508 FOREST CULTURE IN ILLINOIS. 



Blaclc icahiuis grew so long as cultivated, but when exposed, from the dying out of a 

 row of soft maples, and by the eucroacbment of sod, they became stunted in growth, 

 except a few that grew iu a depression, equally dry with the rest, but of richer soil, 

 •where the trees were now 20 to 30 feet high and 12 to 16 inches in diameter. A block 

 of black walnuts, 3 by 16 rods, in rows 4 ieet apart and 2 feet between in the rows, was 

 cultivated eight jears and then left. Some of these, iu a basin of vegetable mold, are 

 now 4 to 6 inches in thickness and 20 to 25 feet high. The rest are 2 to 4 inches iu di- 

 ameter and 15 to 20 feet high, the average amount of wood-growth being one-fifth of 

 those iu tbe basin. A neighbor had planted walnuts, in 1844, that had been trans- 

 planted twice. They were 20 feet apart ; had been in cultivated ground tweuty-five 

 years. They are now 17 inches thick at 2 feet from the ground, and one that had been 

 cultivated till now on one side was 23 inches, with a height of 40 feet. These trees 

 have a spreading top, the branches beginning at 7 to 8 feet up, and bear fruit 

 abundantly. 



These facts lead to the conclusion that black walnut will succeed on dry, rich soil, 

 if cultivation is continued till tbe trees are able to shade out the grass, and that when 

 planted alone, and without shadicg nurses, they will die. Mr. S. prefers the European 

 larch as a nurse. The sugar-maple is found to agree well, and might be used for this 

 purpose. These other trees secure a clean, upright stem to the walnut, an important 

 object with this timber. It must have deep, rich soil. 



Silver-leaf maple. — This promised well everywhere ten or twelve years, and some 

 trees had a diameter of 18 inches at the collar in 15 years. They are liable to break 

 from winds iu summer and from ice in winter, and many show signs of early maturity 

 and decay. They are particularly liable to injury from grass. It grows best in wet 

 soils. 



White ash. — Trees set in 1856, 1 inch in thickness and 7 feet high, 2 rods apart, are 

 now 30 feet high, 8 to 14 inches thick, and the spread of the limbs 20 to 25 feet. They 

 have a strong tendency to sprout from the stump of the parent tree. Trees from seed, 

 planted in 1853, and set in forest rows, with European larch and black walnut, are 

 straight and smooth 25 to 30 feet high and 3 to 4 inches iu diameter. 



Suga7--mapl€s, planted 20 feet apart, 7 feet high, in 1856, are now 25 feet high and 6^o 

 8 inches thick, spreading 12 to 17 feet. 



Trees from seed, planted in 1858, have a height of 20 feet and thickness of 3 to 6 

 inches. It grows very slow in prairie soil for fifteen to twenty years, after which it 

 makes satisfactory growth. Trees an inch in diameter when set, thirty-three years ago, 

 are now over 3 feet in circumference at a foot from the ground, 30 feet high, and 25 

 feet spread. A wild-cherry tree. Bet in the same ground, twenty-six years from seed, 

 is now 5 feet around. 



Box-elder grows rapidly, gaining a diameter of 6 inches in seven years from planting, 

 and forms a fine head, 16 feet across. It is not liable to break from winds and ice, like 

 the soft maple. 



Bntternut grows well under cultivation, being 5 to 7 inches through, and a well-pro- 

 portioned head. It bears nuts. 



Bedhnd, good only for ornamental planting; slow grower. 



American larch grovrs nearly as well as the European, but with less regular form ; 

 branches, wild and straggling; height, 25 feet ; diameter, 4 to 6 inches. 



Bed elm grows rapidly, some trees being 6 to 8 or 10 inches thick; but at this age 

 many have an unhealthy appearance. It is not worthy of cultivatiou on dry land. 



White elm. — In regard to growth, variety of soil needed, and habit of late leaving, it 

 resembles the walnut, requiring the same treatment, and leading to the same results. 

 Valueless on common prairie without cultivation until able to protect itself. There 

 is this difl:erence between these two trees, however, that while the walnut requires a 

 deep, rich, dry soil, the white elm will flourish in a wet soil, less deep and rich, with 

 annual cultivation for twenty years. These two trees make about the same growth 

 on common dry prairie as they do in the " sinks," with a cultivation of four or firve 

 years. 



Evglish elm makes a more vigorous growth and a more beautiful foliage than either 

 of the American varieties, and will do well with less cultivation. 



Chestnut. — A total failure on prairie soil. Only one tree remained on the ground, and 

 this is the only one known in the county. It stands 20 feet high, 6 inches in diameter, 

 and is kept in slightly growing condition from the forest protection around it. It 

 grows satisfactorily on the lighter soil of the Mississippi bluffs, 



Lomhardy poplar grows rapidly and beautiful a few years, but is unhealthy and val- 

 ueless in ten or fifteen years, especially so on rich soils. Trees of ten years' growth are 

 8 to 10 inches thick and 25 to 30 feet high. 



Horse-cheatnnt. — Hardy, but an exceedingly slow grower on prairie, yet grows well 

 on gravelly or sandy soil. 



EvEUGHEENS.— nVfi^e Pines are 30 to 40 feet high in forests 6 to 8 feet apart, with a 

 diameter of 10 to 14 inches. When close, they are of equal height, but slender, and 

 denuded of bide branches. The white pines of this plantation are from trees from 



