March 14, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



35 



here attain dimensions rarely reached Ijy the same species 

 elsewhere, and in wealth of valuable timber trees these forests 

 are not excelled. 



Amonjjst tlie trees of the hiijhest value and greatest al)und- 

 ance tlie Swamp Chestnut or JBaskct Oak {Qucrcus Micliauxii) 

 takes the first place. Often a dozen trees measuring- two and 

 one half feet in diameter and funu'shing clear cuts from forty 

 to fifty feet in length have been counted on a single acre. In 

 quality the wood tif this tree is in no wav inferior to white oak, 

 and ises|jccially tit forall purposes to which the latter is applied, 

 affording immense resources to the industries depending u])on 

 this Oak for their chief material. The Sweet Gum [Liquidainbcr 

 styracifolia) is as frequent here and at its greatest perfection. It 

 is only under these lower latitudes that tlie timlier of this tree 

 attains the qualities whicli give it economic importance. The 

 wood, of a pleasing reddish lirown tint, easily worked, of a fine 

 grain and capalile of a high polish, has lately begun to attract 

 the attention of manufacturers of furnitui-e and of the joiner for 

 the interior hnish of the l.iest dwellings. Millions upon millions 

 of feet of these valuable timljers are found in tliese forests, 

 enough to supjily the largest demand for many years. Of some- 

 what less value, the Spanish Oak {Quc7-liis falcata), the Willow- 

 Oak {Q. phellos), the Sw.amp White Oak (Q. lyrata), are to be 

 named, the latter hardlv inferior in cp-ialitv to white oak. To 

 these the Swamp Maple, Water Elm {Ulmus data). Honey 

 Locust, Cottonwood, Pecan, Sassafras and Persiivnnon, are to 

 be added, the two last reaching dimensions that entitle them 

 to rank among useful timber frees. Most of tlie hardwood 

 trees peculiar to the lower Soiitli, such as Magnolia, Red Bav 

 [Persea. Carolinieitsis), White Bay (iMagno/ia g/aiica), Soin"wood 

 ( Oxydendron arhoreuiii). and others of lower rank in size, (fnding 

 at present but little appreciation, will, with better k'nowledge of 

 their quality, add a variety of useful material for miners' pur- 

 poses, for the mechanical arts and for decorative joinery. 



Difficult of access and remote from active industries, these 

 hardwciod forests, still but slightly encroached upon, maybe re- 

 garded as the chief source of supply for the country's needs ftir 

 many years to come. Their disappearance is, hc)\vever, a mat- 

 ter of comparatively short time. Covering lands of greatest 

 fertility, adapted to the cultivation of the chief staple products 

 of this region, their reclamation for agricultural purposes, when 

 protected against the overflowing waters of the Mississippi, is 

 inevitable. The negro jjopulation, resisting the malarious in- 

 fluences of lowland clearings, and tempted by good wages 

 and an abundance of food, will be drawn to tliem to furnish 

 the labor. The movement has already set in during the last 

 few years, and must increase as the colored man comes in 

 competition with the Ial)or of the increasing white pojiulation 

 which is taking possession of the healthy upland districts. 



With the growing demand for agricultural land following the 

 slow but swelling influence of immigration, the hardwood 

 forests of the valleys of the higher water-level and their ter- 

 races and the flanks of the bordering region are equallv 

 doomed. Though of less extent as resources of our hard- 

 woods, these forests are of great importance, harl)oring a still 

 greater variety than the alluvial forests. Preferring the warm 

 and light soil in these districts, the Tuli|) tree, the White Oak, 

 the White Ash, the Black Cherry, the ]51ack Walnut, are found, 

 in addition to the trees growing in the damp bottom lands, and 

 to these could be added many others of smaller size and less 

 value, as the Beech, Basswood, Butternut, Mulberry, Red l--lm, 

 Ironwood, Dogwood and Cucumfier tree. The impending- 

 denudation of tliese valleys and of the elevations aljout them in- 

 volves the greatest danger consequent upon the destruction of 

 the forests by altering climatic conditions and aflecting injuri- 

 ously the stages of the rivers throughout the different seasons 

 of the year. 



The hardwood forests of the more or less broken uijlands in 

 connection with farms have in great measure lost the cliaracter 

 of the high forest. Deprived of fheirlargertimber, opened to the 

 tran-iping and browsing of cattle and the visitations of fire, the 

 reniainder of the tree-growth presents an unpromising appear- 

 ance, and in many localities, the second growth is supijlanted 

 by Coniferous trees. Immense damage has been done by 

 clearing the steeper and n-iore broken lands and the ranges of 

 hills. Deprived of its productive crust, the bare sul.)Soil of 

 these hill lands, torn into deep ravines, presents a repulsive 

 sight suggestive of barrenness and neglect. Raging torrents 

 after every rain rush unchecked do^^■n the declivities, eating 

 deeply into them, carrying the soil down the valleys, iibstruct- 

 ingthe beds of the rivers and their estuaries. 



The timber growth of these upland forests consists of manv 

 species of Oaks, as the Black Oak [Queycus iinctorid), Post Oak 

 {Q. obtiisiloba), Spanish Oak, Red Oak, flourishing in a dry, 

 light soil, the Tanbark Oak (2- prinos), Chinquapin Oak {Q. 



prinoidcs), and Scarlet Oak {Q. caccinca), found principally on 

 the rocky regions of the n-iountains. The Mockernut, Pignutand 

 Bitternut Hickories, with the Chestnut and Tulip trees of in- 

 ferior size, make up a large part of the tree growth. On the 

 table-lands of the coal measures in Alabama, forests of this 

 nature almost in their prin-ie\-al condition extended over seven 

 thousand square miles. These forests, fifteen vears ago 

 scarcely invaded b\- the small clearings, have, since 'the begm- 

 ning of the new industrial era, Ijecome of great iniportance 

 owing to the wealth of coal and iron Ijuried beneath them, fur- 

 nishing the re(|uired supplies of timber and fuel. These forest 

 lands are now much in demand Ijyini migrants, who, l)y persever- 

 ance and industry, make the soi'l, once'considered loo poor for 

 cultivation, bring forth profitalile field and orchard crops 

 which find a ready market in the growing centres of mining in- 

 dustry which have lately sprung up as by magic in this region. 

 If they are not protected against the dcstructi\-e influe1-ices 

 bearing upon them witli increasing intensity as the settlement 

 and development of the country progress, 'and if the needed 

 care is not extended to the younger growth, the deterioration 

 of these, immense forests is deslined to proceed surely and 

 steadily to the same destruction to whicli the forests of the 

 more densely populated districts are doomed. Karl Mohr. 



Acaci.i decurrens. — Considerable attention is now being given 

 in France to this Australian tree as a possible source of a'sup- 

 l^ly of tanning material. It thrives everywhere on the shores 

 of the Mediterranean Basin and flourishes in the most arid 

 soils. Mons. Levallois, in a report recently presented to the 

 National Agricultural Society of France, states that a sample of 

 the bark grown at Antibes yielded 31 per cent, of tannin, wliile 

 recent experiments show that a given amount of the bark was 

 sufficient to cure two-thirds of lis weight of leather, while a 

 given quantity of Oak bark would cure but one-fifth of its 

 weight of leather. If further experiments, made on a large 

 scale, confirm the \-aIue of the bark, Aracia decurrens will 

 prove a valuable tree for southern California and our dry 

 south-western region, where good tanning material is scarce. 

 Indeed the only tree of our Pacific forests which produces 

 really good tan baric is Ouercus dcnsiflora, of northern Cali- 

 fornia, now becoming rare from excessive cutting. 



Recent Publications. 



Manuel de I' Aecliinateur ou Clioix de Plaiilcs Recominandecs 

 pour I'Agrieulture. I' Industrie cl la Mcdecine, par Charles 

 Naudin. "Paris, 1887 ; pp. 565. 



This is a French translation, much enlarged and improved, 

 of Baron Von Muller's well known "Select Extra-Tropical 

 Plants," and is |5ublished under the auspices of the National 

 Acclimatization Society of France. By far the larger portion 

 of the work is devoted to a descriptive catalogue of extra- 

 tropical, warm-country plants, valuable to man either from an 

 economic or ornamental point of \-iew, and, therefore, worthy 

 of his attention. This is prefaced liy a 1-1-iost interesting study of 

 the general subject of the naturalization and the acclimatization 

 of plants. This last the author describes as " the introduction 

 and successful cultivation of plants valuable to man ;" natural- 

 ization lieing the spontaneous spread of foreign plants in a 

 country. As a general rule it is only weeds which become 

 naturalized, but two exceptions aregiven; the Orange which has 

 reverted to the wild types in Florida, and tlie Mango which now 

 forn-is a considerable part of the forest growth iii the Island of 

 Jan-iaica. With these might have been'included the so-calletl 

 Japanese Clover {Lespedeza striata, Hook. & Arn.), a valualile 

 forage plant now widely naturalized in some parts of the South, 

 and the common Barberry, now as n-iuch at home in eastern 

 New England as in any part of Europe. 



A few errors and a few on-iissions will be detected in the 

 catalogue of plants, but these could hardly have been avoided, 

 although in a second edition it is to be hoped that more of the 

 interesting plants of our south-westeri-i boundary p-iay find a 

 place, such as the lovely CliilopsisMuX Cordla Boissi'cri. one of the 

 n-iost showy floweringof North An-ierican trees, and coiisidcrcxl 

 by the Mexicans cif great medicinal value. .\y\<.\ in such .a work, 

 too, the different species of Acacia and Parkinsonia, the 

 Olncya and the Fouquicra of Texas and Arizon;i, cannot be- pro- 

 perly omitted. 



The Manuel de l' Aeclintateur is one of tin: most important 

 contributions to recent horticultural literature, and its value is 

 all the greater from thefactthat the authorhas cultivated niany 

 of the plants he describes, especially the Eucalyptus (a 

 genus to which he has devoted many years of study), in the 



