xt7bcc0tqz0k https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7bcc0tqz0k/data/mets.xml DeFriese, Lafayette H. 1877  books b96-13-34924062 English Stereotyped for the Survey by Major, Johnston & Barrett, Yeoman Press, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Timber Kentucky. Report on the timbers of the tradewater region  : Caldwell, Lyon, Crittenden, Hopkins, Webster, and Union counties. text Report on the timbers of the tradewater region  : Caldwell, Lyon, Crittenden, Hopkins, Webster, and Union counties. 1877 2002 true xt7bcc0tqz0k section xt7bcc0tqz0k 









GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.
         N. S. SHALER, DIRECTOR.



             REPORT

                 ON nT


TIMBERS OF THE TRADEWATER REGION



CALDWELL, LYON, CRITTENDEN, HOPKINS,
   WEBSTER, AND UNION COUNTIES.


   BY LAFAYETTE H. DEFRIESE.


     PART IV. VOL. V. SECOND SERIES.



43 & 44

 
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INTRODUCTORY LETTER.



                        NEW YORK, September 17, 1877.
Professor N. S. SHALER, Director Kentucky Geological Survey:
  I submit herewith a report upon the timbers of the Trade-
water River Region of Northwestern Kentucky. Owing to
the favorable situation of this region, to its geological charac-
ter and the minute but important changes in its surface soils
and to the drain which has been made upon its timbers within
the last few years, which is liable to increase rather than
diminish in the future, I know of no part of Kentucky that
furnishes a more interesting or important field for the study of
some of the problems connected with the growth, decay, and
succession of timbers. Such of these problems as my limited
time and opportunity would permit me to consider, I have
briefly discussed in the following pages.
  I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness, and that of the
Survey, to the Elizabethtown and Paducah Railroad for facil-
ities of travel afforded, as well as to the many private indi-
viduals who, by their kindness, have helped to forward my
labors.
                 Very respectfully yours,
                         LAFAYETTE H. DEFRIESE.
                                                     45 & 46

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 





REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF THE TRADEWA-
     TER REGION-CALDWELL, LYON, CRIT-
          TENDEN, HOPKINS, WEBSTER
               AND UNION COUNTIES.


                    GENERAL REMARKS.
  I need say but little in regard to the method of timber
study pursued in these counties, as it is almost identical with
that described in a former report on the timbers of neighbor-
ing counties. In speaking of and tabulating the characteris-
tics of the timbers of different localities, it will be noticed that
I have changed my points.of study to suit the changed condi-
tions of the timbers. For instance, where there is a heavy
drain constantly made upon the forests by cutting and floating
out timbers, I have tried to find out about the rate at which
valuable timbers are disappearing, and to compare that with
the character and growth of the young forest trees, in order
to arrive at the effects of such drain upon the future forests
of Kentucky. Again, in another locality, where some other
cause is operating to produce other effects, or where similar
effects are produced by different means, I have paid especial
attention to this changed condition of things and so on.
  The valuable timbers in this part of Kentucky are chiefly
the following, which are important in the order given: white
oak, liriodenclron (yellow poplar), white and black ash, white
hickory (or second growth hickory of any variety), white elm,
black walnut, post oak, sweet gum, bartram oak, and cotton
tree. And when I say that these timbers are important in the
order given, I take into consideration their value as a source
of wealth to the State, which depends upon three things: the
market value of the timber, the amount of it found in the
Report in volume I1, this seies.
                                                        47

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS



country and the use to which it is put. Of course, the market
value of walnut is greater than that of any other timber in
Kentucky, and, if that alone were considered, walnut would
head the list of valuable timbers; but the comparatively small
quantity of it now found in the country places it low in the
scale. White oak must, therefore, be considered the most
valuable timber of the Kentucky forests.  In this part of
Kentucky, it is the principal forest tree along all the streams,
and on the more or less level, sandy soils. But, as a rule, in
these counties it is not spread over the hills as in some parts
of the State. Ol lands not more than twenty-five to forty-five
feet above local drainage, and on loose sandy soils at almost
any height above drainage, the white oak forms about 40 per
cent. of the forest timbers.  In hilly regions, however, the
white oak usually gives way to black oak, scarlet oak, and post
oak, at a height of about forty-five feet above local drainage.
But not all of this white oak, scattered along the streams and
through the woods of the interior part of the State, is avail-
able at present; nor is it likely to be for years to come. A
large part of it must be looked upon merely as a reserve for
the distant future, when the more convenient forests shall have
been stripped of their white oak wealth by the enormous
drains now made upon them. And in the following pages,
unless the contrary is distinctly stated, I shall confine my dis-
cussion of the rate of disappearance of white oak timber from
the forests to available white oak-that is, to white oak that
is sufficiently convenient to some railroad, or to some stream
large enough to float it out, to be procured without too great
outlay.  It should be kept in mind that the supply of this
timber, which is too remote from present means of transporta-
tion to be considered here, inasmuch as there is no drain upon
it and cannot be for years to come, is almost without limit.
This possible reserve, however, should not be allowed to blind
the people to the dangers that threaten the white oak in all
places where it is exposed to heavy drains. For, after all, the
expense of reaching timbers so distant from means of convey-
ance would cause a necessary resort to them to be almost as
44



6

 

OF THE TRADEWATER REGION.



great a calamity as the total disappearance of those timbers.
Besides, whenever a resort to such timbers does become neces-
sary, then the same rates of disappearance will apply to them
which are now found to apply to those timbers subject to a
present drain. For the present, therefore, I shall speak chiefly
of available white oak, and from this point of view.
  The valuable white oak timber of the Tradewater region is
to be found within one or two miles of Tradewater river, on
either side, and low down on the larger tributaries of that
river, where the streams are of sufficient size to float out the
logs. The same may be said of all the other timbers which I
have given as the valuable ones, with the possible exception
of the post oak, which grows abundantly along all the hill-
tops. The question of immediate interest is, therefore, what
is the present timber supply, and what the rate of consump-
tion in these available localities If the supply seem inex-
haustible to one who rides hurriedly through miles and miles
of massive white oak, sweet gum, hickories, etc., all the more
impressive, if not alarming, is the truth which closer investi-
gation forces upon him.  Especially is this so of the white
oak and liriodendron (yellow poplar). A careful calculation,
extending along the whole available part of the Tradewater
river and its tributaries, convinced me that about 30 per cent.
of the valuable white oak, which forms so large a proportion
of the forest timbers in these localities, has been cut out within
recent years, while the young forest will furnish only about 5
per cent. of this timber to take its place. So that, since the
drain upon the timber resources of the Tradewater region
commenced, about 25 per cent. of the entire available white
oak timber has disappeared. And even of that left standing,
the timber found is larger and more valuable in proportion to
its distance from a stream capable of floating it.
  The effect of this drain upon the liriodendron (yellow
poplar) is still more striking. In all the St. Louis limestone
regions of Caldwell, Lyon, and Crittenden counties, along
streams where yellow poplar ought to flourish, only now and
then could a tree be found. When I inquired if it did not
                                                          419



7

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS



grow in this region, I was invariably informed that there once
was a great deal of poplar in these localities, but that it had
all been cut out. The same is true, to an alarming extent,
throughout the whole Tradewater country. High up on the
Tradewater river, and on small and inconvenient tributaries,
considerable quantities of liriodendron are to be found; but I
know of no convenient locality in which any considerable body
of really valuable yellow poplar timber now exists. It is per-
fectly safe to say that fifty per cent. of all the available timber
of this kind has been cut out.
  The sweet gum seems to be plenty, and the white elm more
or less so; but it was impossible to form any idea of the future
forests of these timbers. The drain upon them now, though
considerable, is largely local. The black walnut is now mostly
second growth, and seems to be small, rough, and limby. The
reason is, I think, that it grows up only in open places, where
it does not have to compete with other timbers. It is there-
fore confined to fence-rows and road-sides, where the ground
is hard-trodden, or else to waste places where the soil is ex-
ceedingly poor. This gives it the character of a dwarf or
scrub timber, which the old forest growth did not have.

                     DRAINS ON TIMBERS.
  The principal drain upon timbers of the Tradewater region
at present, outside of the local saw-mills to be found along all
the streams where good timbers abound, is made by the spoke
factory of Booth, Dulaney & Co., at Kuttawa, Lyon county.
It is called a spoke factory, though in reality the firm manu-
facture, in addition to wagon and buggy spokes, hubs, felloes,
axles, etc., nearly all modern implements used about the farm,
such as axe-handles, broom-handles, ox-yokes, ox-bows, etc.
A large part of the rived spoke timber (white oak) used by
the factory is obtained from the Tradewater region. I was
informed by a gentleman who has had many years of expe-
rience in that branch of business, that the best and most
durable white oak timber in the United States comes from
the Tradewater and its tributaries,
so

 

OF THE TRADEWATER REGION.



   Probably the reason of this is, that the white oak which
comes from too far south grows up rapidly, and, exposed to
long summers and short winters, is too sappy for the best
wagon timber, while, on the other hand, that obtained from
too far north, owing to slow growth and exposure to long win-
ters, is too brittle for long wear. This is merely a suggestion,
however.  At any rate, the timbers from this part of Ken-
tucky are in great demand; and while I was in Kuttawa I met
Mr. S. N. Brown, of Dayton, Ohio, who owns one of the
largest hub and spoke factories in the West, who was then in
Kentucky preparing timbers to ship to his factory.
  Messrs. Booth, Dulaney & Co. use post oak altogether for
heavy wagon hubs now, and say it outwears any other timber
that can be used. Certainly their supply of that is unlimited.
A hill variety of white elm is used for buggy hubs, and white
hickory alone for buggy spokes and rims. White hickory is
also used for wagon axles, double-trees, etc., and the white
oak for spokes, bolsters, sawed felloes, etc. The firm employ
one hundred men constantly, thirty of whom are engaged in
cutting and floating logs, the products of which are shipped to
nearly every State in the Union. They pay from 5 to 7 per
thousand feet for logs rafted to them, or from io to 15 per
acre for good timber lands. Except the white oak, they bring
most of their timbers from tip the Cumberland; but when one
considers what an amount of white oak timber is here worked
up into wagon materials monthly, he can easily see what
an enormous drain is made upon a region whose available tim-
bers are limited, Add to this the almost countless little saw-
mills scattered along on every branch and creek in this whole
region of country, which can easily shift from place to place
as the timber is exhausted, and one can readily comprehend
what a sweeping destruction of forest timbers is going on.
Strangely enough, as yet the great factories of Paducah have
not turned their attention toward the Tradewater as a con-
venient source of timber supply for them; but we may expect
this as soon as the Cumberland and the Tennessee river tim-
bers begin to be exhausted. When this time comes, should
                                                          Si



9

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS



it ever come, an additional drain of 6,ooo,ooo feet of timber
per year will be made upon the Tradewater country. It is
needless to say that, with such an additional demand upon it,
the valuable available timbers of this part of Kentucky would
be exhausted in a few years. For I shall show, further on in
this report, that there is little hope of a young forest which
can take the place of the old one now passing away.

                 SPECIAL TIMBER VARIATIONS.
  It should be noticed that in a former report I spoke of a
peculiar, and, in many respects, remarkable belt of timbers
crossing the Hartford and Cloverport road, about twelve miles
from Cloverport, and running a slightly varying east and west
course across Breckinridge and Ohio counties. The ground
is high and nearly level, and the soil a loose, damp, sandy
formation. The belt is about five miles wide. -In passing
down the Tradewater I found a timber belt, which, from its
width, the formation of the soil, and the character of the tim-
bers, I believe to be a continuation of the belt formerly spoken
of. It is about six miles wide and crosses Hopkins county
between Garnettsville (now Dalton) and Providence. In this
strip of woods the white oak, liriodendron (yellow poplar),
white and blue ash, white hickory, black walnut (most of
which has been cut out), are unsurpassed in size and beauty.
They form a marked contrast to the timbers on either side of
the belt. If these two belts be the same, as I believe them to
be from similarity of characteristics, we have the remarkable
phenomenon of a belt of the finest timbers extending, so far
as observed, for more than one hundred miles, through other
forests where the timbers are good, but not extraordinary, and
following the general course of the Ohio river, though at no
point, so far as I know, nearer to the river than ten miles.
The belt is certainly not a level-topped, sandy range of hills
bordering the Ohio, for there are numerous hills and hollows
between it and the Ohio, on none of which -is the timber
especially noticeable.
See repo. t volume 1I, this serie, page 7.
52



1O

 

OF THE TRADEWATER REGION.



  But there is one difference between this timber belt east of
Green river, and the same (if it be the same) west of that
river, which deserves especial attention: that is, the belt
east of Green river is remarkable for its massive chestnut tim-
ber, often more than five feet in diameter, which forms a large
per centage of the forest trees. West of Green river, how-
ever, I was not able to find a single chestnut in all the coun-
ties passed through, and all those of whom I inquired said
that they had never seen a chestnut on the west side of Green
river in that part of Kentucky. Certainly this is remarkable.
The geological formation on the opposite sides of Green river
is exactly the same, so far as I could determine, and is, so far
as the surface is concerned, mostly the sandstone of the coal
measure group.   The regular pebbly conglomerate seldom
appears here, even on the hill-tops.  Certainly, in the belts
spoken of, I could detect no difference whatever. Both (if
they be two, and not, as I think, the same) are high, level, or
nearly so, damp and sandy, and the massive timbers of the
two are exactly the samc, with the exception of the chestnut.
If it be true, as I was informed (and it certainly is, as far as I
was able to investigate), that no chestnut is found in this part
of Kentucky,west of Green river, the reason why the chest-
nut should jut up against this river, and find in it a perfect
barrier to its westward course, is worthy of investigation.
WVith the limited time for study at my command, I could dis-
cover no cause for such a phenomenon.
  While speaking of timber variation, I wish to notice the
question of the succession of forests in Kentucky and to
mention the results of some observations made by me in that
direction.
  In the report before referred to (vol. II, this series),I gave
my reason for believing that the present forests of white oak
will be supplanted, in the future,by black oak, red oak, Spanish
oak, and such timbers, of which black oak will be the leading
timber. Two questions present themselves to me in this con-
nection for solution: i. Is it merely the white oak that is
supplanted by the black oak, while of other timbers each will
                                                          S3



tI

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS



be succeeded by one differing from itself, but not necessarily
black oak; or is black oak taking the place of all timbers
alike  In other words, will the future forests of Kentucky
consist of about the same timbers as the present forests, ex-
cept that each timber will appear in the place of some other,
and in a different locality, or will some one timber supplant
all alike, and be the leading forest tree of Kentucky in the
future 2. In case it should be found that no regular rotation
of forests is taking place, but that some one timber is sup-
planting all others, in what way can the present distribution of
timbers be best secured
  In reference to the first question, I noticed that in all those
localities along the Tradewater, if the immediate borders of
the streams be excepted, where the white oak forests are now
finest, but where the present timbers are fast disappearing on
account of the drain constantly made upon them, that the
undergrowth has about the same per centage of black oak
that the present forest has of white oak-on an average about
40 per cent. Very little white oak, indeed, will appear in the
future forest, even in regions where now it most appears. I then
noticed carefully localities where the present predominant timber
is black oak, red oak, post oak, or hickory, and in each case I
found that the undergrowth contained from 25 to 40 per cent.
of black oak, while no white oak at all appeared. It seems to
be an inevitable conclusion, therefore, that the present valu-
able timbers of Kentucky are disappearing, and that the
comparatively worthless black oak is to be the universally pre-
dominant tree of the future. This is not true of the hickory,
of which there will be as large per centage in the future as
there is in the present forests; while of white elm and white
ash, on account of the comparatively small proportion of these
timbers, except in somewhat low lands, I found it impossible
to obtain data enough to warrant a conclusion. My opinion
is, that they, too, will almost disappear when those in the
present forest are removed or die down. Of the swamp tim-
bers proper, such as sweet gum, sycamore, red elm, maple,
etc., I see no reason to expect a change; but of the white oak
54



12

 

OF THE TRADEWATER REGION.



and liriodendron (yellow poplar), which, after all, are the great
staple timbers of Kentucky, I believe the time will come, and
that far sooner than those who have not investigated the sub-
ject suspect, when they will disappear entirely from our forests,
unless some earnest effort is made to avoid such a calamity.
  The second question then presents itself, viz: How can the
present variety and distribution of Kentucky timbers be main-
tained I have two methods to suggest, neither of which will,
I fear, be acted upon until the people become alarmed at the
condition of their forests, and show more energy in caring for
and perpetuating them than they have shown in the past.
One of these methods is to plant trees of the same kind as
rapidly as the old timbers are cut away, or as the land is
exhausted and -I turned out," and to keep down other growths
until the planted trees get a start. This needs no discussion.
It is the method that mnust be adopted in introducing a new
variety of timber into a forest, as well as in perpetuating
some varieties. I believe that the black walnut, for instance,
can be preserved only in this way.
  The second method, which can be employed only where, as
is the case to a large extent in Kentucky, the present forest
is the kind desired, is perhaps the more available of the two.
It is well known to all observers of timber growth, that if a
tree be cut down toward the spring of the year, just before
the sap begins to rise, a large number of shoots or " sprouts "
will spring from the stump of the fallen tree. If those who
are cutting timber to float out would cut as late in the winter
as possible consistently with meeting the spring freshets, the
sap rising in the stumps of the lately cut trees would cause
this growth of shoots. Then if the undergrowth of the dif-
ferent varieties, which- already have such a start as to soon
smother the tender bushes springing from the stumps of the
fallen trees, were merely cut away, these bushes would get
such a start as to hold their ground, and the present forest
timbers would be preserved in about their present proportions.
This would really require very little labor; and, while I have
never seen the experiment tried on a large scale, I believe it
                                                            Ss



13

 

4IEPORT ON THE TIMBERS



would be entirely successful. Certainly,if the present forests
of Kentucky can be preserved by so small an outlay of thought
and labor now, it is of the highest importance to the people to
see that this source of wealth to the State is not allowed to
waste away. Otherwise, their descendants of a few genera-
tions hence will be compelled to go through the slow and
laborious process of planting and cultivating those very tim-
bers which are so abundant to-day, and which, by a little care
on the part of their forefathers, might have been left to them
as a rich inheritance.
             SOME EFFECTS OF TIMBER CLEARING.
  It is a lamentable practice in most farming regions of Ken-
tucky, when a piece of ground becomes somewhat exhausted,
to clear another piece and tear down the fence of the former
to inclose the latter, leaving the worn-out lands exposed to the
ravages of stock, in addition to washing rains. The conse-
quence is, that cattle eat down each little bush or weed, on the
lands thus suddenly exposed, as fast as it appears. As the soil
has been lately cultivated, and is comparatively loose, a few
heavy rains start myriads of -gullies " in the ground, whose
only protection against such washes was removed by "turn-
ing the land out," and allowing the cattle to eat down the little
herbage and bushes that might otherwise have cemented the
surface soil. A few years of such exposure gives the "washes "
such a start that no amount of care and labor can preserve the
land from utter destruction. If one reflects upon how many
farmers there are in Kentucky, and that the vicious system of
culture pursued by them consists, in the greater part of the
State, in thus clearing a piece of land, working it without
manure or much rotation of crops, year after year, until ex-
hausted, a process which, on an average, requires only five or
six years, when they abandon it and clear new ground, one
can realize how many acres of the land of Kentucky are thus
annually -turned out." Aside from the destruction of valua-
ble forests entailed by such a system of cultivation, the effects
upon the soil and climate of the regions thus cleared are very
s6



14

 

OF THE TRADEWATER REGION.



serious. Granted that in the course of years other forests
will spring up in such districts, I have elsewhere shown that
these new forests will be comparatively valueless, so far as the
timbers are concerned. Of course, their presence would pre-
vent the further washing of the soil and change of climate
produced by barrenness, but nothing more. In fact, however,
I see little hope of a worn-out soil thus exposed ever re-
clothing itself with timbers of any kind. Timber growth upon
such exhausted soils is so slow that its battle with washing
rains would be doubtful, even with the best protection that
could be given it; but when to the washing of rains is also
added the ravages and trampling of cattle, and other such
things incident to a totally exposed piece of once cultivated
soil, I believe that the chances of a new forest growth are
exceedingly poor. I have myself seen a piece of exhausted
land that had stood thus, as I was informed, for twenty years.
In it I measured washes fourteen feet deep and twelve feet
wide, while almost every square yard was crossed by a " rut "
or - gully" of greater or less size. A few scraggy persimmon
bushes occupied the still unwashed spots; but it seemed to
me inevitable that the entire two hundred acres of once fertile
ground would soon have its surface soil completely washed
away. If the farming lands of Kentucky were level prairie
lands, the facts here spoken of would not be so serious; but,
on the contrary, the ground is hilly or rolling, and the effects
of reckless destruction of forests on such lands are always
fatal. I have not seen these effects better stated than in the
London Spectator of June i6, 1877, which says:
  "The evidence that the great floods which have from time
to time, during the last half century, been so destructive in
Switzerland, and in many districts of France and Italy, have
been mainly caused by the felling of the forests on the high
grounds, appears to be overwhelming.  In the department
of the Loire especially, it was universally remarked, that the
wooded grounds suffered no change, while in the denuded
districts, the whole soil of cleared and cultivated fields was
swept away, and the rocks laid bare; The same was seen in
                                                           57



15

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS



the upper Rhine in i868. The clearings in the province of
the Ardeche have produced the most melancholy results with-
in the last thirty years, one third of its area having become
barren; and new torrents had, in 1842, destroyed 70,ooo acres
of land, an evil which has been going on ever since that time.
The denudation of the crests of the Vosges has done infinite
harm in Alsace. Many places in Provence, rich and inhab-
ited half a century ago, have become deserts. TIhousands of
torrents have been formed within the last dozen years on the
southern flank of the Piedmontese Alps and in Dauphiny, and
grassy slopes have been converted into stony chasms by the
cutting of the woods above. In the department of the lower
Alps, between 1842 and 1852, 6i,ooo acres went out of culti-
vation from this cause. In Italy, the demand for Italian iron
during the wars of Napoleon 1, the trade with England being
cut off, necessitated vast cuttings of wood for fuel, and the
effects are felt to this day. especially in the valley of the Po.
In fact, there is scarcely a country on the continent of Europe
in which the reckless destruction of forest has not been ad-
mitted, both in popular belief and by the verdict of science,
to have been the cause of misery, of the amount of which the
majority even of well-informed persons in England have little
conception."
  Change the names in this article to those of the hills and
mountains of Kentucky, and the process now going on in our
State will be startlingly described.
  Another result of the reckless clearing up of forests and
destruction of timbers is the effect produced upon the climate.
I shall have little to say upon this subject, for it lies without
the proper sphere of my inquiry.  It is a fact, thoroughly
proved by experience, that in the far West, as civilization
pushes itself backward, clearing up the forests as it goes, the
change in climate brought about in a few years is very marked.
The winters grow bleaker and colder, the springs later, and
the summers drier and more subject to alternations of violent
storms and long droughts. The reason for this I believe to
be as follows: Heavy forests produce two effects upon cli-
58



t6

 

dF 'ME TRADEWATkR REGION.



mate in winter-they break the cold, bleak winds that sweep
over the country, and give it protection in that way; and they
add actual warmth to it from what I believe to be the fact,
that the temperature of a living tree never falls quite so low
as that of the surrounding atmosphere in exceedingly cold
weather. Let the difference be ever so slight, where a coun.
try is thickly studded with trees, each one a very little warmer
than the atmosphere about it, the effect of the whole upon
the climate will be very appreciable. In summer, too, where
millions of trees are drawing uIp water from their deeply-set
roots to be evaporated from the leaves, the atmosphere must
always be more moist and pure than it would be were it to
receive no such water supply to give back in dews at night.
This moisture prevents, to some extent, the long droughts to
which a country without forests is subject, and, added to the
purity of an air washed in fresh dews nightly, tends to prevent
the violent storms of wind and lightning which result from a
long heated and impure atmosphere. I am well aware that
Mr. Meehan, and others equally profound and scholarly, argue
that " forests are the result, not the causes of climate," and I
am also aware that there are many obvious facts which point,
in a certain degree, to that conclusion. Thus, for instance,
one might mention the difference between a tropical forest
and that of a temperate or frigid climate, or even point to the
difference between timbers at different heights, and therefore
different temperatures, on1 the same mountain.  Such argu-
ments, however, only go to show that certain timbers are best
adapted to certain climates, and that originally there would be
no forest at all on a piece of ground not naturally adapted to
a forest growth, or that whatever forest did appear, would be
the one best adapted to the soil, temperature. and other con-
ditions of growth. But they by no means show, or tend to
show, that a given wide range of country would be exactly the
same, so far as climate is concerned, whether it were barren
or covered with heavy forests.  This subject, in its details,
however, even were it properly a part of my discussion, is too
complicated for further notice, and demands more investiga-
                                                          59



7j

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS



tion than I could give to it. A course of long and careful
inquiry in this direction, by some able meteorologist and bot-
anist, would be of almost incalculable benefit.

                     TIMBER IN DETAIL.
  I shall now proceed to give in detail an account of the tim-
bers to be found in the counties wnder discussion, and their
local variations. In the immediate vicinity of Princeton the
principal timbers noted were bartram oak, white ash, red oak,
black oak, swamp white oak, sugar-tree (black), black hickory,
white hickory, and liriodendron (yellow poplar). Bartram oak
is seldom found, except in low, damp soils, or along streams;
but near Princeton considerable quantities appear in a flat
woodland quite high and dry. A large per centage of white
ash also appears in the same woodland, which lies about one
mile from Princeton. With the exception of this woodland,
the timbers are mostly cleared away for two or three miles
around. The formation is Sub-carboniferous limestone, of
Chester Group on high ground, and of St. Louis limestone
on low grounds.
  In going toward Eddyville, the principal swamp or lowland
timbers are, in addition to those given above, yellow birch,
pin oak, sweet gum, white and red elm, sycamore, black wal-
nut, and such small growth as flowering dogwood, pith elder,
redbud (in small quantities), etc.  The