AMERICAN TREES IN GERMAN FORESTS 



923 



The seed of black locust was first sent to Europe in 

 1601. This tree was among the first plants carried to 

 Europe, and has since been propagated so extensively 

 that it is now regarded as naturalized in every part of 

 the empire except the northeast. The fear of a fuel 



YICLLOW POPLAR TREE 

 Twenty inches in diameter and located in the old castle yard at 

 Herrenchiemsee, Bavaria, Germany. The trees to the left are black 

 locust. 



1740. It has at present the widest distribution in Ger- 

 many of any American hardwood tree of commercial^ 

 importance. In the state of Baden alone in 1909 about 

 4.36 acres were stocked with this species, ranging in age 

 from one to eighty-two years. The younger plantations, 

 which cover by far the larger area, show that this 

 .species grows very rapidly, suflfers very much from the 

 ravages of rabbits, and prefers fresh deep humose loam 

 soil. In a young plantation of this species near Darm- 

 stadt 90 per cent of the specimens were peeled by rab- 

 bits, while other species mixed with it, including the 

 European oaks, remained untouched. A stand forty-two 

 years old had an average height of 57 feet, an average 

 diameter of 5 inches, and contained 46 2/3 cords of wood 

 per acre, thus showing an average annual growth of 

 more than one cord per acre. Thinnings taken from this 

 stand at the age of forty years brought $6.12 per cord. 

 One of the oldest and most interesting stands of red 

 oak in the state of Baden, covering about 15 acres, is 

 growing near the town of Rothenfels. It is a rather 

 open stand averaging about 105 trees per acre and is 

 now (1915) eighty-eight years old. The trees have an 

 average height of 88 feet and an average diameter of 

 17 inches. 



The rapid growth of the red oak is one of its most 

 commendable attributes. German records show that it 

 has grown 8 inches in one year, 18 feet in ten years, 36 

 feet in twenty years, 54 feet in fifty years, and that after 

 the fiftieth year the rate of height growth decreases. It 

 is also regarded as more attractive ornamentally than the 

 native European oaks on account of its smooth bark, 

 straight branches, broad symmetrical crown, and the 

 beautiful autumnal coloration of its leaves. Most of the 



famine, about 1790, prompted the Hes- 

 sian soldiers to make extensive importa- 

 tions of this species. They regarded it 

 as the savior of the nation. The impor- 

 tation decreased, however, as the fear of 

 the fuel famine subsided and as the 

 value of the native beech became more 

 fully known, largely through the efiforts 

 of George L. Hartig. At present one 

 usually finds this tree in small open plan- 

 tations upon poor sites, on the banks of 

 railroad cuts where it acts as an excellent 

 soil binder, and along avenues where it 

 usually has been decapitated with the 

 pruning shears until but a vestige of 

 life apparently seems to remain. Black 

 locust has passed its high-water mark in 

 Germany, but has by no means fallen 

 into disrepute. It is still planted as a 

 lawn, park and street tree, and in the 

 forests upon very poor and sterile sites. 

 It seems to.be freer from insect pests and fungal diseases German foresters who have plantations or stands of it 

 in Germany than in .America. commend it very highly. They think that it will play 



The red oak was introduced into Europe as early as an even more important role in the future than it has in 



NATURAL SEED RECICNERATIGN OF WHITE PINE, TRIPPSTADT, 

 Early or open and incomplete stage of regeneration. 



GERMANY 



