had been anchored by some of them penetrating cracks in the 

 reck: otherwise little energy would have been needed to fell it. 

 This soil, composed so largely of natural leaf-mould, is annually 

 enriched in the autumn by the leaf-fall from oaks, chestnut, birch, 

 and the other deciduous trees, and again in the spring by the 

 leaves of the hemlock itself, which persist over winter and do not 

 fall away to any extent before the new growing season com- 

 mences; this is nature's method of replenishing forest soils, and 

 any interference with it jeopardizes the food supply of the trees 

 and consequently endangers their health and vigor; they thus ob- 

 tain naturally much of their food from their own products of 

 previous years, and therefore it is not good practice to rake up 

 leaves within the forest. 



And, if I may he permitted to disgress, all natural woodlands 

 should he treated in accordance with this policy of let alone. 

 Artificial plantations in parks and on lawns cannot always he so 

 maintained, from practical considerations, hut the food removed 

 by raking off fallen leaves should be replaced at intervals by means 

 of fertilizers of one kind or another, giving back to the soil those 

 chemical substances which the trees and shrubs are annually tak- 

 ing from it, otherwise the soil will be impoverished. The vigor- 

 ous growth of trees is quite parallel with that of any other crop 

 raised on the soil, and no intelligent farmer would permit his 

 farm to go long without manure. 



A large part of the Bronx hemlock forest may safely be re- 

 garded as primeval, and this consideration is one of the most 

 interesting facts connected with it, because tracts of virgin wood- 

 land are few and far between in the vicinity of Xew York. 

 Doubtless individual trees were cut from it in former times, but 

 never sufficient to prevent its continuance. The Lorillards, who 

 held this land for many years before it was taken for park 

 purposes by the city, carefully protected the woodland, and the 

 thanks of the present and of future generations are due them for 

 its preservation; it was evident to the commission in charge of 

 selecting areas for the great park system of the Bronx that this 

 preservation should be continued, and their action in securing this 

 land for public enjoyment and instruction was timely, for its in- 

 crease in value, due to the northward growth of the city, became 

 an incentive to the proprietors to realize its monetary value, and it 

 was, indeed, at one time surveyed and laid out for streets and 

 building lots, as is evidenced by the numerous granite monuments 

 sunk in the ground ; a greater misfortune to the city than the 

 carrying out of this proposition can scarcely he imagined, and it 



