218 



THE FORESTER. 



September, 



Recent Publications. 



" Orchard and Forest Tree Culture " is the 

 title of a pamphlet printed by order of the 

 English Parliament and now being circulated. 

 It gives the complete evidence of the official 

 horticulturist, W. T. Macoun, of the Central 

 Dominion Farm, Canada, before the Commit- 

 tee on Agriculture and Colonization of the 

 House of Commons. 



Mr. Macoun appeared in response to the 

 committee's request for such information as 

 would enable them to care for the interests of 

 tree-owners generally. He described fruit- 

 tree culture at length, answering many ques- 

 tions of the committeemen, and then spoke of 

 hi? study of forest trees. 



"Taking the forest belts, which cover an 

 area of about twenty-one acres." he said the 

 objects of planting were to find out how long 

 it would take trees to reach a certain height ; 

 the rapidity of growth of each variety; the 

 proper distance apart to plant to get the best 

 results; and the value of trees as wind-breaks 

 for crops grown in the vicinity of them. 



" During each year the heights of a large 

 number of trees in this belt are taken, and the 

 data published. This will be valuable when 

 the time comes to reforest parts of Ontario, 

 and I think that time is not far distant. 



" It has also been found that much depends 

 on the way in which trees are plan'ed, and 

 the proportion of thick and thin-foliaged kinds 

 there are in the belts. For instance, if a 

 farmer plants a few acres of Ash expecting to 

 reap a large crop in twenty-five or thirty yeas, 

 it is likely he will have to expend a great 

 amount of labor to bring these to perfection, 



because the Ash is a thin-foliaged tree. By 

 mixing some thick-foliaged trees, such as Box 

 Elder, Maple, or other sorts, planted as a cover 

 crop for the ground to prevent the growth of 

 weeds and to obtain proper forest conditions, 

 he will be able to get the best conditions in 

 the shortest time at the least expense. These 

 are a few of the objects and advantages of the 

 forest belt." 



Several North American trees either new 

 or little knoivn, are described by Prof. C. S. 

 Sargent in the Botanical Gazette. One of 

 the trees is a new Elm ( Ulmus scrotina), with 

 a trunk forty to fifty feet in height and from 

 two to three feet in diameter, which has long 

 been confused with the Cork Elm ( U. race- 

 mosa). It is aa autumn-flowering spe:ies, and 

 thus easily distinguished from all others. It is 

 found on the banks of the French Broad River 

 near Dandridge. Tenn. ; on limestone bluffs of 

 the Cumberland River near Nashville, Tenn. ; 

 near Huntsville, Ala., and Rome, Ga. 



A magnificent new Palm is also described 

 under the name of Serenoa arborescens. It 

 is thirty or forty feet in height, with one or 

 several stems only three or four inches in 

 diameter. The leaves form a crown at the 

 summit of the stem, and are two feet wide and 

 long, and are on petioles about two feet in 

 length. It grows on the margin of swamps 

 near the Chockoloskee River in Southwestern 

 Florida. In order to accumulate sufficient 

 material to determine the status of this and 

 other little-known form ;, Professor Sargent 

 made several exploring trips to the Keys of 

 Florida. 



NOTE. 



The edition of The Forester for November, 

 1898, having been exhausted, it has been found 

 necessary to have a new one printed. Mem- 

 bers of the Association and subscribers who 

 may need copies of that issue (No. n, Vol. IV.) 

 to complete files for binding, will be supplied 

 if they notify the publishers to that effect. 



A limited number of complete copies of Vol. 

 IV of The Forester are offered for sale. Price, 

 postpaid, $1.00, unbound ; durably bound in 

 green cloth, $1.50. 



