Fig. 25.

Planting of Black Locust in edge of woods, on farm of J. H. Gerding, six miles west of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Young Locust trees in foreground of picture.

veloped fairly well as a result of slight depressions in the land. where the soil is deeper, contains less sand and more moisture. Figure 28 represents the conditions along one side of the planting where the soil is richer and the ground lowest. Figure 30 was taken from the highest point in the planting and gives a more general idea of the unevenness of the growth as a whole. Note the low dwarfed forms in the foreground and the gradual increase in size and thriftiness as the lower, less sandy ground is approached. Figures 28, 29 and 30 may be compared with Figure 26, which is a planting of black walnut with soil and climatic conditions entirely different. The difference in results of a fifteen-year growth in a deep, rich sandy loam and a twenty-year growth in a thin sandy soil, in a locality exposed to the cold north and northwest winds, is well brought out by comparing these two plantings.

"The ideal conditions for growth of the black walnut are found in the rich, moist soil of bottom lands or on fertile hillsides which are protected from cold, sweeping winds. A calcareous soil or a sandy loam, containing a large quantity of humus, overlying a deep subsoil of gravel, and a water table in which the long taproots can find a continual supply of moisture, furnishes the best conditions for growth. The surface soil should be moist, but not wet, and the *subsoil porous.

"While not especially adapted to widely varying conditions, the black walnut will grow in many localities outside of its natural range; but its form and rate of growth are appreciably affected by its environment. Throughout the entire Middle West, south of the forty-fifth parallel, planting on limited areas may be attempted with fair prospects of success on all fertile prairie lands, and especially in coves, valleys and extensive bottom lands where the requisite moisture is present and partial protection from the wind can be had. This latter requirement may be secured by starting the plantation in the lee of a natural wind-break or by planting a shelter belt of hardy rapid-growing species on the exposed sides." ---United States Department of Agriculture. Forest Service Circular 88, page 2.