Loss of native forests in the eastern and Midwestern United States by the mid to late 1800s spurred interest in conservation and forest regeneration for lumber. At what was then known as State Agricultural College, botany professor William James Beal recognized the need to investigate ways to regenerate forests and to encourage farmers to plant trees as commercial crops. He pioneered new methods of silviculture, including site preparation, planting, transplanting, and cultivating forest trees, and established methods for developing forest nurseries, evaluating native and imported species, and storing tree seeds and testing their viability. Many of these advancements were made in the arboretum he founded, and Beal became known as the father of Michigan forestry. The first trees were planted there in the fall of 1874. Beginning with two rows of swamp white oak on a 1.25-acre site, the arboretum grew to two acres by 1876, with about 275 species of trees and shrubs native to Michigan or hardy in the climate. As the campus grew, the arboretum faced competing needs. In 1898 a deer park was added in its southwest corner and an adjacent woodlot, causing considerable damage to trees and shrubs. The animals and fence were eventually removed, but that portion of the arboretum was then cleared for parking. Anticipating its loss, an annex was planted in 1902 between today's International Center and the Red Cedar River. The original arboretum survived the development of student housing in the 1930s and a proposed expansion of the complex in the 1990s that never occurred. While the last plantings were recorded in 1890, selective clearing and maintenance continued, and a survey conducted in 1996 determined that 69 of the original trees survived.