56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Germany but it is of particular interest as showing the results of 

 mistaken ideas in regard to the management of white pine with 

 spruce and oak, mistakes which are not being repeated in later 

 plantation of white pine throughout this part of Germany. The 

 yield of cones for seeds alone saves the plantation from being a 

 complete failure and from having been removed long ago. 



Several compartments of the Frankfurt woods still maintain the 

 stands of beech with oak and other hardwoods which comprised 

 the primeval timber of this region. The beech is about 120 years 

 old and about the best, considering the large acreage devoted to it, 

 to be seen anywhere in the Rhine valley. In the depressions (frost 

 dells) alone are there any signs that the beech is not vigorous, and 

 there the abundance of hornbeam makes up for it. Underlying 

 limestone, close to the surface, probably accounts to a large extent 

 for the good growth of these hardwoods upon a surface soil which 

 seems unusually sterile. The German forester judges the fertility 

 of the soil largely by the relative growth of wild grasses thereon, 

 and in most cases that appears to be an excellent index of the quality 

 of the soil. 



Not the least interesting feature of the Frankfurt forests is the 

 existence here of the oldest artificially planted stand of Scotch 

 pine in Germany. This stand is now a little over 200 years old and 

 looks wonderfully fine. There are about 60 trees to the acre, averag- 

 ing over 20 inches in diameter, and some are as thick as 36 inches, 

 breast high. A single tree recently cut, contained 4100 board feet 

 of lumber. In 1876 a violent wind storm took down many of the 

 trees and since then the previously suppressed beech and hornbeam 

 have made a vigorous growth which shows that nature without aid 

 will not reproduce the Scotch pine where it is not native. Only by 

 carefully opening up the crowns, as practised on the Ysenburg range, 

 can a pine regeneration be induced. A sudden and large opening 

 of the crowns brings on the hardwoods again as in the primeval 

 type. The old pines, as a result of the storm, all lean toward the 

 northeast. The stand contains from 25,000 to 30,000 feet an acre, 

 which is good considering the relatively few trees per acre and the 

 large quantity which has been removed in the past according to the 

 records of this department. The remaining stand will produce 

 lumber of an exceptionally high grade. From the logs upon the 

 ground it was impossible to determine their form height, but it 

 certainly exceeded 200. 



From observations previously noted in connection with oak planted 



