REPORT ON FORESTS. 285 



The young red-cedar trees are difficult to transplant in dry 

 sandy soil, and the seeds, although abundant and easily collected, 

 rarely germinate evenly. I have been told that nurserymen 

 bury them in a "rot-heap" for two winters and a summer, and 

 sow them the following spring. (The same is true of the holly 

 [Ilex opaca].) The wood of the cedar, even when knotty, is in 

 demand for posts ; the quality produced in Southern New Jersey 

 is excellent and there is little land too dry and sandy to support 

 it. 



Of the hardwood trees, the most valuable for the dry uplands 

 of New Jersey is the Robinia psetidacacia* In the Region of 

 Bordeaux, where the soil is similar to that of the Coastal Plain 

 of South Jersey, extensive private plantations may be seen. 

 For this purpose, especially on small farms where fencing is an 

 important item, the locust has no equal in spite of the depreda- 

 tions of the borer. In California, I have been told, the borer 

 does not exist, and that in twenty years a locust tree in the 

 open attains a diameter of as many inches. It is claimed by 

 some that the injury caused by this insect' is less if other trees 

 are planted with the locust. It is excellent for planting in open 

 places in the forest in the form of hursts, here and there, or as a 

 fringe to pine plantations especially along railroads because it is 

 not inflammable. The locust grows rapidly on poor soil, pro- 

 duces an extremely useful and durable wood and an ash richer 

 in inorganic constituents than the majority of hardwoods. As 



*A great disadvantage of the locust is the fact that it is seriously infested in this country by the 

 locust-borer (Cyllene robinice). It was indeed fortunate for Europe that when the locust was introduced 

 this pestiferous insect was not imported with it. In Europe, it is a beautiful shade and ornamental tree ; 

 in its native land, owing to the depredations of this insect it is usually unsightly. The trunks 

 and limbs are sometimes completely honeycombed by this insect. If the trees are watched in 

 August and September, one is likely to find handsome brown and yellow banded, wasp-like beetles, 

 laying oval, dull white eggs in wounds and crevices of the bark. In about ten days these eggs hatch and 

 the larvae bore into the tree. They are still small by winter, during which time they lie dormant in the 

 wood. In the spring they begin to bore, until about August, when they stop feeding and enter the pupa 

 stage, and a week or so later appear as full-sized beetles. These beetles live upon the pollen of the 

 golden-rod The outermost trees are usually completely riddled, while those in the center of a group 

 may escape altogether. It seems to suffer less also when mixed with other trees. Although these 

 insects are very abundant and seriously injure the wood and impair the vitality of the tree, it is still fit for 

 fence posts, for which it is almost exclusively used. This insect infests healthy trees, growing on rich 

 soil, but the proportion of trees in a plantation which is thus seriously injured is not sufficient to dis- 

 courage the propagation of this unique and extremely useful tree. Owing to the depredations of the 

 locust-borer it is always best to mix another species with the locust. For this purpose Prunus serotina 

 and the American chestnut are excellent. The wild-cherry (P. serotina) is worthy of more encourage- 

 ment than it has heretofore received. It grows on poor soil, is easily propagated, yields an excellent 

 wood, and attracts birds which are fond of its fruits. Mr. J. H. Schober, the pioneer of heath planting 

 in Holland, who is experimenting with many species of foreign trees on his plantation at Schovenhorst, 

 was loud in his praises of this tree and pronounced it one of the most promising of his vast collection. 



