TREES OF THE UNITED STATES. In the articles Forestry, Timber,Timber Trees, range of, etc., will be found much valuable informa tion which has not been commonly known to the general reader, and indeed which has not come under the reading of many who take a special interest in forestry and tree planting. At the centennial exhibition, at Philadelphia in 1876, special pains was taken by the United States Government, to collect specimens of the trees of the country; showing sections of the wood, together with such information as could be had as to their distribution, characteristics and pecu liarities as could be obtained. Data relating to these was subsequently collated and digested and made public in a report of the Department of Agriculture, and we here reproduce the sub stance, for reference, in the interest of that large class whom it specially interests. The arrange ment is by Dr. George Vasey, the accomplished botanist of the Department of Agriculture, Wash ington. As collector for the Southern States, Mr. A. H..Curtiss, of Liberty, Va., a well-known botanist, was engaged. A large number of the trees of the Middle States were obtained in the vicinity of Washington. Of these, thirty species were procured from a part of the General Wash ington estate at Mount Vernon, now owned by Dr. E. P. Howland. The trees peculiar to the New England States were procured by Mr. C. G. Pringle, of Charlotte, Vt. As collector for the Western States, Mr. John Wolf, of Canton, Ill„ was employed. In making the collection in Colorado, he was assisted by Mr. C. W. Derry, of Granite, Lake county, Col Again, the semi tropical trees of Southern Florida were obtained by Dr. A. W. Chapman, of Apalachicola, during a two months' cruise by schooner on the west coast, among the various keys and inlets, and far into the interior by the Caloosahatchee river. A 'portion of the trees of Texas were obtained by Dr. S. B. Buckley, of Austin, whose labors in developing the botany of that section are well known ; and a portion were collected by Dr. F. G. Lindheimer, a veteran botanist, whose collec tions of Texas plants, made many years ago, enrich the principal herbaria of the country. In Utah, Mr. L. F. Ward, botanist of the survey of the Colorado river by Messrs. Powell and Thomp son, made the collection of the trees of that region. The trees of the high sierras of Califor nia and Nevada were procured by Mr. J. G.
Lemmon, of Sierra county, Cal. The magnifi cent coniferous trees of that region are repre sented by large wedge-shaped sections of trees from four to seven feet in diameter, the prepara tion of which cost a great amount of toil and expense. The immense trees had to be felled, and the desired sections removed by sawing and splitting with wedges until the portions were reduced to proper size. The trees of the Pacific slope, in California, were collected by Mr. G. R. Vasey, with valuable aid and assistance from Dr. Kellogg, of San Francisco, Dr. J. G. Cooper, and others. Dr. Edward Palmer made the collection for the southern portion of California, Arizona, and Southern Utah. Mr. A. J. Dufur, I enten nial Commissioner for Oregon, collected the peculiar trees of that State. After the woods were received at Washington, they were taken to a mill and reduced to the uniform length of two feet; then each section was divided by saw ing longitudinally into two pieces, which were planed on the sawed surface, one arranged to show the outer or bark surface and the other to show the grain of the wood, its color, density, etc. The corresponding botanical specimens for each species are displayed in frames arranged in the immediate vicinity of the trees to which they belong. By this means, an intelligent view of the appearance and properties of every species of the trees of the country may be obtained Great difficulty, says the compiler, was experienced in deciding upon the limitations of height and size which should characterize a tree. It is well known that certain plants which are only shrubs in some places become large trees in other places; sometimes the difference depending on climate and sometimes on other circumstances. Thus, Magnolia glauca, or White Bay, grows and matures its flowers and fruit in some portions of Massachusetts, where it attains only the size of a large shrub. It, however, steadily increases in size in situations farther south, until in Georgia and Florida it attains the size of a large tree. In some places, the same plant appears as a shrub or a tree, under different circumstances, in closely contiguous localities. Dr. Chapman, who made
the collection of trees of South Florida, says; I was much disappointed in the size of most of the forest growth in that region. A peculiarity of these tropical trees is, that for miles they occur to you as mere shrubs, when at some other locality you find them lofty trees. As a general rule, there has not been admitted into the collection any tree which does not, under favorable circum stances, attain a height of twenty feet and a diameter of four inches. Yet, in a few cases, to more fully illustrate a family, a tree has been admitted which would fall below that standard. The list given below enumerates about 400 species, the greater portion of which are repre sented by specimens in the collection. Some portions of the country have been so incom pletely explored that our knowledge of their vegetation is imperfect; yet it is probable that this catalogue presents, with great accuracy, our present knowledge of the trees of the United States. In two or three instances only, foreign species have been admitted, because of their extensive naturalization, in some sections. The two largest genera of trees are the oaks and the pines, of which we have about thirty species of each. Of coniferous trees, including the pines, firs, cedars, larches, cypress, sequoias, etc., we have about sixty species. The rose family, including the plums, cherries, thorns, etc., is represented by over thirty species. Of the order LegUminuste, or trees of the pod-bearing family, we have over twenty, embracing the locusts, acacias, redbuds, mesquits, etc. Of ericaceous trees we have eight species, including the Califor nian manzanita and madrone trees, the sorrel tree of the Southern States, and others. Of maples we have eight ; of magnolias, seven ; of ash, eleven ; of elms, six; t if walnuts and hickorys, thirteen; of poplars, eight ; and of birch, six species. The usual difficulty has been encount ered in deciding as to the standing of certain forms which some botanists regard as species and others as only varieties. In most well marked cases, these tire entered in the catalogue under distinct numbers, either as species or as varieties, as the evidences in the case seemed most con vincing. The range, or botanical region of each species, is indicated in a general manner, thus: Those trees which occur more or less extensively over the whole or the larger portion of the country east or the base of the Rocky mountains or east of the Mississippi river are marked eastern United States. This region is sub-divided, by a line running eastward from the mouth of the Ohio river to the Atlantic, into two portions, one of which is called North eastern United States, and the other Southeast ern United States. Other localities are indicated as Southern States, New England States, West ern States, Alleghany mountains, etc. The western portion of the United States and Terri tories is marked in detached regions, as follows: Rocky Mountains of Colorado, or Rocky Moun tains of Colorado and Utah ; Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, Oregon, and Washing ington Territory ; California ; Southern Califor nia; Arizona. The portion of the country adjoin ing the Mexican border is indicated by the locality Western Texas and Westward. Certain portions of our country have not yet been suffi ciently explored to determine accurately all the species of trees thereto belonging. This is the case with respect to the southern portion of Florida. Some species which at one time were thought to be indigenous in that region have not been confirmed by any late investigations, and will probably have to be erased from the list. The same difficulty occurs with respect to some of the trees of the Rocky mountains and the west ern coast, particularly the conifers and the wil lows. In a short time allotted to making this collection, it did not seem possible to obtain wood specimens ,of every species given in the catalogue. The number wanting, however, is but a small percentage of the whole. Among the good results growing out of this work, we may mention, first, that much information has been gained respecting species hitherto imper fectly known : and, secondly, that four or five new species, or species before unknown to our flora, have been obtained. These are mainly in South Florida, and include two exogens, viz, an anona or custard apple, and a chrysophyllum or star apple; and one endogen, a palm of the genus Thrina.T. The arrangement is as follows: