THE SELECTION OF TREES. 49 



However, in giving this advice, our intention is accom- 

 plished as soon as those trees obtain a suflScient hold 

 upon the soil to protect it against sun and air during 

 that time in which the pine is unable to do this. The 

 increased cost of the plantation, caused by the temporary 

 growth of these trees, which will be removed before they 

 have reached maturity, cannot be considered as a draw- 

 back, because the condition of the pines, these being the 

 real stock of the plantation, will be so much improved 

 as to fully counterbalance the additional expenses. 



A more effective agent upon the amelioration of the 

 soil can be made by spruces and firs. But these trees re- 

 quire more food for their sustenance than a poor soil is 

 able to offer them, and they, therefore, cannot obtain a 

 permanent footing upon it. Besides, the spruce, not- 

 withstanding its desirability in an intermixture, does not 

 preserve the freshness, that is : the vigorous activity of the 

 soil, and, for this reason, should never be grown alone as 

 a stock of trees. This fact might also account for the 

 decaying of many blocks of the black spruce in the 

 Adirondacks since 1878, of which the First Report of the 

 KT. Y. State Forest Commission, on pages 50, 62 and 76 

 complains. 



The common beech renders very valuable services in the 

 recuperation of the lost fertility to the soil, for it furnishes 

 great masses of rich leaves, forming a vigorous humus-soil 

 which is continually increased, and preserved in this 

 state by the shading qualities of the tree. But as 

 the beech requires for its luxurious growth a soil rich in 

 soluble minerals, and as such soil will be claimed by the 

 agriculturist, there will seldom be a chance for the beech 

 to exercise its beneficial function, unless it be on mountain- 

 ous slopes, where agriculture cannot be conducted. 



Generally speaking, the densely foliaged trees, viz : 

 Beech, Hornbeam, Spruce, Fir, Walnut, Chestnut are. 



