REPORT ON FORESTS. 285 
The young red-cedar trees are difficult to transplant in dry 
sandy soil, and the seeds, although abundant and easily collected, 
rarely germinate evenly. I have been told that nurserymen 
bury them in a “rot-heap” for two winters and a summer, and 
sow them the following spring. (The same is true of the holly 
[7lex opaca}.) The wood of the cedar, even when knotty, is in 
demand for posts; the quality produced in Southern New Jersey 
is excellent and there is little land too dry and sandy to support 
it. 
Of the hardwood trees, the most valuable for the dry uplands 
of New Jersey is the Robznia pseudacacia.* In the Region of 
Bordeaux, where the soil is similar to that of the Coastal Plain 
of South Jersey, extensive private plantations may be seen. 
For this purpose, especially on small farms where fencing is an 
important item, the locust has no equal in spite of the depreda- 
tions of the borer. In California, I have been told, the borer 
does not exist, and that in twenty years a locust tree in the 
open attains a diameter of as many inches. It is claimed by 
some that the injury caused by this insect is less if other trees 
are planted with the locust. It is excellent for planting in open 
places in the forest in the form of hursts, here and there, or as a 
fringe to pine plantations especially along railroads because it is 
not inflammable. The locust grows rapidly:on poor soil, pro- 
duces an extremely useful and durable wood and an ash richer 
in inorganic constituents than the majority of hardwoods. As 
*A great disadvantage of the locust is the fact that it is seriously infested in this country by the 
locust-borer (Cylene robiniz). It was indeed fortunate for Europe that when the locust was introduced 
this pestiferous insect was not imported with it. In Europe, it is a beautiful shade and ornamental tree; 
in its native land, owing to the depredations of this insect it is usually unsightly. The trunks 
and limbs are sometimes completely honeycombed by this insect. If the trees are watched in 
August and September, one is likely to find handsome brown and yellow banded, wasp-like beetles, 
laying oval, dull white eggs in wounds and crevices of the bark. In about ten days these eggs hatch and 
the larve bore into the tree. They are still small by winter, during which time they lie dormant in the 
wood. In the spring they begin to bore, until about August, when they stop feeding and enter the pupa 
stage, and a week or so later appear as full-sized beetles. These beetles live upon the pollen of the 
golden-rod. The outermost trees are usually completely riddled, while those in the center of a group 
May escape altogether. It seems to suffer less also when mixed with other trees. Although these 
insects are very abundant and seriously injure the wood and impair the vitality of the tree, it is still fit for 
fence posts, for which it is almost exclusively used. This insect infests healthy trees, growing on rich 
soil, but the proportion of trees in a plantation which is thus seriously injured is not sufficient to dis- 
courage the propagation of this unique and extremely useful tree. Owing to the depredations of the 
locust-borer it is always best to mix another species with the locust. For this purpose Prunus serotina 
and the American chestnut are excellent. The wild-cherry (P. sevotina) is worthy of more encourage- 
‘ment than it has heretofore received. It grows on poor soil, is easily propagated, yields an excellent 
wood, and attracts birds which are fond of its fruits. Mr. J. H. Schober, the pioneer of heath planting 
in Holland, who is experimenting with many species of foreign trees on his plantation at Schovenhorst, 
was loud in his praises of this tree and pronounced it one of the most promising of his vast collection. 
