Ii6 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



March ^ 



now much laxity in this regard. The 

 courts do not take hold of trespass and 

 arson cases where only the property of 

 the public is concerned as they do when 

 individuals are wronged. All of this 

 could be achieved out of the revenues 

 created by a rational management of 

 the forest lands. The need is apparent. 

 All the reservoirs that can be built will 

 not store water in the effective manner 

 which is provided by the forest cover. 

 In Algiers and Tunis can be seen the 



remains of magnificent reserv^oirs, per- 

 fectlj'dry, built two thousand years ago- 

 by the Roman Government. These res- 

 ervoirs cannot be filled, because the de- 

 nuded mountains will not let precipita- 

 tion fall and because evaporation is ab- 

 normal. In Colorado the evaporation 

 now" is about 65 inches annually ; it 

 Vjecomes greater as the yearly tempera- 

 ture rises. A preser\'ation of the re- 

 maining forests, therefore, is of per- 

 emptory necessity. 



THE PLANTING OF EXOTIC TREES IN SOUTHERN 



FLORIDA. 



PART I. 



By Dr. John Gifford, 

 New York State College of Forestry. 



ALTHOUGH no part of Florida Is 

 south of the Tropic of Cancer, and 

 although no part of it is absolutely free 

 from the danger. of frost, the vegetation 

 of that part of the state south of a line 

 from Cape Canaveral on the east to Char- 

 lotte Harbor on the west is distinctively 

 West Indian in character. Although the 

 danoer oi frost produces an uneasy feel- 

 ing, it seems to be the case that those 

 regions of the world which are just out- 

 side of the frost limit, either at sealevel 

 or on the mountains in the torrid zone, 

 are superior for the production of cer- 

 tain vegetables and fruits to regions 

 w^hich are hotter or colder. 



This may be due to two circumstances: 

 first, the meeting of two distinct vegetal 

 zones, and, second, a slight check in 

 vegetative growth rather favors the pro- 

 duction of seed and fruit, and also per- 

 haps the storage of starch. The first pro- 

 duces a greater variety and the second a 

 greater quantity of useful materials. B}^ 

 a cool check I do not mean either a frost 

 or a freeze, but a temperature of about 

 forty degrees for a short period of time, 

 which is sufiicient to stop vegetative 

 activity. This does not apply as much 

 to wood or to rubber as to fruits, such 

 as those of the genus citrus or coffee. 

 It reduces, however, the amount of 



weedy growth and checks extreme lux- 

 uriance of grow^th, which is often a 

 hindrance to the practice of forestry. 



Florida is the southern limit of sev- 

 eral northern and the northern limit^of 

 man}- southern species. The range of 

 a few trees extends through Florida 

 into the West Indies and Central Amer- 

 ica. The most notable of these are the 

 Live Oak {Quetcus vlro;iniana) ^ the 

 Cuban Pine {Piniis heteropliylla) , and 

 the Red Juniper { Juniperiis Virginia iia ). 

 The Southern Red Juniper is considered 

 a distinct species by many botanists, 

 although the distinction is impercep- 

 tibly slight. The Cuban Pine seems 

 most at home on the mountains of 

 Guatemala and Honduras. 



There are those who believe that it is 

 best to enhance and unfold the native 

 beauty of a region rather than decorate 

 it with imported ornament. There are 

 also those who believe that the proper 

 thing to do, regardless of ornament or 

 sentiment, is to introduce those species 

 from all parts of the world which will 

 grow best and produce the largest quan- 

 tity of the most useful materials. There 

 are many Australian, African, and In- 

 dian species of trees which wnll grow in 

 Florida, and both the federal and state 

 governments would be neglecting a 



