive, -very fv\r have any live branches lower th;in 20 feet. Many of them have an nnthrifty look, cither in the 

 top or on the trunk, and the prospect is that there w ill be a very considerable number of trees to cut out year by 

 year for some time. 



The princijial reason for so many trees dying is iirobably overcrowding [more likely owing to the stiff subsoil. — 

 P.. K. F.]. As the trees now stand they occupy a space of less than 7 feet sijuare each. The trees have been il;iniaged 

 in other ways than ciowding, but not. so far as can be judged, until after they had already begnii to die. There is 

 continually a thick mat of leaves on the ground, and tlnse have been partially burned off twice, both times injuring 

 the treis more or less from the ground u)) 2 or 3 feet, but apparently not any higher. Hoys seem to delight to cut 

 their names or designs in the smooth bark of the trees. Occasionally a tree is entirely girdled. The girdling soon 

 kills the trees, but most of the smaller damage to bark soon grows over. A woolly plant louse (ChurniiK piniciirtiris 

 Fitch) has been very abundant nn many of the trees, attacking the trunks and larger branches for several years. 

 They are sometimes so abundant that the whole trunk has from a little distance a white or grayish-white Jippearance. 



The White Pines do not cast so dense a shade now as they did ten years .ago. At that time there w.is no 

 undergrowth among them. At present there are small wooded jdants, such as lirajie. Has)iberry. Cherry. I!ox Elder, 

 etc., besides weeds, coming in, and there would likely be more of these were it not for the heavy mulch of leaves 

 that covers the ground. 



In 1886 the average size of the better trees was: Height, 24 feet 9 inches, and a little less than (i inches in 

 diameter. .\t jinsent, ISS."), the better trees are 38 to 40 feet high, and 8 to !• inches in diameter. During the winter 

 of 18S2-83 the leaders of a considerable piii)iortion of the trees were broken down by the weight of sleet. This 

 was the cause of many trees being crooked at that point, and of others having more than om- leader. Kxcejit for the 

 trees deformed in this way nearly all have almost perfectly straight trunks. The trees are much more ne.irly uniform 

 in height than in diameter. The sizes of the trees in the ]ilat :ire as follows: Fifty-eight arc 3 inches in diameter; 

 one hundred and ninety-four, 4 inches; two hundred ami fifty-six, ."i inches; two hundred and thirty-six, G inches; 

 one hundred and forty-four, 7 inches; seventy. 8 inches: eleven. !• inches; five, 10 inches. 



In the autumn of 1895 the thirty-nine trees constituting the central row of the jilantatiou were measured, and 

 the average diameter, breast high, was 5.9 inches, the range being from 4.1 inches to 8.6 itiches. 



At the old Elgin nurseries, planted in ojien prairie about U miles west of the Fox Kiver, Iihick loam soil, from 

 4 to 5 feet to gravel. White Pines, forty to forty-five years old, with Norway .Spruce and Scotch Pine as neighbors, 

 measure 22 inches in diameter, breast high, and are 52 feet high. In a neighboring grove, twenty-five years from 

 seed, planted exclusively to White Pine, the trees average 11 inches in diameter ami J.' feet high. When planted 

 :ilteruately with European Larch 5 to 6 feet apart, the White Pines, thirty-five to thirty-six years old. ;ire perfectly 

 straight and average 13 inches in diameter and 7."> feet in height. The European L:irch ]>roves to be the best tree to 

 plant with White Pine as a nurse. When planted with Ifox Elder and Ash the growth of the pines is not so satis- 

 factoiy. Where Scotch Pine has been planted alternately with White Pine the latter has outgrown the .Scotch, 

 ne;irly all of which are killed out. In the groves where Larch is planted with White Pine the ground is completely 

 mulched from the foliage of the Larch: drought has never atVected the trees, and no grass or weeds can grow 

 among them. 



Mr. Thomas Hunt, of Ridott, 111., set ont White Pine in a )ilantation of 10 acres twenty-two years ago. The 

 trees were 10 to 18 inches high when set, nmking their age iit time of meiisurement about twenty-seven years. 



The grove is jdanted on a ridge with thin clay loam underlaiil with broken laminated limestone. Mr. Hunt found 

 the land un|irofitable under tillage after several years" trial. The trees of each variety are planted in solid rows, 

 hardwoods and conifers ;ilternating. In a i>lat of White and Scotch Pine. .Norway Spruce, Arborvita-. European 

 Larcii, White Elm, Pox Elder, Green Ash, and Willow, the conifers have almost shaded out the hardwoods. The 



