6 
true where the age, not of a given tree, but of a grove of old timber 
is wanted, and there exists a choice of trees so that the most regularly 
grown specimens may be selected. 
Since the reliability of the annual ring as a measure of age or time, 
Yr S y b 
KGS OuterBark 
Fic. 7.—Blaze five years after cut was made: a, front view showing rim 
of callus; Db, cross section. 
that is, its essen- 
tial character as 
annual ring, has 
so often been a 
subject of con- 
troversy in this 
country, a few 
words by way 
of evidence in 
favor of the com- 
monly accepted 
position may 
prove accepta- 
ble. The cor- 
rectness of the 
rings as record 
forms a funda- 
mental tenet in 
the science of 
forestry as prac- 
ticed abroad, 
and has within 
the last half cen- 
tury been veri- 
fied by tens of 
thousands of 
countings made 
on trees of all 
European forest 
species in almost 
all parts of 
Europe, and on 
trees where time 
of seeding, 
planting, age of 
plant stock, etc., 
were accurately 
known from permanent records. Generally these countings were 
made for purposes other than the mere determination ‘of age, but 
nevertheless serve to-day as incontrovertible, accurate,-evidence at 
least for Europe and its species. But there are also in the same 
