330 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
While there are oreat possibihties for harm resuUing 
from the existence of this white pine rust in the country, 
we must remember tliat it cannot spread from one pine 
to another as it must pass one period of its existence 
upon an intermediary' host in the form of some species 
of ribes. It is considered that the destruction of every 
member of the ribes genus within a quarter of a mile of 
a white pine plantation will secure the latter from attack, 
or if already [iresent will jirevent its further spread. It 
appears of far greater importance, and it would prove 
more effective to destroy root and branch of all ribes in 
the vicinity of these pines than to rest content with mere- 
ly the removal of the latter, which show signs of the 
disease. 
/VUhough in recent years planting red pine principally 
for lumber purposes. I have not entirely discontinued 
the use of the white, as the latter will probably do better 
in some situations. For instance, in clearing away chest- 
nuts all other species have been left, thus forming 
patches of bare ground which are more or less shaded, 
in these white pine has been planted ; the latter will also 
not object to a moist, not swampy, situation, which the 
red appears to object to. For districts south of New 
York the yellow pine ( Pinus echinata) should prove a 
A'aluable tree, but young trees cannot at present be ob- 
tained in quantity. For constructional lumber there are 
practically only three species obtainable which are worth 
planting in quantity for constructional lumber : red and 
white pine, and Norway spruce, their comparative value 
being in the order named. In localities north of New 
York the white spruce (Picea canadensis) may have a 
place, but it does not do well south of that latitude. It 
may be mentioned that these spruce are more used for 
pulp purposes. 
While the bulk of reforestation planting may, as re- 
gards conifers, consist of the above, we should endeavor 
to make the pleasure estate a kind of arboretum by plant- 
ing small irregular shaped groups of all native species 
likely to do more or less well in the locality. This proce- 
dure will not only be of great interest to the owner and 
add to his pleasure, if he takes a direct interest in sylvi- 
culture, but will greatly increase its landscape beauties 
and also afford a valuable object lesson as to the be- 
havior of the various species under forestry conditions. 
While it is unnecessary to mention the many species 
which may be used in carrying out this idea, there are a 
few about which we would like to say a word or two. 
In some districts the Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) 
has been rather extensively planted in reforestation work, 
but I would strongly advise that plantings of this species 
be limited to a few for the sake of having it growing upon 
the estate, even if the trees have been grown from seed 
obtained from the north of Russia, which do better than 
those grown from seed obtained in other localities. This 
pine grows fairly fast for a few years and in its early 
life is not an unattractive tree, but it does not last, and 
for lumber purposes is practically a failure in this coun- 
try, more especially when it is taking up room which 
could be better filled with a more valuable species. There 
are many western species which have been sparingly used 
for garden planting that can be effectively introduced 
into our eastern forestry conditions ; but one must be 
careful not to use those grown from seed obtained from 
trees growing in the Pacific coast region. Notably the 
Douglas spruce (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), which is one 
of the most ornamental of conifers, it has many varieties, 
some of which are distinctly glaucus. It is one of the 
most valuable of the western lumber trees, but has not 
been greatly planted for that pur[)ose in the east. It 
should not be planted in a position subject to the full 
force of winds in winter. It is being very successfully 
grown for lumber in western Europe and there appears 
no reason against it being more extensively planted here. 
The Colorado spruce (Picea pungens) should be scat- 
tered about our eastern forests for its glaucus shades, 
but it is not advisable to use any of the variety koste- 
riana. the latter is very frequently overdone in connec- 
tion with lawn planting, the contrast of its intense color 
being too great to harmonize and in natural forest con- 
ditions produces discord. Perhaps the most beautiful of 
our native conifers is the white fir (Abies concolar), 
which strangely enough is frequently overlooked by 
landscape designers. It harmonizes well with others and 
the distinct form of its needles renders it extremely in- 
teresting. 
-Among the exotics the Japanese red pine (Pinus densi- 
tlora ) appears likely to be a valuable addition to our for- 
est trees. My experience after planting a few under 
forestry conditions is that it grows somewhat quicker 
than the native red pine and so far has not been attacked 
by any fungus or insect pests. The larches, both Eu- 
ropean and Japanese, should not be omitted as they 
create a pleasing variety to the landscape by their fresh 
green in spring and yellow needles in the autumn : they 
also lighten up jjlantings of the evergreen conifers. For 
some reason their usefulness as lumber has not been as 
yet much appreciated in this country, but in some parts 
of Europe they are looked upon as being among the most 
profitable for this purpose, where they are used for min- 
ing props and fencing, the larger sizes cutting into good 
constructional lumber. In their smaller sizes they are 
useful upon estates for bean poles, stakes, etc., for which 
purposes they may be started two or three feet apart, 
and as they are thinned those which remain will have 
opportunity to grow into larger material. The European 
species appears to withstand drought better than the 
other. I have seen the Japanese species growing very 
rapidly in quite wet places, Ijut in sifch positions they are 
not likely to be very long lived and the timber will be 
spongy. 
It must be remembered that the behavior of a tree 
growing as an individual in a garden where it is given 
more or less attention in the way of feeding, watering, 
etc., is little criterion as to what it will do under natural 
forest conditions. While we should seek to make a pleas- 
ure estate forest the home of as many species as possible 
that are native to that part of the country, by adding 
from time to time those indigenous to other districts and 
to other countries, valuable information will be presented 
in the future as to the desirability or otherwise of using 
any of them in quantity for lumber purposes. 
Up to this point we have been considering conifers 
only, but it must not be understood that the writer deems 
it desirable to confine reforestation planting entirely to 
this famih' ; on the contrary, he believes that doing so 
would be, for more reasons than one, a mistake. In Eu- 
rope, where forestry as a profession existed many years 
before it was thought of in this country, there have been 
two schools of foresters, one who advocated and prac- 
ticed the mixed stand system, and the other who not only 
planted absolutely pure stands, but who kept them free 
from all undergrowth in the form of shrubs. During 
the past few years the latter have been modifying their 
practice and have now generally adopted the mixed 
planting system, that is, not mixed conifers only, but 
liardwouds and conifers together. It is now realized 
that such a mixture will produce a greater quantity of 
lumber of a higher quality per acre than if each species 
were planted in pure blocks separately. From a land- 
scape point of view the dift'erence is inestimable. The 
