REPORT ON FORESTS. 301 



by the stems and roots of heather. It is acid or sour in nature 

 and sufficient alkali to neutralize it is lacking in the soil. It is, 

 in fact, antiseptic in nature. This kind of peat does not form 

 in Southern countries except in mountainous regions. The 

 peat which is formed in the swamp-lands of New Jersey is of a 

 very different nature, decomposing quickly, being comparatively 

 mild or easily converted into a good fertile condition by drain- 

 age and cultivation. This mucky land is one of the best forest 

 soils in New Jersey, being the home of the white-cedar (ChawMB- 

 cyparis thyoides), our choicest soft-wood. 



According to Smets the role of the pinery should be to pre- 

 pare anew the soil which has been exhausted on the surface by 

 agriculture or by the removal of humus. 



Smets concludes that if the heathlands of the Campine are 

 cultivated for a time, enriched by lupines and lime, and then 

 planted with pine, they will produce fair forests, provided the 

 humus and litter are not removed. In Hungary the pineries 

 are limed. 



In reading the government reports in reference to the Cam- 

 pine I have concluded that what is accomplished in Belgium in 

 this line is accomplished under difficulties. The struggles we 

 are having in America are no greater than those of other coun- 

 tries. There has been commission after commission, report 

 after report, with all sorts of recommendations. In 1898 there 

 were still 173,000 hectares of unreclaimed heathland in the 

 Campine. 



As an illustration of the peculiar difficulties encountered I 

 shall mention "bud-stealing," which, although recent, is serious 

 in its consequences. These pine buds, which are used in liquors 

 and medicinal preparations, are collected and sold by the 

 peasants. Whole families work at this industry, silently in 

 the night, in young forests, in the springtime. The tree, when 

 robbed of its terminal bud, grows crooked, and if the process is 

 repeated stops growing and finally dies. 



I shall conclude this section with the statements that with 

 the exception of the Plains the whole of South Jersey is quite 

 equal in timber-producing qualities to the better portions of the 

 Campine. Some of the finest forests of the world, in fact, are 

 on soil no worse than the Jersey sands. The magnificent forest 



