nC TIIK WniTK PINF,. 



pine. Tho history of tlio plat, as uiv.ii in BiillctiM No. liO of the I'liiversity Agricultural Kxperinient Station, is as 

 follon'8: 



Wliito I'iiio seedlings worn rolloctoil in llir Rprin^ of ISiiil, ]iiit in cIoko )uirH<>ry rows anil sha<leil witli l:itli 

 framt's. Almiit S (n'r cunt ilicd tlio first year, of a few hamlnil trens, i)iir])Osely left without shadin/,', lil! |>er rent 

 (lied. .\ftiT having grown in tho iiiirHiTy three years, tliey were deemed in good condition for transplanting. They 

 w<>re at this time 12 to 15 inches high, well-fornieil, liealtliy trees. 



The land, 1 acre, wliere the White I'ines are |dantpd, is (|nito Hat, what slope there is heing to the sonth; and 

 at least one-half of it is too wet in wprini;. and often in tln^ early part of snninior, for the liest results in tillagi'. 

 Tho soil is Idaek, jiait of it nincky, I to 2 leet in de|)tli, and nnderlaiii, for the most part, with a rather stilt', liluo 

 clay. Tho trei's were ]<lanled May I, I'^TL', 1 leet apart each way. I'he White I'ine is a <'oinparatively hard tree to 

 transplant sneeessfnlly ( f ). The roots are sofi, long and naked, with very few small or lilirons roots ne.ir the tree. 

 Knowing the necessity of careful li.-mdling, no ellort was Hi)ared, from digging in the nursery to setting in permanent 

 jilace, to sei'ure sueeessful results. 



Throughout tln> seaHon th(^ grcuiml w.as kept in a good state of tillage I y frocguent ciiltivation, but it waa 

 exceedingly iliy; and of nearly three thuus.and trees planted, two-thirds iliiil during the summer. Df Ncirway 

 S|iruce, planted the sam(^ day. in the same manner, and on very similar soil, not miui' than 2 per cent died. It is 

 ilillicnlt to exjilaiii this greater per cent of loss in tli<' jiines, ixeejit as wo take into aecinint thi' i-omparative method 

 of developnniit <d' the mots i>( the two species [anil its high t]'ansi>iratiiui factor. — 15 K. V. |. 



In the spring of IHl'.i the \ acant spaces were tilled from the nursery, and again in 1871 trees were set where 

 needed. The result of the three plantings was an almost perfect staml of trees. The cultivation with horse and 

 hoe was kept up thoroughly for three years. During tho fourth, lifth. and sixth years the weeds were mowed. Hut 

 little cultivating was done, iMManse the ground w.is too wet in the early ])art of the season. 



l"or a iiumlier of years after the White I'ines were fairly started tiny made admirahle growth, arul ])romised to 

 furnish very valuahle limher for the prairie soil here, as well as for their native regions. In a re])ort made in IKKIi 

 the I'ol lowing statement is made: " From the lirst the living trees have done exceedingly well. Very few tri'Cs have 

 died from any cause since they hegan their growth in their present position. They ar<i now remarkahly healthy ami 

 vigorous, and the plantation vies with that of the Knropean Larch in beauty and prospective value.' At present 

 tliey are not maintaining the early |iromise. 



No thinning or pruning of any kind was done, except what nature does, until the winter of lW.t-9(l. I Hiring 

 that winter anil the next tlie de.-ol liram lies, to an average height of ahout 10 feet, wi'ro trimmed cill, and the (hud 

 trees (some more than three hniHlreil ami fifty) were <'ut out. iMiring the winter of ll^lll-'J2 sixty-eight more dead 

 trees were cut out, and there an' at present tiftv-t wo still standing that have dieil sinci^ the last were cut. The trees 

 cnt out tho first time had not all <lied recently. Some of them gave evidence of having been dead for a nnmlier of 

 years, while others had died so lately that they still c.irried di^ad leaves. .Most of the trees that have dieil were the 

 smaller ones, such .is were oveigrown or badly crowded. A few only of the larger trees have died. Of the trees 

 still alive, very few have any live branehes lower than 20 feet. Many of them have an nuthrifty look, either in the 

 top or im the trunk, and the prospect is that there will be a very considerable; number of trees to cut out year by 

 year for some time. 



The princi|>al reason for so many trees dying is probably overcrowding [more likely owing to the stitV subsoil. — 

 15. E. 1'".]. As the trees now stand they occupy a s])ai;c of less than 7 feet w()nare (;a<li. 'I'he trees have been damaged 

 in other ways than eiowding, but not, so far as (an be Judged, until after they had already begun to di(^ There is 

 continually a thick mat of leaves on tlu' ground, and these have been jiartially burned otftwii e, both times injuring 

 the trees luorc or less from the ground n]> 2 or li feet, hut apparently not any higher. Hoys .seem to delight to cut 

 thei]- names or designs in the smooth bark of the trei^s. Occasionally a tree is entirely girdled. The giidling soon 

 kills the trees, but most of the smaller damage to hark soon grows over. A woolly plant loiisi; (Cluiniiix piiiiciirHiin 

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

 They are sometimes so abundant tli.it the whid(; trunk has from a little distancea white or grayish- white appearance. 



The White I'ines do not cast so dense a shade now as they did ten years ago. At that time there was no 

 undergrowth among them. At present there are small wooded jdaiits, such as (ira|)0. Raspberry. Cherry, Hox Klder, 

 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 18«f! th<' average size of the better trees w.as: Height, 21 feet 9 inches, and a little less than (! inches in 

 diameter. At present, 189."), the better trees are Ii8 to 40 feet high, and 8 to 9 inches in diameter. During the winter 

 of 1882-8.'J the leaders of a consideraltle proportion of tho trees were broken down by tli.e weight of sleet. This 

 was tlie cause of m;iny trees being crooked at that point, and of others having more than one leader. ICxcept for the 

 trees defornu'd in this way nearly all hav(; almost perfectly straight trunks. The trees are much more nearly uniform 

 in height than in diameter. 'I'he sizes of the trees in the jilat are as follows: Fifty-eight :ire j inches in diameter; 

 one hundred and ninety-four, 4 inches; two hundred and llfty-six. "i inches; two hundred :ind thirty-six, C iiieheH; 

 one hundred and forty-four, 7 inches; seventy, 8 inches; eleven, 9 inches; five;, 10 inches. 



Ill the aiitiinin of 1895 the thirty-nine trees constituting the central row of the plantation were iiie:isuied, and 

 the aveingi^ diameter, breast high, Wiis 5.9 inches, the range being from i.l iindics to 8.(i inches. 



At the (dd Klgiii niirsiiries, id:intc(l in ojieii prairie about li miles west of the Fox River, black loam soil, from 

 4 to 5 feet to gravel, Whiti; I'ines, forty to forty-live years old, with Norway Siiriiec and .Scotch I'ine as neighbors, 

 measure 22 inches in diameter, breast high, and arc 52 feet high. In :i neighboring grove, twenty-five years fnun 

 seed, planted exclusively to White Pine, the trees average U inches in diaineti^r and 45 feet high. 'Wheu phiutwl 

 alternately with European Larch 5 to G feet apart, the White Pines, thirty-five to thirty-six years old, are perfectly 

 straight and average 13 inches in diameter and 75 feet in height. The European Larch jiroves to be the best tree to 

 plant with White I'ine as a nurse. When planted with Hox Elder and Ash tho growth of the pines is not so satis- 

 factory. W'here .Scotch I'ine has been jdanted alternately with White I'ine the lattt^r has outgrown the Scotch, 

 nearly all of which are killed out. In the groves where Larch is planted with White I'ine the ground is cimipletely 

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

 among them. 



Mr. Thomas Hunt, of Kidott, 111., set imt White I'iue in a jilantation of 10 acres twenty-two years ago. The 

 trees were 10 to 18 inches high when set, making their .age at time of lueitsiirement about t wenty-Bin-en years. 



The grove is ])I:iiited on a ridge w itli thin ehiy loam underlaid with broken laminated limestone. Mr. Hunt found 

 tho hind nn|>rofitable under tillage after several yerirs' trial. Tho trees of each varii^ty an; planted in sidid rows, 

 h.'irdwoods and conifers alternating. In a plat of White and Scotch Pine, Norway Spruce, Arborvita'. European 

 Larch, White Elm, Box Elder, (jreen Ash, and Willow, the conifers have almost shaded out the hardwoods, 'i'he 



