FORESTRY. 



233 



SECOND GROWTH CHERRY. 



A few years ago I had the wood cut 

 from about 9 acres of forest land in this 

 vicinity. It consisted of white birch, beech, 

 oak, red maple and a few trees of some 

 other deciduous species, without, as nearly 

 as I can recollect, a single conifer. It was 

 not the original forest, of which there 

 were traces in stumps and logs, supposed 

 to be pine. The trees cut were 6 to 10 

 inches in diameter, none, I should say, as 

 large as 12 inches. Tradition had it that 

 the original forest had been destroyed by 

 fire some 50 years earlier. With the in- 

 tention of reducing the land to cultivation 

 I had the brush and most of the old logs 

 burned, but abandoned my purpose, and 

 allowed the sprouts and seedlings to grow. 

 Among the seedlings I found there were 

 great numbers of wild red cherry, Prunus 

 pennsylvanica. I counted some of them, on 

 limited areas, and carefully computed the 

 number on the whole tract of 9 acres at 

 8,000. I could not remember seeing a tree 

 of that species on the land before cutting, 

 nor in the wood piles, nor have I seen 

 any on the portion of the same lot which 

 was spared from that cutting, though 

 there are a great many on other lots in 

 the neighborhood, and I think some on an 

 adjoining lot belonging to other owners, 

 which had been cut some years earlier 

 than mine. 



Whence, then, came the seeds from 

 which these cherry trees grew? Were 

 they brought on to the ground from 

 neighboring lots by birds, squirrels and 

 mice, or were they derived from trees that 

 once grew on the ground where the seed- 

 lings grow ? The latter theory would in- 

 volve the supposition that the cherry 

 stones would lie dormant on or in the 

 ground for a long period, say 20 or 30 

 years? Is that possible? I beg to know 

 your solution of the problem. 



Chas. G. Atkins, East Orland, Me. 



ANSWER. 



The seeds were probably carried by the 

 birds, especially the robin, which wanders 

 over large areas of ground in search of 

 worms. I do not believe cherry stones will 

 lie dormant in the ground a great length 

 of time ; certainly not 20 years. They 

 might retain their vitality, if they escape 

 injury, for a period of perhaps .5 years. 

 We are likely, however, to underrate the 

 value of birds in this respect. The red 

 cedar, for instance, the most widely dis- 

 tributed American tree, owes its wide dis- 

 tribution to the birds, and especially to the 

 robin, which feeds on its fruit. — Editor. 



here is a tree, or shrub, I never saw in the 

 North. During the civil war, when tea and 

 coffee, at least in this district, were literally 

 out of sight, many people planted yapon 

 nurseries. I do not know how large a 

 yapon will grow, but the largest and oldest 

 I have seen, are about 15 feet high and 3 or 

 4 inches in diameter. During March, 

 when the sap is running freely, the smaller 

 twigs, leaves and all, are pulled off, then 

 chopped fine with a hatchet and cured. 

 The curing process consists in drying the 

 twigs in a large kettle over an open fire and, 

 I imagine, resembles tea drying in a crude 

 way. When properly cured, a drink that 

 is an excellent substitute for tea or coffee 

 is made by boiling the leaves with water. 

 To my mind this drink has great medicinal 

 qualities also, and the old time people here 

 believe in its health giving qualities. They 

 say "y° u P on drinkers never die ; they dry 

 up and blow away." At all events, it is 

 the most satisfying drink in a case of fever 

 that I have ever tried. If I am going out 

 on the Sound to stay all day, I usually 

 drink youpon in the morning instead of 

 coffee and am troubled no more with thirst 

 that day. When properly cured and given 

 regularly during fever, it will produce a 

 heavy perspiration even when quinine will 

 not. I am satisfied that if investigated by 

 competent people it would be found valu- 

 able medicinally. In appearance the yapon 

 is very handsome. It has dark green 

 leaves, with red berries, like the holly, and 

 a yapon nursery is always a favorite resort 

 for birds, particularly mockers and cedar- 

 birds, locally called yapon birds. 



A. S. Doane, Waterlily, N. C. 



Kindly send me a recipe for extracting 

 the fragrance from flowers. 



Wm. Hadden, Courtright, Ont. 



ANSWER. 



There is no simple way of extracting 

 the perfume of flowers. The Department 

 of Agriculture has issued a pamphlet en- 

 titled, "Can Perfumery Farming Succeed 

 in the United States?" which can be ob- 

 tained on application to the Department. 

 It will give you all the general information 

 available. — Editor. 



Do you ever camp out ? If so, why sleep 

 on the cold, hard ground ? Why not take 

 with you a pneumatic rubber mattress ? 

 You can get one for 25 subscriptions to 

 Recreation. 



THE YAPON. Do not fail to contribute to the Larry 



The yapon, or youpon, which we have watch fund at once. 



