lO 



Garden and Forest. 



[February 2g, 1888. 



The Forest. 



The White Pine in Europe. 



THE White Pine was among- the very first American 

 trees which came to Europe, being planted in the 

 year 1 705 by Lord We)''mouth on his grounds in Chelsea. 

 From that date, the tree has been cultivated in Europe 

 under the name of Weymoutli Pine ; in some mountain 

 districts of northern Bavaria, where it has become a real 

 forest tree, it is called Strobe, after the Latin name Piiiits 

 slrobus. After general cultivation as an ornamental tree 

 in parks this Pine began to be used in the forests on account 

 of its hardiness and rapid growth, and it is now not only 

 scattered through most of the forests of Europe, but covers 

 in Germany alone an area of some 300 acres in a dense, 

 pure forest. Some of these are groves 120 years old, and 

 they yield a large proportion of the seed demanded by the 

 increasing cultivation of the tree in Europe 



The White Pine has proved so valuable as a forest tree 

 thatithaspartly overcome the prejudices which every foreign 

 tree has to fight against. The tree is perfectly hardy, is 

 not injured by long and severe freezing in winter, nor by 

 untimely frosts in spring or autumn, which sometimes do 

 great harm to native trees .in Europe. On account of the 

 softness of the leaves and the bark, it is much damaged by 

 the nibbling of deer, but it heals quickly and throws up a 

 new leader. 



The young plant can endure being partly shaded by 

 other trees far better than any other Pine tree, and even 

 seems to enjoy being closely surrounded, a quality that 

 makes it valuable for filling up in young forests where 

 the native trees, on account of their slow growth, could 

 not be brought up at all. 



The White Pine is not so easily broken by heavy snow- 

 fall as the Scotch Pine, on account of the greater elasticity 

 of its wood. The great abundance of soft needles falling 

 from it every year better fits it for improving a worn-out 

 soil than any European Pine, therefore the tree has been 

 tried with success as a nurse for the ground in forest plan- 

 tations of Oak, when the latter begin to be thinned out by 

 nature, and grass is growing underneath them. 



And finally, all observations agree that the White Pine is a 

 faster growing tree than any native Conifer in Euroi^e, 

 except, perhaps, the Larch. The exact facts about that 

 point, taken from investigations on good soil in various 

 parts of Germany, are as follows : 



Years. Height. 



Annual Growdi Dur- 

 ing La3t Decade. 



The White Pine at 



20 reaches 



7-5 



meters. 37 



30 " 

 40 



12.5 

 18.5 



■• 50 

 '■ 60 



50 " 

 60 " 



22.5 

 26.5 



" 40 

 " 40 



70 " 



28.5 



" 20 



80 



30.0 



" 15 



90 " 



32.0 



20 



For comparison I add here the average growth on good 

 soil, of the Scotch Pine, one of the most valuable and 

 widely distributed timber trees of Europe. 



The Scotch Pint 



Years, Heiglit. 



at 20 reaches "j.t, meters. 



30 

 40 

 so 

 60 

 70 

 80 

 90 

 100 

 120 



II. 6 



15-7 

 19.4 

 22. 1 

 24.0 

 26.0 

 27.5 

 28.5 

 30.0 



Annual G 

 Last 



irowtli During 

 Decade. 



;. 36.5 



centimeters 



43.0 

 41.0 



i( 



37-0 

 27,0 



" 



22.0 



' ' 



17.0 



" 



15.0 



' ' 



lO.O 



' ' 



7.5 



'^ 



That is, the White Pine is ahead of its relative durin 

 entire life and attains at 80 

 Scotch Pine only reaches in 



■ its 

 years a height which the 

 20 years. It appears then 



that the whole volume of wood formed within a certain 

 period by an acre of White Pine forest is greater than that 

 yielded by a forest of Scotch Pine within the same period. 



As far as reliable researches show, a forest of White Pine 

 when seventy years old gives an annual increment of 3 

 cords of wood per acre. On the same area a forest of 

 Scotch Pine increases every year by 2.4 cords on the best 

 soil, 2 cords on medium soil, and 1.5 cords on poor soil. 



But notwithstanding the splendid qualities which distin- 

 guish the White Pine as a forest tree its wood has never been 

 looked upon with favor in Europe. Many of those who are 

 cultivating the White Pine for business seem to e.xpect that 

 they will raise a heavy and durable wood. These are the 

 qualities prized in their own timber trees, and they seem to 

 think that the White Pine must be so highly prized at home for 

 the same qualities, when in fact it is the lightness and soft- 

 ness of the wood which are considered in America. It would 

 seem also that some European planters believe that a Pine 

 tree exists which will yield more and at the same time 

 heavier wood than any other tree on the same area. It is 

 a general rule that the amount of woody substance annually 

 formed on the same soil does not vary in any great degree 

 with the different kinds of trees. For instance, if we have 

 good soil we may raise 2,200 lbs. per acre of woody sub- 

 stance every year, from almost any kind of timber tree. If 

 we plant a tree forming a wood of low specific gravity, we 

 get a large volume of wood, and this is the case with the 

 White Pine. If we plant on the same ground an Oak tree, 

 we will get small volume of wood, but the weight of the 

 woody substance will be the same, that is, 2,200 pounds 

 of absolutely dried wood per acre. 



It is remarkable that there is hardly any dilTerence in the 

 specific gravity of the wood of the White Pine grown in 

 Europe and in its native country. I collected in Central Wis- 

 consin wood-sections of a tall tree and compared the 

 specific gravity with the wood of a full-grown tree of 

 White Pine from a Bavarian forest. The average specific 

 gravity of the Bavarian tree was 38. 3. The average 

 specific gravity of the American tree was 38.9. In 

 both trees the specific gravity slightly increased from the 

 base to the top. Professor Sargent gives 38 as the result 

 of his numerous and careful investigations. 



I was much surprised that the thickness of the sap-wood 

 varied mucli in favor of the Bavarian tree. 



The sap-wood measured in thickness 



01 the Bavarian tree. 



At the base 2. 7 centimeters 



In the middle .4 " 



Within the crown .3 •' 



I am inclined to believe that on account of the generally 

 drier climate of America a greater amount of water, and, 

 therefore, of water-conducting sap-wood, is necessary to 

 keep the balance between the evaporation and transporta- 

 tion of the water. The wood of the White Pine is certainly 

 better fitted for many purposes than any tree with which 

 nature has provided Europe, and yet one can hardly 

 expect it to easily overcome fixed habits and prejudices. 

 It will devolve upon the more intelligent proprietors of 

 wood-land in Europe to begin with the plantation of the 

 White Pine on a large scale. No Conifer in Europe can be 

 cultivated with so little care and risk as the White Pine ; 

 the frost does not injure the young plant, and the numerous 

 insects invading the European trees during their whole 

 life-time inflict but little harm. Subterranean parasites are 

 thinning out the plantations to some extent, but in no 

 dangerous way. H. Mayr. 



ToUio, Japan. 



Abies amabilis.— Professor John Macoun detected this species 

 during the past summer upon many of the mountains of Van- 

 couver's Island where witli Tsiiga Pattoiiiaiia it is common 

 above 3,000 feet over the sea level. The northern distribution 

 of this species as well as some other British Columbia trees 

 is still a matter of conjecture. It has not been noticed north 

 of the Eraser River, but it is not improbable that Abies 

 amabilis will be found to e.xtend far to the north along some 

 of tlie mountain raii^s of the north-west coast. 



1 



Of the .\iiieiican tree. 



9 centimeters. 



6 



4 



