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Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886
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255 THE FOREST-TREE PLANTATION. BY T. J. BuKEiiiL, P H . D., Professor of Botany and Horticulture. The experimental fruit-tree plantation of the University was begun in the spring of 1871, since which time additional plantings have been made from time to time. It is located upon the east end of what is known as the Experimental Farm, and at present comprises — acres. The land was originally prairie, but had been under cultivation for thirty or more years, mostly in corn. A part, however, had been too wet for tillage, and was used for pasture or meadow. Through this portion, before the trees were set, an open ditch was dug, which rendered the ground sufficiently dry for planting. The soil is the black loam common to the prairies of Central Illinois, but varies in different parts a good deal as to richness. On the highest portions, the wash of many years and the continual cropping without fertilization in any way had left the soil so poor that the common farm crops failed to be remunerative; while parts of the lower situations have a deep vegetable loam overlying tenaceous clay. In no case, however, has manure been applied—probably never had been applied—to any portion of the land upon which the plantation exists. As far as practicable, advantage was taken of this diversity of soil and location in planting, so as to suit the requirements of the several kinds of trees. The area is one hundred rods long from north to south and rods wide. The rows of trees run the long way of the land. An east and west roadway divides the plantation into two equal portions. The kinds of trees originally selected were such as were esteemed of special value or importance, but owing to various causes the list as first made has not been completely filled, while a few other kinds have been added. The following species of trees now exist in the plantation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. €. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Abies Picea excelsa Acer dasycarpum Acer saccharinum Ailanthus glandulosa Car ya alba Carya sulcata Castanea vesca Catalpa bignonioides Catalpa speciosa Fraxinus viridis. Gleditschia triacanthos Juglans nigra Juglans cinerea Juniperus Virginiana Larix Europaea Madura aurantica Negundo aceroides Pinus strobus Norway Spruce Soft Maple S ugar Maple Ailanthus Small-fruited Shellbark Hickory Large-fruited Shellbark Hickory Chestnut Southern Catalpa Hardy Catalpa Green Ash Honey Locust Black Walnut Butternut Bed Cedar European Larch Osage Orange Box Elder White Pine
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