G8 



Tin: WHITE I'Im:. 



feeliug of doubt ami I'veii suspicion, iiiid lonj; hclDiv aiiythiiifj definite could possibly be said about 

 the matter tlie merits and faults of the Wiiito I'ino weie extensively discussed. Tiie " iiractical'' 

 man, and with him some scientitic men, were satisfied that such a light colored softwood could not 

 ])ossibly bf durable or otherwise desirable, and the small quantities olVered from time to time did 

 not always lind ready market. Of lati' years this (tondition has flian;,n-d. In a series of excel- 

 lent articles, Dr. L. Wappes. a liavaiian forester, records the experience had in one of the oldest 

 bodies of White IMne in (Jermany, in which he shows that the tree in pure growth, and also as 

 mixture witli pine, si)race. or hardw(io<ls, has jiroven a most excellent factor of the (ierman forest; 

 that it seeds early and heavily, and as plant material is easily and cheaply secured : that it is r(;adily 

 and even preferably re|)roduced by natural set^ding, a rajiid grower, capable to withstand crowd- 

 ing and shading, and that it is a tree especially capable of ])rodncing a large amount of timber 

 even on poor soils, all of which coincides with the observatioTis on its native habitat laid down in 

 this monograph. He shows that besides the Fir (Balsam), the White Pine is the only tree which, in 

 the Palatinate and on jioor soils will, at the age of onc^ hundred and ten years, make timber of Class 1 

 (according to (Ierman notation, diameter at half length, HJ inches and l)etter); that while the com- 

 mon pine at that age furnishes only l.'i per cent of Class III and better (diameter Iw inches and 

 over), the White Pine furnishes 27 per cent, or more than double this amount of these and more 

 valuable diameter classes. Dr. Wappes emi»hatically states that White Pine, wherever known, is 

 eagerly bought, and that the opinion of the consumers lias radically changed. He i)roves by the 

 ligures of large sales from the iState forests, that since 1SS2 the value of White Pine has nearly 

 doubled, while that of Spruce and common Scotch Pine has increased by only 20 percent, and that 

 of Fir and Larch has ac-tnally declined during this period. The following figures give an idea of 

 the growth of White IMne abroad. The groves of the Palatinate are stocked on very inferior stiil, 

 nearly all other groves cited being on loamy sand. The figures for total volume .are somewhat 

 misleading, since they do not include the timber which has been removed from the older groves in 

 thinnings, which would add probably from 10 to 1") jter cent to mak(! u[) whole i)roduction. 



It will be of interest to give more in detail the conditions of the last-mentioned plantation, 

 reported this year in Dr. Lorey's Allgemeine Forst und .lagdzcitnng: 



The plantation of about 9 acres, on fresh loamy sand, situated at an elevation of 2,200 feet 

 above sea level in Wurtemberg, consists of White Pine mixed with Scotch Pine, Spruce, and I'Mr 

 in single individuals or groups. The White Pine represents, numerically, two-thirds of the total 

 number, Scotch Pine is found among the dominant growth in jiart, but tlie Sjiruce aiirl the, small 

 number of Firs show only codominant and oppressed trees. 



The density of the growth was reported as satisfactory until in 1S75, when a snowstorm broke 

 down much material, so that at i>resent the density does not average over 0.7. 



The stand, originating from seed, was several times thinned, and the last tinu>, occasioned by 

 the snowstorm, 400 White Pines were removed, with over 10,000 cubic; feet of wood. The number 

 of trees averaged 183 per acre, of which 142 White I'ines, with diameters varying from 7 to 24 

 inches, and 1(! inches in the average, yielded altogether \)/>U) cubic feet, while the other s[)ecu's 

 added only l,2!tO cubic feet. Comi)arison with the other acre yields recorded shows that under 

 these conditions the product was less than in more favored situations, either the site or light 

 conditions reducing the growth. 



The diameters re[>re.sented on a sanii)le area were distributed as follows: 



8 to II) 



Diametera iiichfiB 



Niimlier of troes 



Ill to !•_' 



12 to 1 1 

 24 



1 1 to It; 



:iii 



1(1 to 18 



18 to 20 

 2.'? 



20 to 22 22 to 21 

 1 1 



Of the Scotch Pines only four had reached diameters over l(i inches, and of the Spruces none 



over 14 inches. The superiority of the White Pine also ai)pears from the comjjarison of height 



growth, which was established for every five years by the measurement of average sample trees, 



as follows: 



Height growth of White Pine, Scotch Pine, and Spruce, by years. 



