3 i8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 337. 



allow self-sown seedlings to spring- up and to afford shel- 

 ter to the young growth. Under this plan some Oak 

 would come up among the Beech, more in places where 

 the Oak predominated, less where single trees were scat- 

 tered among the Beech. Gradually, however, it was dis- 

 covered that in the Spessart the Beech had a much more 

 vigorous growth than the Oak ; that Oak-saplings standing 

 alone in a mass of Beech were, as a rule, doomed to ex- 

 tinction, and that of groups of Oak surrounded by Beech a 

 few trees only would remain, the rest being overtopped 

 by the Beech. Great exertions were made to save the Oak 

 by cutting away or lopping the Beech which threatened its 

 existence. But it was soon seen that this was a gigantic 

 task, which, over such large areas, could never be fully 

 accomplished. Hence attempts were made to establish 

 large patches stocked with Oak, and thus to facilitate their 

 protection against encroachment by the Beech. 



The plan followed until about 1865 was briefly this : On 

 the occurrence of an Oak-mast everything was done to 

 promote the springing up of Oak-seedlings in those com- 

 partments where the working-plan permitted such opera- 

 tions. In those compartments, therefore, in the vicinity of 

 all Oak-trees which had produced acorns, the greater part 

 of the Beech was cut, leaving only a proportion of smaller 

 and younger trees to serve as shelter. Whenever neces- 

 sary the ground was dug up, generally in lines, or it was 

 otherwise made raw to facilitate the springing up of Oak- 

 seedlings. The result was that extensive thickets of Oak 

 sprang up wherever in the compartment selected there had 

 been seed-bearing trees. The intermediate space, which 

 was occupied by pure Beech, was left untouched until it 

 was convenient to take it in hand, and then, on the occur- 

 rence of a Beech-mast, it was regenerated in the usual 

 manner by means of successive cuttings. In this manner 

 two classes of young forest were obtained — irregular plots 

 varying in size, where the Oak predominated, not pure, for 

 Beech-seedlings would spring up among the Oak, and the 

 intervening space stocked with pure Beech. With careful 

 management it obviously was possible in this manner 

 somewhat to extend the area stocked with Oak, and the 

 good results of this system are seen in extensive young 

 woods, now from thirty to seventy-five years old, in which 

 the Oak predominates. 



These young woods are singularly beautiful, the Oak, 

 having from the commencement been associated with the 

 Beech, has formed straight clean stems without side 

 branches, the bark without lichens, of a beautiful silvery- 

 gray color. But these mixed woods have this disadvan- 

 tage that the Beech is apt to overtop the Oak, and unless 

 cut out or cut back frequently it gets the upper hand and 

 kills out the Oak. These young woods therefore demand 

 constant attention, and the operation of cutting down or 

 lopping the Beech which threatens to interfere with the 

 Oak costs money. 



LARGE OAK AREAS RAISED BY SOWING ACORNS. 



The chief drawback, however, was found to be that a 

 really considerable extension of the Oak-woods could not 

 be effected by the natural method, and hence the artificial 

 formation of Oak-wood was more and more resorted to. 

 Great experience has now been gained in this matter, and 

 the result of this experience has developed a very perfect 

 system. The acorns are sown broadcast, the entire area 

 being dug up, or in dug-up lines two to three feet apart, the 

 acorns being sown thick in the lines. Should there be 

 young Beech on the ground it is cut down, or if not too 

 large pulled up. 



At first alternate bands sixty to seventy feet wide were 

 sown with Oak, the intervening bands being regenerated 

 naturally as Beech-woods by successive cuttings. This 

 plan answers well where the soil is uniform ; a much bet- 

 ter arrangement, however, which is now generally fol- 

 lowed, is to select localities with deep and rich soil for the 

 Oak, and to leave places with poor, stony and shallow soil 

 to grow the Beech on, or, where necessary, to raise Scotch 



Pine and Spruce. These places suitable for the growth of 

 the Oak are selected long beforehand and are marked out 

 on the ground. Only acorns^rown in the Spessart are 

 used, and as acorns do not keep, this system depends upon 

 an Oak-mast occurring in this locality nearly as much as 

 the system of natural regeneration.^ There is, however, 

 this difference, that small quantities of acorns are produced 

 almost every year, and that these can be utilized in sowing 

 some plots which are sufficiently advanced for the recep- 

 tion of the acorns. Obviously, however, the main sow- 

 ings can only be made when a good mast year occurs. 



The plots selected for the growth of Oak are not much 

 smaller than an acre, and are sometimes as much as twenty 

 acres in extent. On these places the forest is cleared, a 

 number of the smaller trees being left to serve as shelter to 

 the young Oak. For a year or Two the ground is left un- 

 touched, exposed to rain and sun. The result is that the 

 dense cover of dry leaves decomposes sooner, and when 

 the first thin coating of grass makes its appearance the 

 time has come to bring in the.' Oak. The surrounding 

 Beech-forest, which had been left untouched, is taken in 

 hand for regeneration in the usual manner, and wherever 

 this can be done it is arranged that the Oak shall have a 

 few years' start of the Beech. Around all Oak plots narrow 

 paths are cleared to prevent the margin trees being over- 

 topped by the Beech. The Oak areas within a compart- 

 ment at once strike the eye by the dark green of their 

 foliage, and they stand out clearly from the lighter green 

 of the surrounding young Beech-woods. These Oak areas, 

 being the most important portion of the forest, are objects 

 of constant interest and frequent visits by forest-guards, 

 executive officers and inspecting officers. Isolated Beech- 

 trees, which frequently spring up among the Oak, are not 

 disliked, and in these limited areas they can more readily 

 be kept under control than when the Oak is scattered over 

 large areas. 



Bonn, Germany. 



Dietrich Brandts. 



Correspondence. 

 Woad Wax. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I learn from the article by Mr. Jack, in your issue of 

 August 1st, that correspondents of the Boston newspapers are 

 exercised over the possibilities that Woad Wax may become a 

 pestilent weed. But, in the light of comparatively recent scien- 

 tific discovery, is it not possible that this plant may prove a 

 blessing? Certainly, leguminous plants differ from others in 

 their relation to the soil. As a rule, plants which grow and die 

 down on a piece of ground add nothing whatever to it except 

 some carbonaceous matter which they have taken from the 

 air, and which is not really plant-food. For a hundred years 

 farmers have been claiming that Clover actually enriched the 

 soil, and that even after the crop was cut off and carried 

 away the land was rendered more fertile by the decaying 

 roots. Men of science pronounced this impossible, but Sir 

 John Bennett Lawes found by analysis that soil in which 

 Clover had been grown contained more nitrogen than it did 

 before the seed of the Clover was sown. Nevertheless, since 

 the leaves of plants do not take up the free nitrogen from the 

 air, and since the roots cannot get it, the men of science argued 

 that the long fibrous rootlets of the Clover must bring up the 

 nitrogen of compounds already in the lower strata of the 

 ground, often from a depth of several feet below the surface. 

 More recent discoveries have shown that leguminous plants 

 have the power of obtaining nitrogen directly from the air, and 

 that they are enabled to use it as plant-food by the help of 

 microscopic organisms, which are always found in the soil 

 where these plants grow. Just how this is accomplished the 

 scientists have not yet been able to explain fully. What seems 

 to be established is that these bacteria cause the growth of lit- 

 tle tubercles on the roots of the plants, and somehow through 

 these the nitrogen is assimilated. 



Now, this Woad Wax is a leguminous plant. Its roots are 

 covered with these little nodules, which show that the bacteria 

 are at work preparing the nitrogen of the air, to be taken up 

 and used in the plant. Such plants as the Clovers, Serradella, 

 Alfalfa, Lupine and Cow Peas are often used for green ma- 

 nuring, as it is called — that is, they are turned under for the 



