62 THE WHITE PINE. 



NATURAL REPRODUCTION. 



The White Pine reproduces itself readily in the virgin forest on all sandy and loamy sand 

 soils where the hardwoods do not interfere. On these areas thickets of young growth, sapling 

 timber, and dense groves of mature trees are scattered without regularity, and there is no indica- 

 tion that this pine forest has undergone material change for centuries. In the hardwood districts 

 of the heavier soils of the Lake region, where the pine is met with chiefly as old, overripe timber, 

 the reproduction of the pine seems, temporarily at least, to be interfered with by the associated 

 growth. Large, old trees occur, thinly scattered or in clusters, but sapling timber and young 

 growth is often entirely wanting over considerable areas. Similar conditions prevail, or have pre- 

 vailed, in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and also in New England and in the Adirondacks. 

 Where the pine is cut and some seed trees are left the ground soon covers itself with young growth. 

 This, contrary to the common notion, is true even where fire has run over the slashings and the 

 ground for a time is stocked with Poplar and other brush. Such groves or thickets of young pine 

 occur in all parts of the pinery of the Lake region, and in the aggregate cover several hundred 

 thousand acres. Generally, however, the fire returns from time to time, the young seedlings, as 

 well as the mother trees, are finally all destroyed, and thus the reproduction is completely pre- 

 vented. On such lauds, impoverished by fire and exposure to sun and wind, not even the Poplar 

 returns. In the hardwood, Spruce, and Hemlock regions the cutting of the pine in the usual 

 manner simply assists its competitors, and its reproduction is seriously hampered and frequently 

 prevented altogether. Where these clay and loam lands are completely cleared and then aban- 

 doned, as has been the case with thousands of acres of New England forests, the White Pine is 

 one of the first to return if any seed trees exist in the vicinity. Hundreds of groves have sprung 

 up in New England in this way. 



NOTES ON NATURAL REPRODUCTION. 



A case of the kind above referred to was observed in 188G in York County, Me., and the 

 following notes on the subject will, no doubt, prove of interest: 



In company with Mr. John E. Hobbs, who is thoroughly familiar with the history of the various pieces of 

 forestexainined, a visit was made to a number of places on which White Pine was growing, others on which young 

 pine seedlings were coming in, and still others in the immediate vicinity where none were to be seen, although the 

 general conditions of soil and situation were practically identical. The soil, much of it, was light and sandy, with 

 a growth of Comptonia, Pteris, Gaultheria, and other plants common on pine land. 



A large number of trees had a crop of cones, the last year before this visit in which there was a good crop 

 having been 1879, according to Mr. Hobbs. Going first to an open field that was formerly covered with pine trees, 

 it was found to be very thickly covered with young seedlings, from a few inches to 2 feet or more in height, 

 that had sprung up in such abundance that a bare spot was hardly to be seen over the whole tract. This piece was 

 cut over in the winter of 1879-80, the ground was not burned over, and there being a good crop of seeds, these 

 had grown promptly and a young forest was rapidly coming on to take the place of the one removed. 



On going to other pieces in the vicinity, from which the pine had been cut at different times since 1879, a most 

 striking contrast was observed. On these pieces that seemed otherwise just like the first, and with the conditions 

 just as favorable for a second growth, only a very few pine seedlings were to be seen. These few may have come 

 from seeds carried by wind from the neighboring forests, but evidently the ground had not been seeded as the first 

 piece had, and it was impossible not to draw the conclusion that the difference was dne simply to the fact that the 

 first piece was fully seeded, while the others were not. Repeated observations of similar pieces of laud led further 

 to the conclusion that no dependence can be placed upon the springing up of seeds that have lain dormant in the 

 ground for a term of years; or, in other words, although the seeds of the White Pine retain their vitality for a long 

 time if kept in a dry place, there is a lack of evidence to show that this is the case in the natural forest, where they 

 are alternately dry and wet. 



Other interesting conditions of growth were noticed in the same region. In the vicinity of standing pine 

 forests, particularly on their leeward side, seedlings of different ages were coming up, often very thickly, but upon 

 entering the forest, .after the first 2 or 3 rods, no more of these were to be seen, their growth having evidently been . 

 prevented by the dense shade of the standing trees. In hardwoods, ou the other hand, where the surroundings were 

 a little more favorable, some young pines were growing here and there. 



All observations reenforced the truth that there is no mysterious succession of forest growth, involving necessary 

 alternations, and that the White Pine does actually grow and flourish for au indefinite number of generations on 

 the same laud, if only the necessary seeding has been insured. 



In such regions as have just been described reforesting with the White Pine is a comparatively simple matter. 

 Where nothing more is done than to take advantage of natural conditions by felling the trees in seed years, or by 

 leaving seed trees here and there, an abundant crop of yonug pines may often be secured. As a matter of fact, large 



