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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Park. After years of experimental work he has learned 

 that the seed bed and nursery conditions must be exact, 

 while enough moisture and not too much must be given 

 to satisfy the imperial baby. The nursery is covered 

 with slatwork and prepared layers of soil delight the 

 young plants. Mr. Williams now has under cultivation 

 something like fifty thousand, and hopes to be able to 

 present the state with a sufficient number to set a double 

 row beside the new Tamiami trail which crosses the pen- 

 insula to the Gulf Coast, a distance of ninety miles. 



What men have long desired to know he modestly re- 

 lates: "About ninety-five per cent of the seedlings per- 

 ish ; mostly soon after germination, although many reach 

 a height of several inches. The single spear that first 

 appears will wither before a hot wind or intense sun- 

 shine. At six or seven inches they seem disposed to 

 break ofT at the surface. Benches entirely under control 

 are the safest in which to rear the seedlings. Gravel 

 must be the first layer, to provide drainage. Next two 

 inches of clay or heavy loam to retain moisture. The 

 entire surface of this is covered with the seeds to the 

 depth of one-half inch. The seeds must then be cov- 

 ered with four inches of mulch or rich, light soil. Then 

 we have to await the appearance of the slender spears 

 patiently for ninety days, keeping the beds right with 

 water at all times. If sufficient moisture is not provided 

 the seeds do not germinate; if too much, they sprout 

 and die. 



"After the plants begin to show they must be sprayed 

 often to keep down red spider and other pests and make 

 the plants vigorous. After six to eight months growth 

 in the original beds, the youngsters must be transplanted 

 into pots and following this from time to time into larger 

 receptacles, until they are eighteen to twenty-four months 

 old. Then they may be set in the ground. The average 

 man fails because he leaves the plants to care for them- 

 selves, which they cannot do. Many apply fertilizers, 

 which burn them. Palms require fertile soil and will 

 take some enrichment, but not until after they are fifteen 

 to eighteen months old." 



The habitat of the Royal palm is along streams and 

 in moist places. It is found rarely at a distance from 

 water. This palm reaches perfection in the wilds in 

 Royal Palm Park, one of the unique possessions of the 

 state. It is a primitive wonderland, comprising nearly 

 two thousand acres, about forty miles southwest of 

 Miami. Its situation is in the Everglades, that remark- 

 able three million acre prairie which Nature has been 

 working out during the past thousands of years. The 

 park's proudest feature is Royal Palm hammock, on 

 Pajadise Key, a large "island" conspicuous in the land- 

 scape. Here in natural beauty grow hundreds of Royal 

 palms to a great height, some exceeding one hundred 

 feet. They overtop other trees and lift their star clusters 

 to view proudly against the sky, while beneath them 

 thrive many varieties of rare orchids and ferns. Bot- 

 anists early discovered the wealth of rare flora on. this 

 hammock. 



The efflorescence of the Royal palm is most remark- 



able. In the vernal season a circle of bristling spikes or 

 remarkable buds one foot or more in length appears 

 upon the smooth trunk of the tree, almost within reach 

 of a tall man. The owner, if new and unaccustomed to 

 the tree, may fear at first that this excrescence is a 

 "sport," inconsistent with the general harmony of his 

 favorite and be disposed to remove it, until some day, 

 possibly directly following the sharp and sudden down- 

 pour of a tropical shower, he discovers the spikes have 

 dissolved into an encircling fringe of graceful blossoms 

 or seed pods. Unlike the towering maples and beeches 

 of the North, these graceful trees do not require a cen- 

 tury or more in which to make their growth and a like 

 period to decline and disappear. 



The world's largest paper machine is now being oper- 

 ated. It makes a stub of paper 12 feet, 2 inches wide, 327 

 miles long every 24 hours, using 110 cords of wood. 



3,500 acres of pulpwood are required to furnish the 

 paper for one day's issue of all the newspapers in the 

 United States. 



Wide World Photo. 



THE NEW ELECTRIC DRILL AT WORK 



One of the most important inventions of the century in connec- 

 tion with the care of trees mechanical power in a new field. 

 The important and tedious operations of the tree surgeon in 

 digging out dead and diseased wood and boring holes for bolts 

 with which to strengthen and support a tree are now, as a result 

 of an invention of F. A. Bartlett, of Stamford, Connecticut, being 

 done at a saving of anywhere from 50 to 200 per cent, of the 

 time and effort formerly required. The power drill, one of the 

 most important inventions in the art of tree surgery in more 

 than a century, is run by electricity generated by the apparatus 

 shown in the left foreground. This complete gasoline engine, 

 generator and resistance coil outfit develops one-half horse 

 power, weighs but slightly over 100 pounds and can be taken 

 wherever there is a tree to save by modern surgical methods. 

 The photograph shows the machine used as a drill and a bore. 



