4 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Skss. lxxvi. 



locality and environment which are most likely to supply 

 its requirements. At the same time it is only by actual 

 trial or experiment that such questions can be definitely 

 settled. We must apply to Nature direct for our informa- 

 tion, and ask such questions by means of experiment, and 

 note the reply she gives. I wish here to emphasise the 

 fact that experiments based on scientific principles are 

 likely to yield better and more valuable results than those 

 conducted on blind trial and error, or rule of thumb 

 methods. It is therefore essential that such trials should 

 be carried out under expert supervision. It may be that 

 some slight error in cultivation leads to failure ; hence it 

 is necessary to know in each case when failure occurs why 

 it occurs, and, having found the cause, to try if anything 

 can be done to ameliorate or modify the conditions to suit 

 the plant. Otherwise, through some initial error or failure 

 to select the proper cultural method, a plant might be lost 

 which would otherwise have proved a valuable addition to 

 the economic flora. It is in connection with such problems 

 that the study of plant cecology will prove of great economic 

 importance. In itself the study of plant cecology, or the 

 geographical distribution of plants on a physiological basis, 

 is of the highest scientific value ; and when we can apply 

 its results in a practical manner to the cultivation of plants, 

 it assumes an economic value of equal merit. 



As an illustrative example, let us for a moment consider 

 Dr. Kienitz's important investigations into the shapes and 

 types of the Scots pine, as it furnishes a splendid example 

 of the value of cecological studies to a practical industry 

 like forestry. He has shown that the tree occurs in several 

 cecological forms, among which two well-marked cecological 

 types can be readily distinguished. The one a strong- 

 branched, strong-crowned tree, which is the typical form 

 in Scotland ; the other a slender, pyramidal-shaped tree, 

 which is typical of the Baltic provinces. Such types are 

 found to be hereditary, and are not altered by altered 

 climate and soil. The Scottish type is better adapted to 

 hold its own in the struggle for life in milder localities, 

 whereas the slender, pyramidal type is better able to hold 

 its own under more rigorous conditions, where wind, and 

 especially heavy snowfalls, constitute the primary dangers. 



