THE WHJTE PINE. 





practice of nurserymen is to sow the seed broadcast in carefully prepared beds, where the seed- 

 lings stand from two to four years before transplanting. Standing very close, tbe trees do uot 

 make as stocky growth as they otberwise would. Under tbese conditions tbe average growtb of 

 mi transplanted seedlings, according to statements by tbe well-known nurserymen, Thomas 

 Meehau & Sons, is as follows: One year seedlings, '2 to 3 inches high; two years, 4 to (5 inches; 

 three years, 12 to 15 inches; four years, 24 to 30 inches. 



The late Mr. Robert Douglas, the veteran nurseryman, of Waukegan, 111., wrote: 



White Pine seedlings one year old are 1 to 2 inches high and altogether too small and tender for transplanting. 

 At two years old they are much stronger, from 3 to 5 inches high, with fine fibrous roots and in line condition lor 

 transplanting. At three years old they are 6 to 9 inches high and should not lie allowed to stand another year, as 

 they would add about 10 inches to their height during the next year and would not be suitable for planting. 



The first season after transplanting, the White Pine (like other trees) will not increase much in height, but 

 will establish itself, extending its roots and forming a strong terminal bud, so that when it is six years old it will 

 exceed in weight and bulk over one hundred times its proportions when transplanted, and thereafter will increase 

 in growth from 18 to 30 inches in height annually in good soil for many years. 



Gardner & Sons, whose nursery is about 90 miles west of the Mississippi River, in Iowa, and 

 therefore outside of the natural range of tbe species, submit tbe following measurements, coincid- 

 ing with the above, as representing average growths at their nurseries before and after trans- 

 planting: One-year-old seedling, 1 inches high; two-year-old seedling, 4 inches high; three-year- 

 old seedling, 7 inches high. The trees are transplanted at three years of age and thereafter the 

 average height for the three following seasons are: Four years old, 12 inches high; five years old, 

 1C inches high; six years old, 33 inches high. Another establishment reports as the average 

 height of two-year-old trees in seed bed, 3 inches; of three-year seedlings, 7 inches. 



Casual observations and measurements of some forty-five seedlings in the forest permit the 

 following as to the height growth of seedlings in the forest: 



Height growth of White Pine in the forest for the first six years. 



These measurements show that the rapid height growth begins with the sixth year, when the 

 total growth of the first five years is almost doubled in one season. This, to be sure, holds only 

 for seedlings favorably situated. In those less favored the rapid stage of development comes more 

 gradually. This slow progress in younger years is naturally reflected in a retardation of the year 

 of maximum height growth, which in dominant trees occurs about the twentieth year, while in 

 oppressed trees it may uot come before the fortieth year. 



DEVKLOPMEXT IN OTK.V STAND. 



Trees on lawns and in pastures, which grow up in full enjoyment of light, are somewhat dif- 

 ferent from trees in the forest. The slow seedling stage is followed by a very rapid increase in 

 the rate, which attains its maximum before the twentieth year and then declines gradually. 



Table I, on the next page, presents a complete record from year to year of the growth of eight 

 trees planted on a lawn at Ann Arbor, Mich., which were measured in 18SG, the annual increase 

 being measured between the whorls of branches. Theye measurements also exhibit the great 

 variability of growth from season to season and from tree to tree, even under otherwise similar 

 conditions. In some of the trees, evidently, injuries or accidents retarded development. Such 

 apparent deficiencies have been left out of consideration in averaging the data. 



