xt7wpz51gs4n https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wpz51gs4n/data/mets.xml Linney, W. M. (William M.) 1880  books b96-13-34924312 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 Boyle and Mercer Counties  / by W.M. Linney. text Report on the timbers of Boyle and Mercer Counties  / by W.M. Linney. 1880 2002 true xt7wpz51gs4n section xt7wpz51gs4n 















GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.

           N. S. SHALER, DIRECTOR.



                 REPORT

                    ON THE


TIMBERS OF BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



     BY W. M. LINNEY.


PART XI. VOL. V. SECOND SERIES.



STRREO1TPRD FOR Tg S1 RVEY IY MAJOR, JOH1TONh  ARR-riT, YEtOMAN  US, tRARFOR-4, RX.
                                      349 A 350

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             INTRODUCTORY LETTER.



Prof. N. S. SHALER, Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey.
  DEAR SIR: In pursuance of instructions from the Office of
the Survey, I have for some time past been making a study of
the timbers of Boyle and Mercer counties. I herewith sub-
mit the results of my investigations, which, though not as
complete and elaborate as could be desired, will, I hope, be
found as full and correct as could be expected for the lim-
ited time given for the work.
  My thanks are due to a number of persons for information
given, and I take this opportunity to return them.
                                Respectfully,
                                     W. M. LINNEY.
  HARRODSBURG, Ky., July, 1879.
                                                   35-. &32

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REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF BOYLE AND MER-
                    CER COUNTIES.


                    GENERAL REMARKS.
  The district comprising the counties of Boyle and Mercer is
very interesting from the point of view of its botany and its
geology.
  As these sciences are so intimately connected in some par-
ticulars, I have thought it best, in the following report, to refer
briefly to its geological features, and endeavor, at the same
time, to show some of those well-marked peculiarities in the
distribution of certain vegetable species, largely due to the
variations and conditions of the soils.
  Though this question may not be viewed in itself as an
economic element in the present supply of timbers in this
region, yet the distribution and adaptation of certain species
to soils will become of great economic importance for the
future, when the propagation and cultivation of valuable trees
shall be forced upon posterity, either from necessity or for
profit.
  This district was one of the first portions of the State to
become settled; and as, for more than a hundred years, there
has been a continual increase in the population, it necessarily
follows that there has been a continual and increasing demand
made upon its forests.
  Resulting from this drain, about sixty per cent. of the sur-
face has been entirely denuded of its native trees, and over
the remainder a large proportion of its valuable timbers have
been removed.
  The destruction of late years has been very great; and, if
continued in the same ratio, it will not be long before the last
tree shall have passed away.
    VOL. V.-23                                          353

 


REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF



   A recently published item in one of the local newspapers
asserted, that of the woods renainiuig in Boyle county, seven-
ty-five per cent. had been destroyed in ten years.
   From my own knowledge of the county during that period,
and careful observations made during the year, I am satisfied
that, in some sections, the statement is no exaggeration; but
the proportion is evidently too large for the whole county.
   In Mercer, the destruction has not been so great, yet it has
been large enough to seriously alarm those whose attention
has been called to the subject.
  In the first settlement of the country, a great deal of val-
utable timber was undoubtedly destroyed in clearing the lands
for cultivation; but years have passed since any of the forests
were thus removed.
  Some logs have been cut near the Kentucky river, and
floated to market, and some lumber has been shipped out of
Boyle county by railroad; but the quantity has been compara-
tively small.
  It follows then, as a general rule, that the forests have been
felled, and their material used in the district: the cherry and
walnut for furniture, the poplar (liriodendron), oak, ash, and
chestnut for buildings; these, and other 'arieties, for fences
and fire-wood, and the bark from the chestnut oak for tanning.
  At the present time nearly all of the lumber used in house-
building and furniture is either imported from the North, or
from the mountain counties of the State.
  A number of small saw-mills are still at work in various
parts of those counties, cutting up the remnant of available
and marketable trees.
  Perhaps the greater part of the denudation may be viewed
as legitimate; but much of it should have been avoided, and no
excuse can be offered for the destruction, wanton sometimes,
carried on, save ignorance and cupidity.
  From all the evidences, I am satisfied that, originally, no
part of Kentucky had a fairer property in the size, variety,
and quality of its forest trees, or in the beauty and richness
of its general flora.
354



6

 


BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



  While over a greater portion of its surface the native plants
are gone, yet crowded back into the slopes and hollows of the
knobs, and the steep cliffs of the rivers, with here and there
a thicket, are many plants whose occurrence is rare; and in
comparing the incomplete list, appended to this report, with
the flora of other districts, and with the knowledge that this
is on the geologic summit of the State, I have reached the
conclusion that this section has been one of the centers from
which the plant life of surrounding portions of the country
has been distributed.

             GEOLOGY AND TIMBER DISTRIBUTION.
  From the deep gorges of the Kentucky and Dick's rivers
to the top of the knobs in the southern part of Boyle county,
there is exposed about fifteen hundred feet of rock sections,
extending from the Kentucky river series, the probable equiv-
alent of the Trenton period, up to, and including, the waste-of
the Millstone Grit.
  These various series of rock masses, from which the soils
are immediately derived, have given quite a number of soils
that differ very materially from one another.
  This dissimilarity is due usually to the chemical character
of the various layers, which, added to the qualities derived
from their depth, drainage, elevation, and exposure, seem to
be the controlling causes that have produced the diversity
observed in the distribution of a number of the species of
plants.
  To those who have not investigated the causes, the location
of various belts of different trees growing in this district is
remarkable. Some of them I will briefly notice:

                     THE TRENTON AREA.
  Nearly all of the region from a line southwest of Danville,
and extending between Salt river on the west to Dick's and
Kentucky rivers on the east, and north nearly through Mercer
county, as well as a strip extending from Salt river west nearly
through Boyle county, is based on the Trenton Limestones.
                                                          355



7

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF



  Through the first mentioned portion, there evidently once
flowed a stream, which in time became a swamp of some
depth, and considerable dimensions, but which had, at the
time of the first settlement of the county, been divided by
underground drainage into several portions which were still
marshy in their character.
  The timber was largely made up of those species that love
a wet location.
  Blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata) grew everywhere in
this belt, and in greater numbers than any other species.
  The chinquapin oak (Quercus castanea) almost rivaled it in
numbers and distribution.
  The sycamore (P/a/anus occidenla/is) grew at some points in
plenty, and of magnificent size.
  The buckeye, especially the Ohio buckeye (Aescu/us glabra),
was very common.
  XVild cherry (Cer-asus sero/ina) was here in considerable
quantities; while the hickory, black walnut (Jfg/ans nigra),
black oak (Quercus nigra), and hackberry (Ce//is occiden/alis)
were common. Among these grew many other species, with
an undergrowth of grape-vines, spice-wood, and cane. White
oak, birch, and poplar (liriodendron) were notably absent.
Surrounding this swampy tract, but based on the same lime-
stones, is a higher region, with better drainage and drier soils.
On these soils there was a considerable change in species.
Sycamore ceased; blue ash, chinquapin oak, overcup oak, and
wild cherry decreased, while white oak, black walnut, sugar
maple, and others, increased in numbers.
  A few beeches were scattered here and there, and where
the geodes and pebbles of the higher rocks were preserved
in beds, a few poplars grew.
  The red cedar everywhere covered the rocky walls of the
river cliffs, and dogwood, along with cane, gave variety to
the undergrowth.
             LOWER BEDS OF CINCINNATI GROUP.
  The lower beds of the Cincinnati Group, extending from
their base to the silicious mudstone, occupy the area between
356

 


BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



Chaplin and Salt rivers, in Mercer county, and also a belt,
extending east and west, through Boyle county, south of the
Trenton exposure.
  The beds here consist of brown and blue shales, with inter-
callated beds of thin limestones.
  These limestones have been much shattered, so that every-
where the roots of trees could penetrate to a great depth.
  That this is necessary for the white oak (Queicus alba), I
am not prepared to say; yet this is the most remarkable white
oak region that I have ever seen. The forest might be said
to be almost entirely of that species. Very often it is ten
to one of all other trees. Some red oak is found, and where
there are good east and west exposures, and a deep coating
of leaf mold, some clumps of sugar maple occur; few other
trees are seen, and many of those foUnd on the Trenton are
noticeably absent.
  The size and quality of this white oak was very fine, and
although the destruction has been great, the timber of this
kind, in the region between the rivers named. is by far the
most valuable within the two counties. The prices of white
oak I found to be from one to eight dollars per tree, accord-
ing to size and location.
  Its principal use is for fencing purposes, though many valu-
able trees are cut every year for fire-wood alone.
  The farms over this area, where the land has been cleared
a few seasons, are usually covered with stones. These stones,
if removed and put into permanent fences, would add value
to the land, and save in the cutting of timber; but the rule
is to leave them on the fields as they lie, or to pile them up
over the ground. Farmers lose the use of the soil thus cov-
ered, while the same labor would almost suffice to put them
in a fence; and this is done by persons who have to purchase
timber for their rails, or buy the rails made to hand.
  I am disposed to think that the average amount of the
white oak over this belt was equal to, if not greater than,
seventy-five per cent.
                                                          357



0

 


REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF



  From a number of counts I made over widely-separated
localities, where the woods had been little disturbed, I com-
puted the following table:

                        SPECIFS.                      Per cent.

White oak..                                             78
Red oak.                                           5
White ash.......... .                              3
Sugar maple.                                       4
Hickory..             .. .. .. .         . .. .. ..  4
Other species.6. .                  ,                  6
                                                        100

 Undergrowth, dogwood and some others.
 On the lowest beds that contained no shale were notably a
 few post oaks and laurel oaks. I noticed one peculiar charac-
 teristic of the post oak (Quercus ob/usi/obez), which I have not
 seen mentioned: that is, its tops are never erect. I have ex-
 amined a great many trees, and every one was leaning in
 some direction from a perpendicular.
 I have not seen a single point where any protection has
 been given to secure a reproduction of oak timber. The
 supply is not much greater than would be required to replace
 the inclosures were they destroyed; so it seems that not a
 generation must pass ere the white oak must be numbered
 with the things that were."

                     SILICIOUS MUDSTONE.
  The middle division of the Cincinnati Group here consists
of one hundred or more feet of exposed shales, that extend
east and west nearly through Boyle county. and form the sur-
face soil on Deep creek, in the western part of Mercer.
  With the exception of a few harder layers, it disintegrates
very rapidly, and, to a considerable depth, leaving a very
loose half sandy soil. This soil, after clearing, needs great
care to maintain its fertility.
  The surface lies in short, steep, rounded hills, and where
the soil or sod is broken, it is rapidly worn into gullies, often
many feet in depth.
358



to

 


BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES



  These soils produced beech as its most abundant growth;
but the walnut and poplar trees occurring on it could not well
be surpassed, the latter sometimes eight or nine feet in diam-
eter. Some sugar maple, white oak, and white ash were also
found, yet the species were few compared to some other soils.

         THE UPPER BEDS OF THE CINCINNATI GROUP.
  The outcrop of these, from their steep dip beneath the
knobs, in an east and west line through Boyle county, gives
but a narrow exposure, and their surface on each side of
the little anticlinal, through which the North Rolling Fork
flows, is also small. The timber, as a general rule, has all
been cut off. and I found it impossible to make out a table
that would exhibit the distribution over its surface.
  Sugar maple, walnut, poplar, and white oak seem to have
been the leading species, with quite a mixture of other kinds.
The same remarks will apply equally as well to the exposure
of the Corniferous, except that the waste of its cherty mem-
ber is scattered over much of the lower series, and thus pro-
duced more variety in the forests that once covered it.

              THE 01110 SHALE (BLACK SLATE).
  This formation, where unmixed with the decomposed rocks
of the upper series, is inferior for agricultural purposes, yet it
has given a fine forest of beech. Its outcrop is everywhere
marked by this timber, which, in many places, is the only
growth.
  Where it is disposed to be marshy, there is sweet gum,
swamp white oak, and some other trees, and where the Wa-
verly shale has covered the slopes, chestnut is often found.

                       THE WAVERLY.
  The greater mass of the knobs in Boyle county is com-
posed of the Waverly shale, and holds the larger part of the
remaining timbers of the county.
  From the various conditions of soil here found, there is a
  This is the Huron shale of many geologists; but it has been termed Ohio shale in
these Reports to avoid the risk of confounding it with the 'I Huronian."-N. S. S.
                                                           359



lIt

 


REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF



great variety of species; but in their distribution there is a
certain order.
  The tops of the knobs, where the shale covers the surface,
is well marked by the New Jersey scrub pine (Pinus inoAs),
rock chestnut oak (Quercus prinus var monticoea), and chest-
nut, with such shrubs as sumac, huckleberry, service berry,
and others. Along the streams sycamore. sugar maple, white
maple, and walnut, together with other kinds, grow.
  Where the leaf mold is deep, and the waste of Sub-car-
boniferous limestone has added its richness, and the direction
of the exposures give variety, almost every species peculiar
to the district may be found; but everywhere the best trees
are rapidly decreasing, and in many spots all the kinds are
being destroyed.

             THE SUB-CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES.
  This series of rocks is found only on a small portion of the
knobs. Where it extends up to the decomposed rocks of the
St. Louis Group, it gives a soil of fair character, which, as it
lies in a small synclinal, is better protected than is usual
in this section. Its principal growth seemed to have been
white oak, red oak, and black oak.
  A few patches of the wasted sands and pebbles from the
Millstone Grit have retained the characteristic cucumber tree
(Magwo/ia accurinata).

                   DESTRUCTION OF SOILS.
  Trenton.-The exposures of the Trenton soils are compar-
atively level, save on the steeps near the rivers; and as their
drainage is commonly underground through fractures, caves,
and sink-holes, the soil is not so liable to be washed away
during heavy rains; consequently, the destruction of the soils
has not been great, except in limited areas.
  In some places the massive layers of the bird's-eye lime-
stone have been uncovered, and the area become worthless.
This stone is so little acted upon by atmospheric and other
causes, that it must require ages to reproduce a soil over it.
360



1 2

 


BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



  Along the bluffs of the Kentucky and Dick's rivers are
many places that can never be cultivated, but which have
been covered with timber. These, with care, would still pro-
duce trees. Yet these have been and are being cleared in
such a manner that the little soil, exposed to the beating rains
and the more rapid freezing and thawing, is being washed off
to the bare rock.
  Lower Cincinnati.-Were it not for the great preponderance
of shales or marlites that this series contains. among the solid
limestone layers, the soils derived from them would hardly,
from the usage to which they are subjected, last five years
over the greater part of its area.
  Over thousands of acres of land that have been cleared for
some time, it seems, from an examination of the few trees left
in fields, that often, for a depth of several feet, the soil has
been entirely washed away; but such is its power and fitness
for a speedy conversion into soils, that every turning by the
plow leaves it as rich in plant-food as before. The lower
layers, notably those full of heavy beds of branching corals,
have, however, a different character, and over those beds a
large per cent. of the soils have been ruinied.
  Silicious Mudslone.-The soils on this group, from their soft
character and the steepness of their slopes, wear away very
fast when cleared and under cultivation. A slight break in
the soil or sod starts a wash that, unless stopped in its incipi-
ency, will soon gully down many feet. So rapid is this de-
struction, that only a few years is necessary to render whole
fields worthless. Wanting usually in lime and cohesive prop-
erties, it is hard to restore these slopes to fertility; so the ruin
has been great.
  Ohio Shale.-The soils derived exclusively from the Ohio
shales are, as a general rule, poor for agricultural purposes.
  Being thin, their destruction is rapid after clearing. The
surface exposure is not large. yet much of this has been in-
jured by the removal of the forests.
This inferiority is principally due to their ihpervious nature; when well under-
drained, they are nearly as fertile as the blu, limestone soils.-N. S. S.
                                                           361



13

 

REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF



   Waverly Shales.-This group of shales is left only as slopes,
often of considerable steepness, with here and there belts on
the top that are comparatively level over small areas. Those
level points have been cleared to some extent, and where put
in fruit trees, promise something for the future; but where
under cultivation, as soon as the leaf mold is exhausted, their
value is lost.
  This soil will not produce blue-grass; and when it has been
uncovered down to the shale, it seems to be impossible to
form soil over it again. Its character is well illustrated at
Knob Lick, near Danville Junction. This point, perhaps, con-
tains a hundred acres, and about one hundred feet of those
shales are here exposed. Bare of all vegetation, save a few
lichens and mosses, the soil all gone, and the shales gullied
down through the whole thickness, it is a miniature desert,
and a striking illustration of what the Kentucky knobs are to
become when they have been entirely denuded of vegetable
coverings.
  Hundreds of these licks now exist, and every year adds to
their ntumber. It required ages to clothe them with plants,
and this only with the aid of the fertilizers from the other
series of rocks. A few years, under the influences now going
on, will leave them bare.
  The complete destruction of the timber over this area will
be fraught with ill effects other than the destruction of the
soils. (See below.)
  The cause of the rapid destruction of these shales seems to
be two-fold. Containing little except clay, water entering
their crevices dissolves them, or freezing separates the parti-
cles, thus allowing them to be wasted rapidly.
  The other reason is due to the quantities of iron pyrites
which they contain. This substance is speedily decomposed
when exposed to the air or water. The iron, sulphur, and
alum in their combinations being injurious to plants, the
shales are left in a finely divided state on the surface, and
are swiftly washed away.
  These knobs should never be cleared, and as the old trees
362



14

 


19OVLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



are removed, the young ones should be encouraged and pro-
tected. They should be left intact, for all time to come, as
nurseries from whence the local timber wants must be sup-
plied, otherwise the whole extension of the Waverly will be
but one vast Knob Lick.
  Bottom Lands.-In Mercer county there are no bottom lands
of much extent, and in Boyle county the only ones of note
are situated on the North Rolling Fork. By clearing away
the fringe of timbers on the margin of this stream, and from
the more sudden rising of the floods than formerly, a great
deal of valuable land has been swept away, and each year
sees an additional amount crumbling into the stream to be
carried away. Proper care would have prevented this in the
past, and might save yet much for the future.

                 REPRODUCTION OF TIMBERS.
  Perhaps more than half of the surface of these two coun-
ties, remaining in woodlands, is totally devoid of young trees
of any description. Should they come tip, and the cattle not
kill them, they are carefully grubbed out of the way.
  The knobs contain much young timber. Some of the white
oak woods abound in small trees, and over the other sections
are left an occasional thicket where the young growth is
thick.
  A few walnuts have been left in some places. These wal-
nut trees promise little-growing isolated, and oftenest in the
sunlight, they become stinted, with forking heads and many
branches.
  The honey-locust (Gleditsechia triacantlos) gives the most
forcible illustration of this law of any species that have come
under my observation. The original trees of this species are
fine, tall trees, without thorns, and the young trees in the
undisturbed woods are unarmed; but wherever growing over
the county, in isolated conditions, they are low, bushy, and
covered from root to branch with horrid thorns.
  Trees, to grow tall and straight, and fit for lumber, must be
close enough to have their lower limbs shaded. These limbs
                                                          363



1 5

 


REPORT ON THIE TIMBERS OF



drop off in time, and, as the individuals run up, they acquire
long trunks. This seems to be the only condition necessary
to give valuable timber.
  As a rule, the poorer species are everywhere coming to the
front, and succeeding the valuable kinds. As far as I have
been enabled to investigate this fact, it is not due, unless
exceptionally, to any change in the soil or climate, but de-
pends upon the preservation and distribution of the seed.
  Perhaps the more common species to take possession of
the soil are honey-locust, black locust, coffee-bean, and red-
bud. The seed from these trees are protected by such hard
coverings that they are preserved for many years in the
ground. Year by year they make their appearance as young
trees. It is probable that they may lie in the ground for
many years, and only germinate when favorable conditions
arise.
  The seeds of the wild cherry, hackberry, cedar, and the
haws are widely scattered by birds, and germinate wherever
they may fall. While elm, box-elder, and other kinds, have
their fruit widely disseminated by the winds, and are among
the first to propagate themselves. Of the more valuable
kinds, their seed often do not last longer than one season,
and then may be entirely destroyed.
  The white oak has few chances for reproduction. The
woods are everywhere a range for hogs, and with the birds
and squirrels to help them, the acorns are all eaten, and I
found it impossible in the spring to find a single specimen
during a careful search. Yet where hogs have been kept
from inclosed woodlands, it is no unusual thing to see hun-
dreds of young white oaks under a single parent tree. Black
oak, laurel oak, and post oak having more bitter fruit, the
acorns are not so much sought after; consequently, they have
more chances in the race for life, and young trees are oftener
found. I can see no reason to prevent the valuable species
from taking and keeping the lead, if only a little care be exer-
See on thi. point the successive Reports of Mr. L. H. DeFriese, in the 2d, 4th, and 5th
volumes of this series of Reports.-N. S S.
364

 


BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



cised in the preservation of their seed, and in the destruction
of the poorer kinds of plants.
  For some purposes the red cedar (itzniperis Virginiana) is
a truly valuable species. Over all the limestone soils; where
the rocks are near the surface, it is increasing in great num-
bers, and does well on rocks so bare that few other kinds can
find a footing with it. Reason would suggest its preservation.
For fences and posts no wood is more enduring.  Last winter
I saw some stock successfully wintered in a cedar thicket. If
the wide-spread destruction of timber over the United States
is continued a few years longer, the erection of great stables
and sheds will be too costly for small farmers, and I know of
no better substitute that can be devised than groves of cedar.
  The worn-out farm lands, if put in trees, in time would be
good again. Started as nurseries of valuable species, each
year's growth would add value, both to soil and plants, and,
in a near future, they might be of more pecuniary value than
all the rest of the farm.
  Every farm in this district, however small, should have a
grove, where young trees, of the best species suited to the
soil, should have the same careful attention given them that
any other growing crop receives.
  The cutting away of woods over this district should cease,
and no greater proportion of cleared lands to forests should
ever exist. All the valuable trees of this region could be
raised nearly everywhere, and the sooner their cultivation
is begun, the more will posterity have to thank us for our
wisdom. The care and expense given in the past to such
introduced species as catalpa, balm of gilead, white poplar,
lombardy poplar, ailanthus, and others, would have produced
thousands of the most valuable trees, with no loss to the
beauty of home or country.

                OTHER DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS.
  In a region of unbroken forests the streams are usually
clear, and their flow is comparatively regular. The piles of
leaves, the beds of moss, and the deep leaf mold are as
                                                          365



1 7

 


REPORT ON THE TIMBERS OF



myriads of sponges that absorb the falling rain, the roots of
plants are so many pipes penetrating the earth, leading the
water into reservoirs, from which the whole year they find
their exit through springs, and thus keep up the normal cur-
rents of larger streams.
  In the first settlement of this district every hollow between
the hills afforded a rill; springs burst forth everywhere along
them, and every mile or so little branches- flowed where
the fish could hide. Stock found water on every farm. With
the destruction of the forests thousands of these springs have
been destroyed, and the rills have disappeared. The ruins
of the -old mill" are seen by the side of a stony gulch, and
passers-by wonder "where they got their water."
  The atmosphere has increased in dryness, and the ill effects
from protracted dry spells are far worse than formerly. Every
old person, with whom I talked, asserted that the summers are
more oppressive, and the crops more uncertain than formerly,
and that these evils had increased from year to year.
  Local rains during the summer are far more variable of
late years, and it is no unusual thing to see clouds divide,
and follow the greater belts of forests with refreshing show-
ers, while the intervening region, almost treeless, is left with-
out its supply. The greatest amount of rain over this district
undoubtedly falls over the knob region, as there is the great-
est and richest body of forests; and the fact is so patent that
it has been noticed and discussed by many persons.
  The heads of all the streams are located there, and, in a
large measure, they are the reservoirs from which the springs
and wells are supplied. The utter destruction of these forests
would be a great calamity, and one from which the district
could never recover. The streams of Knob Lick, Clark's Run,
Salt river, and Chaplin would cease to flow, save after heavy
rains, while the freshets would become much more destructive.
  The elevation and geological structure of the district make
these evils greater than in other sections of the State, and
every effort should be made to prevent their increase in the
future.
366

 


BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES.



  Added to the destruction of our timbers, as noted by human
agency, is another element that is alarming in itself. '/ice re-
maining, trees in our forests are dying, not singly or in clumps,
but over the whole country there seems to be universal decay.
Over the more rolling parts of Boyle and Mercer one may
travel mile after mile, and scarcely find a perfect tree.
  The elms (Ulmuns Americana) are dying outright, and the
mortality among them seems to increase year after year. For
some years past the dying trees have amounted to ten per
cent. of their numbers, and during this summer several of our
most observing owners of woodlands have estimated their loss
as high as twenty per cent. I have examined a number of
trees of this species, and find that the leaves are all punctured
and galled by some insect, until it seems that they have lost
the power to perform their necessary functions.
  The oaks, particularly the white, red, laurel, and post oaks,
are dying at the top. Everywhere, above the green foliage,
the dead limbs protrude, and each season adds to their number
and length. Growing trees require in a season an immense
quantity of water, and if a sufficient amount is not furnished,
the parts farthest from the roots suffer first. The blue-grass
sod absorbs a large amount of moisture, so that in seasons
of great drought little of the water falling on the surface
penetrates beneath the rootlets of the sod. The top limbs
die from thirst, and succeeding rains enter the rotten limbs,
and work downward until the whole tree becomes involved.
  Other species are differently affected; but all, in some form,
and to a greater or less extent, have incipient decay written
on them.  One great cause seems to be, that in the large
destruction of timbers, the proportion of insects to trees has
increased, and their destructive effects largely developed.
  From some observations made this year, together with the
recollections of some years since, there seems to have been a
decided increase in the quantity of the false mistletoe (P/to-
radendron flaveseens) which infests our trees. May it not be
that this plant is injurious to the trees upon which it grows
As this species has its habitat upon many of our most