12 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



specimen on the grounds, and this leaves nothing to be desired in beauty 

 or luxuriance (Plate X). It was planted in 1891 and has attained a 

 height of 24 feet. Several plantings were made earlier both of this and 

 its congeners, Cedar of Lebanon and the Atlas cedar; but they failed 

 to recover from the transplanting, owing to the fact that they were too 

 large, and that the cedars are difficult to transplant on our ground un- 

 less pot-grown. 



Red Cedar (Junipenis Virainiana, L.). This tree has been planted 

 rather too extensively on our campus. Used for avenues, the Bed cedar 

 gives the effect of dreary monotony instead of pleasing uniformity. The 

 same is also the effect when planted together in large groups, unless the 

 trees be restricted to certain forms and compactness by constant prun- 

 ing or shearing. The Red cedar is very hardy, but also of slow growth 

 on our grounds. 



White Cedar (Libocedrus dccwrens. Torr.). The White cedar is a 

 native of the Coast Eange and Western slope of the Sierra Nevada, 

 where it is said to attain a height of 100 feet. Only one specimen is 

 found in our collection, this having been planted about thirteen years 

 ago. It appears to be very hardy, is of a beautiful compact form, with 

 laterally compressed branches and vividly green foliage, but of slow 

 growth, having attained a height of only 10 feet. It is evidently the 

 horticultural form compacta, which is a dwarf answering the above de- 

 scription. 



Pines. Three species, with one specimen of each, have been under 

 my observation on our grounds; namely, White pine (P. strobus, L.) ; 

 Forest pine (P. sylvatica, L.) ; and Pinus densiflora, Siel. White pine 

 is native of the Northern States and Canada, Forest pine is found 

 throughout Europe and Siberia. Both of these were planted in 1889. 

 The first died after two years of struggle with our hot summers; the 

 second is yet alive, but a crooked, unsightly cripple, which is, however, 

 more due to the fact that it was a crooked, knarly nursery specimen 

 to begin with than to the inability of this species to withstand our soil 

 and climate. The fact that it is yet alive and slowly growing corrob- 

 orates this. 



Pinus densiflom, a name given to it because of its immense, dense 

 spikes of staminate flowers, is a native of Japan, where it becomes a 

 large tree of great economic importance. It was planted in 1891, has 

 proved perfectly hardy, although hindered during the first years by too 

 early removal of the lower branches, which weakened the stem, leaving 

 the tree top-heavy and crooked. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE GROWTH. 



From the above description, it will be noticed that the greater num- 

 ber of the fast-growing, soft-wooded trees, which confine their roots al- 

 most exclusively to the surface soil, are failures on our ground. Dur- 

 ing the spring, when the soil is charged with moisture, these trees make 

 a continuous, rapid growth, which often is suddenly checked by a fet 

 weeks of drouth before the newly-formed tissues are sufficiently hard- 

 ened to withstand the strong transpiration ; hence we notice that th( 

 leaves of the tender shoots are hurried into too earlv maturity am 



