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Show SEEKING LARGEST TREES 'Foresters of the United States are interested in the announce. siont recently made by the American Genetic Association Associa-tion that two prizes of $100 earn !:;ve been offered for two jihotogj-.tphs oi.e of the largest tree of a nut-bearing variety in the United Statr?, and i e of the largest broad lea'." tie whiih d es not bear edible seed.-, in the first class, for example, are included tries such as chestnut, oak, walnut, butternut butter-nut and pecan; and in the second, trees such as elm, birch, m iple, eoUonwood, and tulip popular. Nj pnotographs of cone bearing trees are wanted, since it it definitely known that the California bigtrees have no rivals among conifer '. At a later time the association may take up the same que-tion as between the various kinds of conifers, as pines, spruces, firs, cedars an 1 cypresses. The purpose of the competition, as stated bv the association, i3 to find out in what regions the native trees attain their largest; growth, and under what conditions they thrive best. When these 1 n-je trees are located and the measurements iiul'ienticated. the association as-sociation iioprs thai it may be possible to secure seeds, cuUings, or grafting wood from tni ifty trees in the region where they grow, to see whether finer specimens may be propagated in other parts of the country. It is hoped in this manner to get some par.iculai ly choice strains of native trees established establish-ed in regions where good specimens are not now found. It is assumed bv the association that seed from the region where the largest trees grow ought to produce larger and stroi ger tree's than from regions where only small trees are found. By finding out where the large trees are and then planting seeds from them in other locations, lo-cations, the association hopes todemon-strate todemon-strate the practical, value to horticulture horticul-ture and forestry of the laws of heredity. heredi-ty. Now that reforestation is becoming becom-ing a pressing problem, the question of seed trees which will produce particularly partic-ularly good offspring is naturally com-inir com-inir to tne fore. Other influences, of course, will have a bearing on the subject, and the results re-sults of the investigation may help to settle the question as to whether trees can be acclimatized. E-'en if they can not be, there may be cases where trees i SEEKING LARCEST TREES (Continued from page 4) in a new environment may make better growth than the best in their native range. This is said to be true of certain cer-tain of the Australian eucalypts, and of the Monterey pine which does not amount to much in its native location in California Dut has proved of great value in New Zealand. The federal forest service has con- ..nnr..iioiMa wii ducted some studies along this line and has discovered, for example, that the Douglas fir of the Rocky mountains and the Douglas fir of the Pacific coast, while the same species, have different characteristics ?nd will produce trees like the present stock, modified somewhat, some-what, however, by environment. For example, if the two forms are planted together, during the earlier period of its life at least the Pacific coast form will make a larger and stronger growth than the Rocky mountain tree, provided it is not affected by adverse local conditions. con-ditions. Several other questions, such as the climatic requirements of trees grown in different localities, will, of course, enter into the final solution of the problem. It has been found in Germany, for example, ex-ample, that the Pacific Coast form of Douglas fir is not as hardy as the Rocky mountain form, which has to endure in its native habitat severe extremes of temperature, and German foresters have been working to discover a strain of Douglas fir which will combine, as far as possible, the hardiness of the Rocky mountain form and the large size of the Pacific coast form. Some authorities go so far as to say that even the ingenuity and perseverance persever-ance of man are unable to induce tree3 to change their habits far enough to a-dopt a-dopt a country not closely like their native habitat. This fastidiousness in the habits of trees has its good and its bad sides, they say. It absolutely limits the forester's for-ester's choice of trees to grow in a given region. But, on the other hand, there i- practical certainty of results. If ht-r-ch or spruce thrives where the average aver-age warmth and moisture of the growing grow-ing season from year to year ranges between be-tween certain degrees, them wherever i else the same average is found, in the northern hemisphere at least, the forester for-ester may plant beech or spruce, whether or not they are already there, with confidence that they will flourish. The announced purpose of the Genetic Association is to bring about the dissemination dis-semination of seed or stock of the best specimens, when found, to demonstrate if possible, the valve of heredity in tree growing. The contest for the $100 photographs is announced to end on July 1, 1915, on which date, says the secretary of the Genetic Association in Washington, the offer will terminate. |