January 2, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



in turn assisted by all the rest. There is a true community of 

 interests throughout characterized by such complete co-ordi- 

 nation that we are accustomed to speak of a shrub or a tree 

 as if it were in fact an individual, whereas it is composed of 

 myriads of independent and yet dependent parts. These parts 

 are the cells, apparently simple to the last degree in their 

 structure, and yet infinitely complex in their organization. As 

 a drop of water under the rays of light which strike it has 

 been said to mirror the universe around it, so these sim- 

 ple spheres may reveal to us something of the mystery of life. 

 Cambridge, Mass. George Lincoln Goodale. 



The Forest. 



Forest Tree Planting in Massachusetts. 



THE first issue of this journal (vol. i., page 11) con- 

 tained the report of a committee appointed to aw^ard 

 the prize offered by the Trustees of the Massachusetts 

 Society for Promoting Agriculture for the best plantation in 

 Massachusetts of not less than five acres of European Larch. 

 The following report upon another competition under con- 

 ditions explained in tlie text has lately been made to the 

 Society. The committee of award were C. S. Sargent, John 

 Lowell and F. H. Appleton ; and it may be added that the 

 recommendations of the committee have been adopted and 

 the premiums paid. 



The Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting 

 Agriculture offered in 1876 six competitive prizes for planta- 

 tions of trees, to be made in Massachusetts during the follow- 

 ing year. The conditions of this competition required that the 

 plantations should cover not less than five acres. Two plan- 

 tations only were made, and the trustees being desirous of 

 increasing the knowledge of tree planting, especially among 

 working farmers, offered the next year (1878) a series of prizes 

 to be awarded during the present year for another compe- 

 tition, into which were admitted smaller and less expensive 

 plantations, and plantations to be made by sowing the seeds 

 where the trees were to stand. The following prizes, amount- 

 ing to fourteen hundred dollars ($1,400), were offered in this 

 second competition : 



Two prizes for 5,000 White Ash trees. 



Two prizes for 1,000 White Ash trees. 



Two prizes for five acres of White Pine, raised from seed. 



Two prizes for one acre of White Pine, raised from seed. 



Two prizes for one acre of Scotch Pine, raised from seed. 



Two prizes for one acre of European Larch, containing not 

 less than 2,000 trees. 



Thirty-four entries were made in competition for these 

 prizes, by twelve competitors, and your committee find that 

 eight of the twelve competitors have for various reasons with- 

 drawn entirely ; some failed to make their trees grow at all, 

 and others neglected to take care of them after they had be- 

 come partially established. The sowing of seed produced 

 small results. In two cases it did not germinate at all, and 

 in another the percentage of plants raised was sinall. It must 

 be remembered, however, that there was an early and pro- 

 longed drought during the summer of 1878, and that the 

 season was unusually unfavorable for tree planting, and for 

 the germination of tree seeds. 



Your committee has visited the plantations of the four com- 

 petitors who had not formally relinquished their claims to the 

 prizes — Mr. J. D. W. French, of North Andover, Mr. E. Pier- 

 son Beebe, of Falmouth, Mr. Thomas H. Lawrence, of Fal- 

 mouth, and the widow of the late H. R. Hayward, of Lunen- 

 berg. 



Mr. French entered for the prize for the best 1,000 White Ash 

 trees. He planted 1,500 trees one to two feet high, in two lots. 

 They were set in the sod four feet apart, and have received no 

 care since they were planted. The first lot was planted upon a 

 slope facing the west, in strong, rich soil. A slight depression 

 in the lower end helped to retain the moisture and increase the 

 value of the situation for the trees for which it was chosen. 

 This piece of ground seems to have been well selected for 

 Ash, both as regards soil and exposure. It contains 250 trees. 

 The largest is twenty-five feet high, with a trunk, measured 

 three feet from the ground, one foot in circumference, and 

 the average height of the trees is eighteen feet. The second 

 lot was planted on dry, gravelly upland, in an angle formed by 

 the meeting of two public roads. The situation seems to have 

 been badly selected, and the soil was not suitable for the Ash, 

 which rec^uires cool, moist land for good development. This 

 lot contains 570 trees. The largest has attained a height of 



fourteen feet, with a trunk circumference of seven inches 

 three feet from the ground, although the average height of the 

 trees is only seven feet. Mr. French reports that the entire 

 cost of the operation was $14.96 for the trees and for planting, 

 and $30.20 for preparing the ground and for fencing, a total of 

 $45.16, without interest. The conditions of the competition 

 require 1,000 trees, and, although Mr. French's Ash trees are 

 superior to any examined by your committee, it is of the 

 opinion that as only 850 of the 1,500 trees now remain, he is 

 not entitled to a prize. 



Mr. E. Pierson Beebe entered for the prizes for the best 

 1,000 White Ash trees, and for the best acre of European 

 Larch containing not less than 2,000 trees. 1,500 Ash trees 

 were planted, at an entire cost, without interest, of $17.78. 

 They were set in very light, gravelly soil, quite unsuited for 

 this tree, and they have made little or no growth. They are 

 not, in the opinion of your committee, deserving of a prize. 

 The Larch were planted upon land of the same character, 

 and have grown remarkably. The largest specimens are 

 from twenty-five to thirty feet high, and in some places en- 

 tirely cover the ground. 3,000 trees, were planted at a 

 total cost, without interest, of $60.90. This plantation, how- 

 ever, occupies less than one acre of ground, and there are 

 only 732 trees now standing. Your committee is of the opin- 

 ion, therefore, that Mr. Beebe has not complied with the con- 

 ditions of the competition. 



Mr. Thomas H. Lawrence entered for the prizes for the 

 best acre of Scotch Pine raised from seed ; for the best and 

 for the second best 1,000 White Ash ; for the best acre of 

 European Larch, and for the best five acres of White Pine 

 raised from seed. He reported in October, 1882, that the 

 plantation of Scotch Pine had been a complete failure. Few 

 of the seeds germinated, and the land was plowed up and laid 

 down to grass. The Ash trees were set in soil entirely un- 

 suited to this tree, and Mr. Lawrence does not now offer them 

 for competition. The Larch were planted about a mile 

 from the coast, in a slight depression on one of the low slopes 

 which rise from the plain upon which the town of Falmouth 

 is built. The situation is an exposed one, and the soil is 

 light, very gravelly and almost devoid of humus. The trees, 

 however, have made an admirable growth ; many of them 

 are more than twenty-five feet in height ; they stand regularly 

 and compactly and entirely shade the ground. The cost of 

 this plantation is, without interest, $33.90. Your committee 

 recommend that the prize of $100 for the best acre of Euro- 

 pean Larch be awarded to Mr. Lawrence. 



The five acres upon which Mr. Lawrence sowed the seeds 

 of the White Pine adjoin his Larch plantafion, and is covered 

 with the same quality of soil. The cost of the seed was ten 

 dollars, and the cost of mowing the Blackberry vines, and 

 bushes which partially occupied the ground, and planting the 

 seed, was $13.95, makingthe total cost of the plantation $23.95. It 

 was probably a mistake to mow the bushes, as they would have 

 checked evaporation from the surface of the ground and would 

 have served to protect the young seedlings. The seeds germi- 

 nated badly, the dry season being unfavorable for them, and a 

 considerable number of the plants which did come up perished 

 from exposure and drought during the first season. Mr. 

 Lawrence believes his partial failure is due to the poor qual- 

 ity of the seed, which he purchased at a Boston seed-store. 

 As the seeds of American Pines usually sold in this country 

 by regular dealers have been sent across the Atlantic twice, 

 or are gathered from trees grown in Europe under unnatural 

 conditions, it is not surprising that they fail sometimes to ger- 

 minate or to produce vigorous plants. 



There are, nevertheless, between two and three thousand 

 healthy White Pines, averaging about four feet in height, 

 growing upon the five acres. They do not stand regularly, 

 however, and there are often large gaps between them ; 

 eventually, however, there will be trees enough to cover the 

 ground. This plantation cannot be considered a success from 

 the point of view of the number of trees raised, but it seems 

 to be successful in demonstrating the possibility of growing- 

 White Pines cheaply, from seeds, upon land too sterile for 

 agriculture or profitable pasturage. 



These prizes were offered for the purpose of stimulating- 

 experiments which may be expected to increase the knowledge 

 of arboriculture, and not for the purpose of increasing by a 

 few acres, n-iore or less, the nun-iber of trees in the state. 

 Your committee is of the opinion that, considering the lesson 

 that can be learned from Mr. Lawrence's experiment in sow- 

 ing Pine seeds, it contains one of the most valuable of the re- 

 sults obtained by the competitions of 1877 si""J 1878, and they 

 recommend that, in view of all the circumstances, the second 

 prize in this class of $100 be awarded to him. 



