26 MISC. PUBLICATION 61, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



stands have developed. Plate 9, A, is a view of a crowded stand of 

 white pine in the Old Orchard plantation. In stands like this the 

 tree crowns are closed, many trees have died, and the long-persist- 

 ing dead branches make passage between the trees difficult. In 

 photographic work in such stands an exposure of 40 seconds is needed 

 as against 0.04 second in the open, under otherwise similar conditions. 



Some of the hardwoods were cut back the first season after plant- 

 ing. Whenever this work was done in the spring, the plants so 

 treated generally developed good shoots. Summer cutting back was 

 less satisfactory. But even when the first year's growth was good, 

 most of the plants cut back did not grow well thereafter. The black 

 cherry shown in Plate 4, C, for instance, made very good growth 

 immediately after being cut back, but is now worthless. 



Most of the planting at Biltmore was done with native species, 

 but a number of plants of more than a dozen species, mainly conifers, 

 from other parts of the country and from Europe and Asia, were 

 used in a few of the plantings. Most of these exotics have died. Of 

 those that lived, Scotch pine, Norway spruce, Japanese larch, and 

 Douglas fir are the best. 



Schenck considered that the Douglas fir raised from Washington 

 seed made better growth than that from Colorado seed, though 

 neither was an outstanding success. 



Some of the white pine was brought in as seedlings or transplants 

 from Germany. Their growth was not noticeably different from 

 that of the trees raised in the Biltmore nurseries. 



Ailanthus, one of the few exotic hardwoods used, was much dam- 

 aged by frost. 



The greatest part of Schenck's planting was in the spring — Febru- 

 ary, March, and April. One planting of white pine (Cherokee Drive 

 plantation), was made in November. These trees show no differ- 

 ence in growth- from those planted in the spring. The latest of the 

 spring plantings was the Norway spruce of the Spruce plantations, 

 put in after Schenck left the estate. Although it was the middle of 

 June before this planting was finished, there have been almost no 

 losses. 



Schenck's earlier records have several references to weather condi- 

 tions "at the time of planting or just after. Mostly the weather was 

 favorable for planting or tree growth, but it needed more than this 

 for most of the hardwood plantings to produce good stands. 



While the planting sites varied greatly in the direction and steep- 

 ness of slope, the effects of topography are not clear because of other 

 factors entering in at the same time. 



Although the United States Bureau of Soils has distinguished sev- 

 eral soil types on the Biltmore Estate, it has not been possible to 

 relate these to differences in growth of the planted trees. The plan- 

 tations, on their part, through the formation of fitter cover and devel- 

 opment of interlacing roots, have checked gullying on the steep 

 slopes, while the tree crowns have intercepted the rain and decreased 

 the amount of light reaching the forest floor. 



One of the results of these changed conditions has been a great 

 change in the ground cover. Many of the stands had a severe struggle 

 with weeds, grass, and greenbrier for the first few years after plant- 

 ing. In the white pine stands of to-day, however, because of the 

 weak fight, there are very few plants on the ground, and these are 



