SANTA MONICA FORESTRY SUBSTATION. 345 



Schinus terebinthifolius, a new " pepper tree " introduced from Brazil, 

 shows great promise. A near relative of the common pepper tree, Schi- 

 nus molle, it is rated a much more desirable tree. In habit it is more 

 upright and symmetrical than Schinus molle, and its foliage is heavier, 

 with shorter, broader, thicker leaflets of a rich dark green color, glossy 

 and shining. A number of seedling trees were planted at the station in 

 1897 on a well-drained gravelly slope. At time of planting they were 

 about one 'foot high. No rain fell after they were set out, but they 

 received a bucket of water each several times during the summer. A 

 year from planting, the best ones measured 6 feet in height, while the 

 average was about 4 feet of stout growth. At first the young trees 

 branched freely, from the ground up, and they expended considerable 

 energy in this way before the tendency was finally checked by pruning 

 and pinching back the shoots. These trees bore some seeds in 1899, and 

 will soon yield sufficient for distribution. 



Cedrela odorata, a native of Central America and the West Indies, 

 furnishes a valuable wood much used for cigar-boxes. 



Cercidiphyllum Japonicum is an important timber tree of Japan, and 

 ranks high also as an ornamental. 



Eriodendron anfractuosum, the Kappa, or Silk Cotton tree of the West 

 Indies, has failed to grow here. It seems to require a moister climate. 



Phytolacca dioica, or Pircunia dioica, the Ombu of the South American 

 pampas, is a quick-growing shade tree with heavy, deep green foliage, 

 suitable for sidewalks and roadsides. The new shoots are liable to be 

 killed b}^ spring frosts, but the tree seems fairly hardy, and is worthy of 

 extended trial. At this station in two years from the seed it has attained 

 7 feet in height, with a girth of 11 inches at one foot from the ground. 



EFFECT OF DROUGHT ON TREES. 



The shortness of the rainfall of 1897-8 and 1898-9 necessitated extra 

 precautions against the loss of rare trees by drought. Besides keeping 

 down weeds and conserving the moisture in the soil to the utmost extent 

 by frequent and thorough stirrings of. the surface with the cultivator, 

 it was deemed advisable also to take measures, as far as means per- 

 mitted, to lessen the demand of the larger trees on the soil-moisture. 

 To this end, all limbs which could reasonably be spared were removed 

 from many of the large eucalypts, thus reducing the area of their 

 foliage and consequently decreasing materially the amount of water 

 transpired by them. The effect of this thinning of the crowns of the 

 trees has so far been satisfactory. 



Drought Resistance of Eucalypts. In the main eucalyptus grove 

 during 1898 no trees succumbed to drought, though several showed 

 signs of distress. On the whole, the results here were conclusive, 

 except as regards the inferior drought-resistance of E. obliqua, which is 

 confirmed by other observations. 



The smaller grove at the north end of the middle mesa, on the west 

 side of the main road, contains trees of Eucalyptus calophylla, E. cornuta, 

 E. corynocalyx, E. globulus, E. leucoxylon (smooth-bark form), E. rostrnta, 

 and E. viminalis. Of these a single E. globulus, a spindling tree, died 

 from drought; the balance of the grove is in perfect health. 



East of the road, on the sloping ground at the base of the steep bluff 

 rising to the upper mesa, the grove consists of E. cornuta, E. coryno- 

 calyx, E. globulus, E. leucoxylon, E. obliqua, E. paniculata, E. rostrata, 



