No. 22. THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE. 227 



CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENT WITH FOREST 



TREE SEEDS. 



By Geo. O. Butz. 



The Division of Forestry, United States Department of Agriculture, 

 in the fall of 1896, planned an extensive experiment for the purpose 

 of studying the climatic effects upon several widely spread species 

 of forest tree seedlings. We were requested to co-operate in the 

 work upon the plans adopted by the Division of Forestry and agreed 

 to do so. All the seeds, as collected, were sent to Washington, D. C., 

 and the distribution to each Station co-operating was made from there. 

 The plan was to obtain seeds of certain native or introduced trees 

 from every state that could possibly furnish them and then have each 

 state entering the work plant portions of all the kinds under similar 

 conditions for comparative studies. 



The first difficulty met with was in securing the seeds, many states 

 failing to supply the kinds or quantities demanded for the experi- 

 ment. We were able to obtain in Pennsylvania the complete list 

 in the fall of 1896, but the following year forest trees very generally 

 showed an "off year" in seed production. 



The species chosen for the first year's planting were as follows: 



Black walnut, Juglans nigra. 



Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa. 



Hackberry, Celtis occidentalis. 



Honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos. 



Box elder, Acer negundo. 



Green ash, Fraxinus lanceolata. 



White ash, Fraxinus Americana. 



By referring to the plot of this experiment, it will be seen how 

 m my omissions occurred even among the twenty-five states repre- 

 sented. It will be seen also that Kentucky substituted for the box 

 elder and green ash the Kentucky coffee bean (Gyrnnocladus dioicus) 

 and the blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata). There was one sample of 

 bitternut (Hicoria mimina) from Michigan which is omitted from the 

 tables. 



About 40 per cent, of the seeds were received in November or early 

 December, 1896, and were promptly planted in the ground prepared 



