stene: HURRICANE IN RHODE island 
15 
sidewalk against the base of the trunks and cut some of the heavier roots 
serving in part as anchors on the east side of the trees. Two out of 
three trees on the east side went over from east to west with trunks 
broken although they were entirely sound, while only small branches 
were blown off on trees directly across the road. It is true that the trees 
on the west side would have given an impression of greater ruggedness 
even before the storm and the fact that they stood up in spite of their 
high, wind-intercepting tops and the loss of some of the roots on the side 
where they needed them most, speaks well for the real strength of these 
specimens. One may well ask on the basis of this record for elms and of 
similar records for other trees, if it would not be well to propagate from 
such trees for future planting by grafting or cuttings in order to per¬ 
petuate in some degree the individual high qualities which they appear to 
possess. 
Another example of unexpected resistance to wind damage is that of a 
spruce tree on the main street of the same village. Originally there 
were two such trees growing about 20 feet apart in front of a house. One 
went down and fell across the street in a storm a few years ago. Most of 
the other spruces in the village suffered broken trunks from the hurricane 
and a few uprooted completely. The first mentioned spruce however 
is still standing with trunk intact and no evidence of damage except a 
slight thinning of smaller branches, while on either side sturdy elms were 
uprooted. 
Many more examples could be cited of variation in resistance of indi¬ 
vidual trees to wind force or perhaps of vagaries of the wind itself, but 
the cases mentioned must suffice. Of greater importance under our 
present methods of propagation by seed and our more or less careless 
planting is the relative resistance of different kinds of trees to storm and 
salt damage. 
In spite of a great many more or less unexplainable discrepancies in the 
effects of the storm on trees of the same variety, it may nevertheless be 
possible by observing a large number of trees, not weakened by borers or 
by decay in trunk or branches, to single out varieties that have stood up 
rather better than others and, other things being equal, it should be 
worth while to favor their planting in the future. 
Owing to the inevitable indefiniteness of each person’s observations, it 
is probable that no two observers will agree entirely in their conclusions, 
but if a large number of such observations are recorded by many persons, 
it should tend to establish a concensus of opinion at least regarding some 
of the varieties commonly grown. 
