83 
whose development has occupied hundreds of years. The area 
is not entirely covered by hemlock but has numerous openings 
where deciduous trees and shrubs gr Among these, hemlock 
seedlings are seen in considerable numbers but the floor beneath 
the hemlock trees is comparatively naked. This bareness of the 
forest floor is also true of the undisturbed Canadian forests fur- 
ther North. Dr. N. L, Britton called attention to this in an ad- 
dress before the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences in May, 
1905 (Trans. Bronx Soc. of Arts and Sci. 1: 6. 1906), in which 
he said: ‘“ The shade is too dense for the existence of much low 
vegetation, and this is also unable to grow at all vigorously in 
the soil formed largely of the decaying resinous hemlock leaves ; 
. the floor of the forest is arian devoid of vege- 
eeds of many plants growing outside the hem- 
a oe are eed Ns into it by the wind and by birds 
but grow very sparingly ; the seeds of the hemlock do little if 
at all better; they cannot germinate immediately under the trees 
which bear them, but species exposed to the light are soon occu- 
pied by seedling hemlocks, and it is in this way that the forest 
is perpetuated.” 
Prof. F. E. Lloyd (Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gar. 17: 97. 1900) has 
described the growth of hemlock seedlings, as he observed them 
n the New York Botanical Garden. Development begins about 
ae first of May and the growth for the first season is an inch or 
less. A similar amount of growth for successive seasons brings 
the height to four or five inches at the end of four years. 
the number of seedlings of one year’s growth which he found in 
June, 1900, he inferred that the preceding year had been good 
for the production of seeds. No seedlings of the previous year, 
1898, were found, and only two from the crop of 1897, while 
there were so many seedlings of four years’ growth that it was 
evident that 1896 was a favorable year for seed production. His 
conclusions were as follows: ‘“ The matter of seed production is 
variable, depending upon conditions from year to year, It is 
also to be noted that the hemlock seedlings fail to germinate, or 
die soon after, unless they are in the proper conditions as to 
shade and moisture. They thrive best in humus soil, while to 
