38 
the several plats is shown by diagram, and a careful study of these 
diagrams will suggest to the reader a suitable mixture of such species 
as he may have available for his own planting. 
KANSAS. 
(Agricultural College Farm, Manhattan.) 
At this station the college had already planted about 10 acres in 
forest plats, a part of which was turned over to the Department for 
underplanting, together with 6 acres of unplanted land. 
t 
UNDERPLANTING. 
About 3 acres had been planted to Silver Maples, most of which 
had begun to fail when the division assumed charge of the work, in the 
spring of 1896, which gave an opportunity to establish a growth of 
conifers in the protection of the maples. The grove was planted 
between twenty and twenty-five years ago, the trees now averaging 
about 40 feet high. Very few of the trees were in perfect health, 
but there was a sufficient stand to make an almost continuous shade 
over the plat. A scattered undergrowth of Hackberry, Gooseberry, 
Prickly Ash, Dogwood, Elder, Buckberry, native Red Mulberry, Red 
Elm, White Elm, Catalpa, Chestnut Oak, Red Bud, and Sumach has 
sprung up among the trees since cultivation was stopped. <A slight weed 
erowth and some grasses also occur, making in all considerable soil 
cover. 
The location is on the slope and crest of a slight hill, the crest being 
the usual high level of the rolling prairie. The soil is the black loam 
common throughout the West, underlaid with a coarse gravel or broken 
limestone mixed with clay, below which is stratified limestone. On 
the crest of the hill the soil is very thin, the land being the poorest on 
the college farm. 
The following trees were planted in the maple grove without disturb- 
ing the soil cover: 618 Scotch Pine, 12 to 18 inches high, transplanted; 
545 Rock Pine (Bull Pine), 6 to 10 inches high, wild seedlings dug in 
Rocky Mountains; 1,155 Norway Spruce seedlings, 6 to 10 inches high, 
nursery grown; 1,235 Douglas Spruce, 6 to 10 inches high, dug in 
Rocky Mountains, and 257 Bur Oak, 12 to 18 inches high, nursery 
grown; total, 3,810 trees. 
The stock was all in good condition and was planted in with spades. 
At first there seemed promise of a good stand, Professor Mason report- 
ing 89 per cent of the trees planted alive June 17, but the long hot 
summer played serious havoc with the young trees, and the report of 
October 27, at the end of the growing season, showed but 11 per cent 
of them living. This heavy loss is attributable in part to the too dense 
shading of the Maples, but it is probable that the great demands of the 
