vi 



PREFACE 



The general plan of the work and the detailed 

 instructions according to which the notes and 

 measurements were taken originated with the 

 undersigned. He is also responsible for such 

 criticism as his experience suggested, and for 

 the ultimate form into which the conclusions 

 have been cast. He wishes to express, both for 

 Mr. Graves, now prosecuting his forest studies 

 abroad, and for himself, a deep sense of obliga- 

 tion to the gentlemen whose wise and kindly ac- 

 tion has resulted in this first systematic descrip- 

 tion of the growth of a North American tree. 



Sincere thanks are also due to Dr. W. Schlich 

 for the table taken from his Manual of Forestry, 

 and to Prof. C. S. Sargent, who has been kind 

 enough to look over the proof of Chapter III., 

 and to bring such of the Latin names as have 

 recently been changed into conformity with the 

 latest progress of botanical nomenclature. Prof. 

 Sargent is not responsible, however, for the 

 omission of capital letters in certain of the 

 specific names. 



Mr. Morris K. Jesup has been good enough to 

 permit the use of a drawing from which the de- 

 sign on the cover has been adapted, and Mr. 

 Romeyn B. Hough has kindly furnished the 

 photograph of a first-growth Adirondack Pine 

 reproduced in the frontispiece. 



