The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-25


ing in most wholesale fashion. AS
matter of fact, all the good that ha
come from this forest destructive Nigh
have been achieved and a very muc
larger area of woodland preserved
But we have been a "slap-dash" people
| With a disposition to hustle rapidly t.
| whatever end in view. We are suffer
ing now by reason of previous improvi
| dence, and posterity will not bless US TO
! our present recklessness. 1t is true tina
| the government has taken up the sub
| ject, through the department of agricul
| ture, and several of the states haV
| taken action to preserve some publi'
| forests, Mr.. Vanderbilt is the first pr
| waite owner to take up this matter o
| scientific forest administration on ;
| large scale. Scientific administrator
! does not, it must be borne in mind, con
template the non-use of the trees, bu
the rational use, 50 that the forests vii
4 not go out of existence, but on the con
! trary, so that new growths will always
be maturing to take the place of the old
Such administration also contemplates
that the forests should always be a
source Of income, and not one of outlay
more income, indeed in even SO short
time as a generation, than would be oh.
tanned by cutting down all the trees anC
marketing the various kinds of wood
| 1t was such administration that Mr.
Vanderbilt wished to inaugurate wher
he asked Clifford Pinchot to make sur
yey Of the Biltmore forests and develop
a plan of management
Oh, ,a for Of he ty
ton of the fora Of eastern North Amer
lea, the supply Of native trees at Bit
more is naturally large and varied
Deciduous trees are in the majority, anc
the white oak Is the most common
Then follow in the order of frequency in
the forest the black oak, scarlet oak and
the Spanish oak. There are also a few
specimens of other members OF the fam
lily, like the chestnut of the red, water
and single varieties. But more numer-
Gus than, these infrequent members of
the family, save the chestnut oak, are
the short-leaf pine, chestnut, hickory,
black gum, maple and tulip tree, the
latter sometimes. called the yellow pop
lar. The black locust and the sassafras
have increased Of late years while the
DldCk walnut mas dUout ultu out 90 q
forest tree.
In addition to those mentioned, there
are distributed in various parts of the
estate, all of them being Of natural
growth this list of trees: Cucumber,
papaw, Eastwood and white Eastwood,
holly, sweetbuckeye, sugar maple, black
maple soft maple, red maple, box elder
staghorn sumac and poison sumac, both
the black and honey locust, wild plum,
wild cherry of both the black and red
varieties, crab apple, haw, scarlet haW
and summer haw, shadbush, sourwood,
laurel and great laurel or rhododendron,
persiminon, rattlebox, white ash. fringe
tree, red elm. blackberry, red mulberry,
sycamore, hickorles of the bigbud. shell
bark pignut and btternut varieties,
chincapin, beech, hornbeam or IRON
wood both river and black birch, black
alder, black willow, poplar, balsam, cot
tonwood, red cedar, hemlock and pines
of the white, pitch, scrub, table noun
tain and short-leaf varieties.
Not all of these have a mercantile
value, and before the estate was pdr-
chased by Mr., Vanderbilt they were al
lowed to grow Unfortunately and in
the most promiscuous fashion by the
number Of small farmers who owned
the properties Of which the estate Is
made up. That so many varieties of
trees and shrubs will thus grow natu-
rally is of advantage In view of the fact
that Mr.. Vanderbilt is establishing here
one of the most complete arboretums in
the world.
The forest comprises a little over one
half of the estate, which stretches along
the banks of the French Broad for
about six miles In all there are 1891
acres of woodland. The forest is very
irregular, as result of the clearing OPP
erations of previous owners, all of whom
had their own necessities and their own
ideas Of how land should be cleared.
The ak has In some parts entirely denu-
ded the land of trees, and fire has served
a similar purpose in other portions.
Density of growth therefore, varies con-
siderably, both as to the young and the
mature trees. Two things have at least
been proved by the work that has been
done at the forest. These are that large
trees, surrounded by a dense growth of
smaller ones, may be felled and removed
with comparatively very unimportant
injury to the young crop, and that the |
additional cost of the necessary care be- !
yond that of ordinary destructive lum- |
oerlng is so small as to be out Of all |
to the result. If this latter
'act should be established later on i'm
other parts of the United States, it's i'm
Jortance to the future success of intel
igent forestry will be of inestimable
Jalue to owners Of woodlands
rrhia sGlan tor, will hn oclt, Tod