13 



outright. This insect has been one of the worst enemies of locust 

 plantations in the United States. In the region examined it was 

 found causing considerable injury locally in Westmoreland and Alle- 

 gheny counties. It is important, therefore, for anyone intending to 

 plant locust to investigate carefully the local conditions before final 

 decision is made. 



Information in regard to this insect is furnished in a recent paper 

 entitled "The Locust Borer/' by A. D. Hopkins (Bulletin No. 58, 

 Part I, Bureau of Entomology). 



THE FBICK PLANTING PLAN. 

 THE LAND. 



The H. C. Frick Coke Company owns many farms in the Connells- 

 ville basin, the great coke district in Westmoreland and Fayette 

 counties, Pa. The principal sites considered for planting are located 

 in the vicinity of Scottdale. 



The topography consists of a succession of hills about equal in 

 height, 1,150 to 1,200 feet above sea level, which rise from 75 to 150 

 feet above the intersecting runs and valleys. They are rounded in 

 shape and gentle or moderately steep in slope. A half dozen miles 

 to the east Chestnut Ridge rises 1,000 feet higher, and from this 

 ridge the locality has the appearance of a plain. 



The underlying rock consists principally of shales in which occa- 

 sional beds or thin strata of limestone occur. The limestone is gen- 

 erally found outcropping near the top of the hills. The predomi- 

 nant soil is a fertile, stiff clay loam underlain by clay, but varying 

 from a clay to a loam. 



In general the lower slopes and runs have a deep fertile soil of slow 

 drainage which formerly supported a nearly pure growth of white 

 oak with a small percentage of shagbark hickory, white ash, red oak, 

 yellow poplar, maple, etc. Along the streams this forest type included 

 walnut, black ash, beech, and basswood. The hilltops have a thin, 

 quickly drained, less fertile soil. Here chestnut oak was the pre- 

 dominant tree, with red oak, black oak, chestnut, and red maple the 

 principal species in mixture. The intermediate situations usually 

 bore either one of these two types of forest or a combination of both. 

 The depth and physical condition of the soil and the steepness of the 

 slope were the factors which determined the character and composi- 

 tion of the forest. 



The object of the company in undertaking forest planting is to 

 utilize to better advantage the sterile parts of the farm land or those 

 much doited by sink holes. It is expected to grow timber trees of 

 permanent worth in order to increase the value of the land; and it is 

 desired, if possible, to plant some early maturing species which will 

 furnish pit props for the mines within a short period. The recom- 



