EXPERIMENTS WITH INTRODUCED TREES, 



93 



EXPERIMENTS WITH INTRO- 

 DUCED TREES IN THE FOREST 

 OF EBERSWALDE. 

 The Forest Administration of Germany 

 has not been afraid to establish nur- 

 series and set apart wide tracts for ex- 

 periments, the most important centres 

 being in Bavaria and Prussia, in which 

 is the forest of Eberswalde. These plan- 

 tations are the most complete to be 

 found within the German Forest Ad- 

 ministration; the nurseries, enclosures, 

 and plantations devoted to experiments 

 with exotic trees occupy an extent of 

 not less than 200 acres and are about 

 thirty miles north of Berlin. 



The experiments are directed by a 

 high functionary whose reputation as a 

 forester is well established — Landforst- 

 meister von Dankelmann — by whom an 

 exact register is held of all the observa- 

 tions that are made and the results ob- 

 tained. 



Generally the trees are planted in 

 small enclosures for protection against 

 squirrels which abound in the forest, 

 or they are planted in bands some hun- 

 dreds of yards in length, in which case 

 they receive no greater attention than 

 is bestowed upon ordinary tree planta- 

 tions. 



The Douglas Fir. — Covering an 

 area of immense extent in the central 

 and the western United States and Bri- 

 tish America, the Douglas Fir is found 

 in a great variety of soils and climates, 

 adapting itself well to these various 

 conditions. It is very hardy, but averse 

 to limestone. The lack of rain in sum- 

 mer might seem against it in North 

 Germany, yet the plantations of Dou- 



glas at Eberswalde do not appear to suf- 

 fer in this respect. In all the plantings 

 the trees are vigorous, and in those 

 where the soil is at all fertile they ap- 

 pear to do admirably well. The oldest 

 plantations are eighteen years old, and 

 contain trees 36 feet to 45 feet high, 

 and in parts where the soil is poor sand 

 the mixed plantations present dense 

 masses of young trees exceeding in 

 growth many of the native Pines of the 

 same age among which they are grown. 

 In forest planting the Douglas Fir 

 I would therefore seem to have a future 

 full of promise in the sandy regions, 

 whether mountain, hill, or even plain, 

 where the soil is not too arid in sum- 

 mer. In Germany it yields more wood 

 than any other conifer under the same 

 conditions. The question then arises, 

 What use do the Germans expect to 

 make of the wood of the Douglas 

 Pine ? The remarkable qualities of the 

 wood obtained from American forests 

 are limited to the earth wood which in 

 any considerable extent is only obtain- 

 able from old trees, and the Americans, 

 in cutting only the oldest trees, are di- 

 minishing daily the extent of their re- 

 sources. A century and a half is a long 

 time to wait, and only Governments 

 can afford to invest for so long a period. 

 If, however, even the young wood can 

 be used in building, or in the manufac- 

 ture of paper, it is certain that North 

 Germany has in the Douglas Fir a tree 

 of the highest economic value. 



The Japanese Larch {Larix lepto- 

 lepis). — This magnificent Larch reaches 

 fine proportions in Japan, where there is 

 an insular climate, cool and extremely 



