Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-05-14

| single varieties. But more numerous
| 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
poplar. The black locust and the sas-
safras have increased of late years,
while the black walnut has about
died out as a forest tree.
"In addition toR those mentioned,
there are distributed in various parts
Of the estate, all of them being OF
natural growth. this list of trees: Gu
| cumber, papaw, Eastwood and white
Eastwood, holly, sweet buckeye, 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 sum-
mer haw, shadbush, witch hazel, flow
ering dogwood, stagbush, sourWood,
laurel and great laurel or rhododend-
| Ii,
fringe tree, red elm, blackberry, red
mulberry sycamore, hickories OF the
bigbud, shellbark, pignut and bitternut
varieties, chincapin, beech, hornbeam
or ironwood, both river and black
birch, black alder, black willow. pop
lar, balsam cottonwood, red cedar,
hemock and pines of the white, pitch,
scrub table mountain and short-leat
varieties.
mot all of these have mercantile
value, and before the estate was pur-
chased by Mr.. Vanderbilt they were
allowed to grow Unfortunately and
in the most promiscuous fashion by
! the number of small farmers who
owned the properties of which the es-
tate is made up. That SO many varie-
ties of trees and shrubs will thus
grow naturally 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 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
! 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 a result of the clear
/ ing operations of the many previous
owners, all of whom had their own
necessities and their own ideas OF how
land should be cleared. The axe has
in some parts entirely denuded the
land of trees, and fire has served a
similar purpose in other portions
Density of growth, therefore, varies
considerably, 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 larg trees, surrounded by 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 beyond that of ordinary
| destructive numbering is so small as
! to be out of all proportion to the re-
suit. If this latter fact should be es-
| tabished later on in other parts OF the
United Startes, it's Importance to the
future success of intelligent forestry
will be of inestimable value to owners
of woodlands.
"This selection system will be car
ried on over the two-thirds of the es-
tate that is situated on the west side
of the French Broad. On the Other
side of the river the regular High For
est system is to be adopted. There
the land has been divided into nienty-
two sections, and there, in theoretl
cally perfect forest, the trees will De
! cut in one section after another in TO
| tation until the whole ninety-tWo sec
lions have been cut, when work VII
again begin on section 1, and be fol
lowed year after year until the whole
ninety-two sections have again beer
gone over with, when the rotation
work will begin again. Mr.. Wander
bilt. Young man though he still is, car
hardly expect to see this plan carried
out and the theory of perfect fores'
growth proved. That will be left te
| his heirs"