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Fic. 1. In the Woods
mono! BOOK OF
PEORESTR YE
BY
FILIBERT ROTH
CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF FORESTRY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR, IN CHARGE OF THE WORK IN THE GOVERNMENT FOREST
RESERVES, AND FORMERLY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF
FORESTRY IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Boston, U.S.A., anp LONDON
GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
The Atheneum ress
1902
ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL
COPYRIGHT, 1902
By FILIBERT ROTH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PREFACE
DuRInG the last twenty years the general interest in forestry
has grown with remarkable rapidity in all parts of our country.
The federal government has set aside large forest reserves, and
several states have established reservations or parks. The pri-
vate owners of large tracts of forest lands are employing trained
foresters to care for their property, and an improvement in the
smaller holdings is everywhere noticeable.
Forestry is taught in two special schools in America, and
elementary courses on the subject are given in several colleges
and preparatory schools. A desire has been expressed to intro-
duce this useful and interesting study into our public schools
and country homes, and this volume is an attempt to provide a
book on the subject which shall satisfy this demand. In keep-
ing with this purpose there has been no attempt to write a text-
book or manual of forestry; but an effort has been made to
present in simple, non-technical language some of the general
principles underlying the science, and to state the methods
which are employed and the objects to be attained in the practice
of forestry.
Early association with the well-kept forests of Germany,
observations made in the widely differing forest districts of our
own country, and three years’ experience in teaching forestry
have helped to make the responsible task of preparing this book
a pleasure. While, as a matter of course, the many excellent
German works on forestry have served as a basis and a guide
ill
IV PREFACE
in writing the book, yet an effort has been made to use our
own woods for illustrations and to adapt the subject-matter to
American conditions.
The collecting of the illustrations has been greatly facilitated
by the kindness of Dr. L. N. Britton, Col. Wm. F. Fox, Prof.
J. A. Holmes, Messrs. Newell and Gannett of the United States
Geological Survey, Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Prof. N. Gifford, and
Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau of Forestry of the
United States Department of Agriculture. To these gentlemen
I extend my sincere thanks.
Especial thanks are due to Mrs. Anna B. Comstock of the
Bureau of Nature Study of Cornell University, whose kind
interest and request called this book into existence. Her good
judgment has proved of great value in the arrangement of the
subject-matter, and her assistance in seeing the book through
the press has made its early publication possible.
FILIBERT ROTH.
CONTENTS
PART I—THE FOREST
Tue WiLpwoops . ; ; : E ;
Wauat Licgut AND SHADE DO FOR THE Woops : ;
Wuat DirrERENT SOILS DO FOR THE Woops
Wuat MoistTurE DOES FOR THE Woops
Wuat Heat anp CoLtp po ror THE Woops ; . :
Woops AND THE MounrvaAINS . ; ‘ . : ;
PART II— FORESTRY
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST : : : ; :
Coppice Woops ; ; , : : :
THe OrpINARY TIMBER FOREST . . F : : :
STARTING THE YOUNG GROWTH UNDER SEED TREES .
STARTING THE YOUNG GROWTH BY SEEDING FROM THE SIDE
STARTING THE YOUNG GrRowTH BY ARTIFICIAL PLANTING
OR SOWING ; :
Review or Metnops ;
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST
THINNING AND CLEANING : ; ; : ,
PROTECTION AGAINST INJURY FROM THE ELEMENTS
PROTECTION AGAINST ANIMALS
PROTECTION AGAINST INJURIOUS PLANTS
UsE OF THE FOREST
CutTtrinc TIMBER . : . ; : : : ,
ESTIMATING AND MEASURING TIMBER .
Vv;
vl CONTENTS
PAGE
RESIN AND TURPENTINE INDUSTRY : ; : ; : 174
SEEDS AND MAstT : 5 ; : . : 3 : 77
PASTURAGE . : : ‘ : 2 : : z ; 178
GAME AND FIsH ; f , F = : : : 180
THE BUSINESS OF THE FOREST . : é ; Z : : 182
SpecrAL Kinps OF FORESTS . : ‘ : : : ; 154
Dine Woop Lor ~: s ; ; , : : : . 184
WastTrE LANDs . : : : 3 : : : : 195
Forest PLANTATIONS ON PRAIRIES - : : : ; 195
SAND DuNES . : ; ; : ; : : ; 198
PART III—RELATED TOPICS
THE FOREST AS A PROTECTIVE COVER : ; P : 2 203
THE FORESTS OF OUR COUNTRY A . ; 4 ; 2 209
Some History : . : ; 5 : 3 : : , Dit
Ture Woop i . ; ; ; : : hl te eet d 217
Some STRUCTURAL FEATURES E : : , : : 217
Some PuHysICAL PROPERTIES . F ; , 3 ‘ 22
SomE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES : : : ; ; : 230
Woop AS COMPARED WITH IRON . ; : : ; 232
How TO DISTINGUISH OUR COMMON TREES : : 3 : 238
CONIFERS . : : 5 5 : ; : : s 240
Broap-LEAVED TREES ‘ ‘ . : : , ‘ 246
How TO USE THE KEY ‘ 2 : 3 : : , 256
APPENDIX
I. THE Doyie-ScrIBNER LOG SCALE . ; : : sree
II. TABLE oF CIRCLES : : : : : ; . 260
Ill. Lisr of Woops Aanp TREES ; : : ; ; : 261
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MEOITINGHCMNIOMGSi ess lw klk tk ke I’rontispiece
1
2. Beech Woods
3. The “ Long-Bodied ” Oak of iS roe:
4. The “Short-Bodied” Tree of the Open
5. Badly Healed Knot est es
6. The “Blaze” as it appeared when first made
7
8
9
. The “ Blaze” partly healed over, as it ap ae seven years ago .
8. The “ Blaze” just covered, as it looks now
. Nature’s Methods are Wasteful .
10. Even Spruce is made to “clean ” itself
11. “Leaders” on White Pine and Balsam
12. Longleaf Pine .
13. Too Dry for Forest
14. Too Much Water kills
15. Used to Water .
16. Cypress Swamp
17. Palmetto : rape ve
18. Coniferous Forests alone climb our High Oauinin Ranges
19 a. Coppice Woods .
19 6. Coppice Woods .
20. Stump and Sprouts ;
21. The Wrong Way to cut the stains
22. The Right Way to cut the Stumps .
23. A Little Light starts Young Growth : ‘
24. Young Growth of White Pine under Old Seed Trees .
25. Natural Seeding from the Side
26. White-Pine Cone, Seed, and Seedling .
27. Drill Board
28. Seed Beds
29. Seedlings ce ee 2 sake il etnias
30. Planting in Old Burned-oyer Slash Gada in Adisenies ks
Vii
PAGE
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
. Planting Tools :
. Pine Grove from Planted Sea :
3. An Oak Grove from Artificial Seeding
Which should come out? .
Thinned, but will need it again
A « Burn”
Tangle after Fire
. The Camp Fire as it should be .
Trenching a Forest Fire .
Fighting Fire in the Adirondacks .
. The Fires have cleaned up
A Fire “Slash” in the Adirondacks .
The Imported Elm Leaf Beetle :
Pine Weevil: Adult Beetle, Pupa, and Car, or ea :
Seale Insect on White-Pine Leaves
j. Bark Beetles and their Work
A Destroyer of Forest and Shade Tree: the White-Marked Tus-
sock Moth.
Fall Webworm :
One of the Greatest Rear of ae Fi orest .
Cutting Spruce in the Adirondacks
The Tools we use :
Skidding Spruce Logs in ihe Adirondacks :
“ Scaling,” or measuring and stamping or marking Spruce Coe
The “ Landing” on Ampersand Creek, near “ Driving Time”
Rolling in Spruce Logs on Ampersand Creek .
Tangent or Bastard Cut
Rift or Quarter-sawed .
. End of Log, showing Rift and een Cuts
«“ Bigtree ” Logging in California .
Cypress Logging in Florida . pe age
Diagram to show how a Forty-Acre Tet is COV Bi i in estimating
Timber. : :
Calipers for measuring ie Diamiaber of Trees.
Measuring the Height of a Tree
Scale Rules
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG
65. In a Turpentine Orchard .
66. Game
67. Tapping the Hee apie :
68. Old-Fashioned Way of boiling Maple ‘sae
69. Black Locust Plantation, Meade County, Kansas . :
70. The Yaggy Catalpa Plantation, in Reno County, Kansas .
71. Sand Dune along the Coast . aie
72. Sand Dune in Holland, after Reclamation .
73. How the Forest regulates Erosion . es
74. How the Land erodes after the Woods are gone .
75. General Forest Map of the United States A ot ee ake
76. Cross Section of Oak (upper), Ring-Porous W sea Hard Pine
(lower), Non-Porous Wood .
Diffuse Porous Woods .
. Non-Porous Woods .
- Wood of Spruce .
. Spiral Grain
. Shortleaf Pine : a Se
. Alternating Spiral Grain in fe ypress .
. A Bird’s-eye Board .
. Wavy Grain in Beech .
. Section of Knot .
. Effects of Shrinkage : :
. “Shelf” Fungus on the Stem of a Fine ,
. Fungus Threads in Pine Wood .
. Conifers with Leaves in Bundles
Conifers with Leaves not in Bundles
. The Cedars ;
. Broad-Leaved Trees with Seals, rene. Tooth: Bdged Tene es
. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, Tooth-Edged Leaves
- Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, but Lobed Leaves .
. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, but Lobed Leaves .
. Leaves Simple, Alternate, but with Entire Edge, and Trees with
Opposite Leaves .
. Compound Leaves, but Alternate
. Compound Leayes, Opposite
-
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Sve pee es
a « Fete vig
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m7 to aay te
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ae a
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
PART sl
Pe FOREST
THE WILDWOODS
Ir is a bright September day. Let us take a stroll
into the wildwoods.
Here we are. A fringe of wild rose and raspberry
bushes introduces us to a denser border of hazel, dog-
wood, and hawthorn, mixed with shrubby, limby trees
of beech, maple, and elm. Let us break through the
forest border. What a change! Within a few steps we
have passed from a grassy pasture, through a dense wall
of shrubbery, into the lofty, cool, and shady forest proper.
Stately trees of maple, beech, elm, and oak stand widely
spaced; the ground is no longer covered with grass or
shrub, but is a regular forest floor, —a thick layer of
leaves; while the light of day is shut out above by
a dense canopy, —a roof of branches and leaves, the
crowns of our trees.
2 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
It is a mature old stand; the trees are mostly over
two feet in diameter and eighty to one hundred feet
high, and it is quite safe to say that they started more
than a hundred years ago.
It is a mixed stand of different kinds of broad-leaved
trees, or hardwoods, with here and there a pme. Most
of these trees are long shafted, —their trunks are long
and free from limbs for thirty to forty feet from the
ground, —and how greatly they differ from the beautiful
shady elms about the house !
Some of the trees are not as thrifty as the rest; they
appear injured; their crowns are small, and the crowns
of the larger trees crowd and shade them. We will call
these trees suppressed, and the larger ones dominant.
Some of the suppressed trees are nearly or quite dead,
and it appears that the crowding and shading cause
this injury.
Though there is an abundance of room on the ground,
there are but few young trees, and these only in the places
where the roof, or canopy, of our forest is less dense,
where some old tree had fallen years ago. And yet these
trees must have borne many a good crop of seed during
their long lives. What has become of all this seed? Did
it fail to germmate? Did the seedlings die? Apparently
this dense stand is not a good place for young trees; and,
strange enough, the few smaller trees which do exist seem
to be all maple and beech, while hardly any of them are
Woods
Beech
(After Rothrock)
Gees
4 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
oak or hickory. Evidently the beech and maple can
endure this unfavorable, dense shade better than oak,
hickory, and elm. We may call the beech and the maple
tolerant, since they tolerate or endure shade; while evi-
dently the oak, hickory, chestnut, locust, and others are
rather intolerant of shade and fail to start and thrive in
places where the beech might still do well.
Let us walk on a little way. The woods are more
open, the trees more numerous and more mixed. There
are quite a number of smaller trees, some mere poles or
saplings. Here we see a tree with an uncommonly broad
crown; it appears as if it were monopolizing the ground
in a most greedy fashion. Some people have termed
such trees wolves, though their greed would suggest quite
another animal. But whatever the name, they are hardly
good neighbors for these fine little saplings of oak and
chestnut.
There are a number of bushy young trees here, and
even a few brambles; dogwood and hazel find sufficient
sunlight. In a garden we should hardly tolerate these
bushes, but would rather grub them out as weeds; and yet
they are hardly more useful here in the woods, for surely
they will never grow into trees, and in all cases may hin-
der young trees from starting or choke off the seedlings
of our useful trees. They are forest weeds, and, while we
could hardly afford to grub them out, yet we shall try to
keep them down; but how? Well, Nature has already
Pee ae
i. ea eee
orest
Oak of the F
Long-Bodied ”
The «
Fig. 3.
After Pinchot)
(
6 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
given us a hint this very hour, — shade them down by keep-
ing a close stand of trees. You will say: “ But what if
the trees are mature and must be cut?” Then, of course,
these weeds start up, and all that we can do is to get a
new stand of trees as soon as possible. However, we shall
hear more of this later on.
Have you noticed that the red oaks, maples, ash, and
basswood are fairly laden with fruit? Of course it was
not so conspicuous over there in the dense old stand, but
here among this younger timber, where the trees have a
little more light, they bear a heavier crop. This would
be a fine season to gather seed from which to raise young
seedlings. —
Why is it that the white oaks and beech do not bear
more fruit? If we came here every fall,—and really it
would be delightful and instructive to do so, — we should
learn before many years that these trees do not bear a
full crop of fruit and seed every season. They usually
bear a little seed every year; but at intervals of three to
five years there are regular seed years, when they bear a
good crop, as the other trees do this season.
What will become of all this seed? A little of it will
be eaten by animals; some of it may germinate; but, to
judge from what we have seen, very little will ever grow
into trees.
But supposing we should cut out some of these larger
trees this coming winter, and “scratch” the ground and
F
1a. 4
dt
h
e “ Short-Bodied”’ Tree of the Open
Cord wood but no saw-logs
8 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
cover of leaves by dragging out the logs. Then a great
many seeds would reach the ground, and if they germi-
nated would have room and light to grow.
Here is the stump of a tree apparently cut last winter.
Let. us examine it. It appears made up of numerous rings,
one within the other. Let us count them, beginning with
the pith which we see near the center. Eighty-five rings.
So this tree was as high as the stump eighty-five years
ago. Probably it was about three years old then; so that
the tree was cut down when about eighty-eight years of
age. Quite an interesting fact im itself. But let us look
at these rings again. They are rather narrow near the
pith. This would tell us that the tree did not fare so very
well at first ; probably it was shaded too much by the
older mother trees which were here at that time. From
the twenty-fifth ring on, they are quite broad, — the tree
grew more thriftily; perhaps some of the older trees were
blown down and thus the young tree had more hght and
room. But from the seventieth on, the growth was evi-
dently slow ; the rmgs are narrow and seem to grow nar-
rower each year. This reminds us of old age. Do the
trees ever grow old and cease to be active growers? If
we keep our eyes open to these many records of the woods,
they will tell us many a tale, and probably they will show
us that trees, though they are generally quite long-lived, do,
after all, grow old; that trees, like people, pass through
stages similar to our youth, manhood, and decline.
THE WILDWOODS i)
Trees differ very much in this respect. A poplar tree
is old at a hundred and fifty years; a cypress lives to be
five hundred years and more; and some of the large red-
woods, the “bigtrees,” attain so great an age that the
older members of this
group began life long
before Christ was born.
Note that smooth-
barked spot on yonder
rough-barked oak. That
is the place where a limb
projected many years
ago, when the tree was
smaller. The limb died,
decayed, broke off near
the trunk, and the place Fig. 5. Badly Healed Knot
healed over. Being much a, wood of the knot; b and c, wood callus of
the stem covering the wound ; shaded por-
younger, the bark at that tion, decayed wood; black part, a cavity
spot issmoother. Some- = "™#ming
times these limbs do not break off early enough, or the
stub is too large, like the many you see on these white
oaks; then the tree can never cover up the stub. The
large knot hole, from which we saw the squirrel come
out, is a similar case; but there the stub decayed, and
the decay proceeded along the limb into the trunk and, I
fear, did much mischief; for such a trunk does not make
much sound timber.
10 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Here is another smooth spot on a rough-barked tree.
This is evidently not of the same kind as the one we have
already noticed. Why, there are two, on opposite sides of
A NX —
2, ZN x
Bark &>.
Fie. 6. The « Blaze” as it appeared
when first made
a, front view; 6, cross section on line AB
the tree; and note there
are similar spots on yon-
derelm! Sighting along
we see more of them on
other trees, and always
two on each tree. They
are the blazes of survey-
ors or of some one who
wished to mark a line.
Were we to cut through
one of these blazes, as
along the lme AB, Fig.
6, a, it would probably
have the appearance
shown in Fig. 8, b.
Counting the rings we
would find that the blaze
was made when the
twentieth ring had been
formed, and since there
are now thirty-two rings on this section, it means that the
blazes were.cut twelve years ago. Three successive stages
representing the fresh blaze, the same seven years ago,
and as it now appears are shown in Figs. 6 to 8.
THE WILDWOODS Lt
Let us dig up a little soil and see what it is like.
Beneath the cover of dry leaves we find leaves in all
stages of decay; below this, a dark soil, a leaf mold; and
below this, earth. If
we rub a little of this
(i I (J ~~ Je ult WY ee rh
earth in our hand, we
see at once that it is
not a clear sand, but
that itis a loam which,
if moistened, would be-
come sticky. Would
these fine hardwood
trees have grown here
if it were a clean sandy
soil ?
We have now learned
several things on our
stroll; but there is still
something which seems
to have escaped our
notice, though we have
climbed and stumbled
over fallen timber at
Fic. 7. The “Blaze” partly healed over
>]
as it appeared seven years ago
almost every step. It is the great waste of material
in our uncared-for wildwoods. Here are some fine, large
trunks of beech and maple half decayed; there is an old
elm log completely changed to a brown, powdery mass
AZ FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
and covered with pretty moss and ferns; and yonder
are two large trees of ash, one hollow, the other dead.
But then, what else could we mee
nui HH | h
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4 1 Woo =
20 19 18 i7 j2 jo - aS 20
Fig. 8. The « Blaze” just covered,
as it looks now
As long as man
does not interfere
with these woods
and utilize the
timber, the old
trees die, tumble
over, and remain
until decay dis-
integrates their
bodies ; and rain
and snow gradu-
ally level these
powdery masses
and mingle them
with the earth,
where they serve
to fertilize the
ground for new
generations of
trees. Were it
not for the fungi
attending to this
destructive work, the trunks and tops of a few generations
of trees would cover the ground and prevent any new
growth, and thus bring all forest life to a standstill.
Nature’s Methods are Wasteful
(After Rothrock)
14 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
If we stop to think a moment, we realize that as long
as man does not use or fire consume the timber, the
amount of wood which decays each year in the forest
must very nearly equal the yearly growth; so that it is
really wasteful if a piece of woods is left entirely to
itself.
We also note that these fungi are, after all, quite a useful
and even a necessary part of our woods. Of course they
are apt to do more than their share; and this handsome
birch would live longer and its trunk would be of much
more value without the fungus whose shelf-like, fruiting
body we see covermg an old notch, cut by some thought-
less person merely to “try the ax.”
On our way home we see some other pieces of woods.
Most of them are open; they lack the border ; cattle graze
in them, and there is a considerable growth of grass. We
note a lack of young trees; and, on the whole, they give us
the impression that the growth is slow, that little timber
is produced, and that when the few remaining good old
trees are used up, the woods will be little else than
crippled brushwoods.
‘
Wuat LIGHT AND SHADE DO FOR THE Woops
Here is apparently a windfall; all trees seem to have
been blown over or broken off. It is a rough-looking
place. But see the large number of young trees! Some
THE WILDWOODS 15
started as sprouts from the stumps of smaller trees, but
most of them appear to have started from seed. Here is
a patch of very
small trees, appar-
ently not more than
six years old, and
two-year-old seed-
lings are seen every-
where. Among the
young trees are
tangles of wild
blackberries, rasp-
berries, and other
shrubbery, and in a
few places the grass
is trymg to cover
the ground. Every-
thing is struggling
to hold its own or
to gain possession
of a little more soil
and light.
Here is a dense
thicket of young
trees three to eight
feet high. Let us
count. Why, there are eight live trees on one square
Fic. 10. Even Spruce is made to “clean” itself
(After W. F. Fox)
16 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
yard; and several smaller ones are dead among them, so
that there were even more some years ago! But all
of these can never hope to live and grow to any great
size. Here is evidently a struggle; most of the trees
must die, and those left must be injured by this struggle;
for the trees which will die during the next ten years are
still using up food and water, much of which is needed by
those which will survive, and the crowns of these latter
are crowded and thus prevented from becoming as large
as they should be.
Here is an old thicket twenty to thirty feet high, and
instead of as many as eight trees to a square yard, there
are little more than this number per square rod. These
saplings are slender poles, with little short crowns of live
limbs, and the greater part of the pole is bare; the few
remaining lower limbs are all dead, most of them decayed
and broken. What has become of the limbs? The dense
shade has prevented them from producing leaves, and as
soon as a limb ceases to produce leaves the tree ceases to
feed it; it dies, dries, decays, and drops off. These sap-
lings have cleaned themselves and are still continuing to
do so. Now we understand why the large, long-shafted
trees we saw on our first trip have the fine, clear trunks
and make such good saw-logs.
Without this cleaning our lumber would be far more
knotty than it is. Shading and crowding, then, help as
well as hurt in our forests. They help by killing out the
THE WILDWOODS i
weaker trees, by removing the useless limbs, and by
making our trees shoot up as straight, long-shafted poles.
The question now arises: Would spruce and other toler-
ant trees clean as easily as these intolerant ones? Hardly ;
their very tolerance depends on the fact that their leaves
can live and work in denser shade. But if they do not
clean so well, would the boards cut from these trees be as
clear or have as few knots as those of pine and chestnut ?
Next time we are in the lumber yard we will find out if
this be true.
Since crowding and shading make the trees shoot
straight up and prevent their branching or forking, it
has often been claimed that shade makes trees grow faster
in height. This may sometimes be true; frequently it is
not. This growth in height is, of course, very important,
and it is well that we should learn all we can about it.
In going about these openings and thickets we notice
that the shoots from the smaller stumps of chestnut, etc.,
grow very long even during the first year. Many of
these sprouts are over four feet long, and if we compare
them with the seedlings it is evident that the sprouts are
by far the faster growers. Among the seedlings we find
some that made ten to fifteen inches the first year, but
the little seedlings of pine are scarcely three inches tall.
If we examine the little trees three to eight feet high,
we note that it is not always so easy to tell just what
is the last season’s growth in trees like oak, elm, ete.,
18 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
but in pine, spruce, balsam, red fir, etc., each year’s growth
is very conspicuous. In Fig. 11 the young white pine has
a candlelike tip, about eleven inches long, then a whorl of
limbs, below this another straight, branchless part, and
so on. Now each piece between the several whorls of
limbs is a year’s growth, and we call the tip end, or last
year’s piece, the leader.
In spruce a few smaller limbs exist on each leader, but
in young trees this branching is rarely so great as to hide
or disguise the leader. Thus, m these young conifers, we
can tell at a glance how much grew last year, the year
before, ete., and by looking over a number of these trees
we soon make up our mind whether they have grown
fast or slowly im height.
Studying the trees in this way, we shall find that conifers
generally grow very slowly the first five years, and most
rapidly when about ten years old; and that our eastern
trees usually stop growing rapidly in height when they
are about sixty or eighty years old. Hardwoods behave
similarly, but usually their seedlings grow much faster.
Wuat DIFFERENT SOILS DO FOR THE Woops
We have seen a good forest of broadleaf trees on a
loamy or clay soil; and if we should journey through the
southern portion of the New England States, through
New York and Pennsylvania, the Ohio valley, and the
ann
als
Pine and B
hite
ind locality
19
r
on W
”
ader
“Le
1@. 11.
F
ile
Same se
20) FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Alleghenies, we would learn that such forests are common
and cover a large portion of our best settled districts.
A trip through southern New Jersey and through the
sandy coast districts of the entire South would teach us
that everywhere the sand lands are stocked with open
forests of pime. These forests are mostly pure stands;
they are not a mixture of hardwoods and pine, though
occasionally a few scrubby hardwood trees exist.
On the better sands of North Carolina and other states
these pure stands of pine are often quite dense; the trees
are tall, and all open spots are readily reclothed with
young pine; but on the poor, white sands of portions of
Florida we should find forests so open and parklike, the
trees so far separated from each other, so lttle of young
growth, of shrubbery or undergrowth, that the woods
almost lose their forest character.
Over long stretches of these woods the soil between the
scattering trees is either entirely bare or covered with
creeping saw palmetto. Strange enough, the pine, which
here is commonly the longleaf pine, with needles ten or
twelve inches long, cleans as perfectly as if it were in
the densest woods. Evidently it is very intolerant here,
and possibly the poor soil helps the process of cleaning.
Is the climate the cause of these open, parklike pine
woods? Let us go to one of the many “ hummocks,” or
low flats with a more fertile soil. Within a distance of
twenty yards we step from a pure and open stand of pine
4
if Pine
=
ro 8
Ss
]
12.
tee ee ee
‘
ia.
1? at
22 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
into a dense, luxuriant forest of mixed growth in which
ash, oak, basswood, cedar, and cypress are often mixed
with scattered cabbage palms and yuccas. Evidently it
is the effect of soil.
In North Wisconsin we might see almost the same
results. The heavy clay soils are covered with a good
growth of hardwoods, especially birch, elm, and maple,
with a goodly sprinkling of conifers, pine, and hemlock ;
but as soon as we enter any of the large, sandy districts a
regular pinery, almost pure stands of pine, meets our eyes,
and wherever the sand is unusually poor, stunted forests
of jack pine replace the stately white and Norway pines.
At the border of the forests, against the prairies, where
drought and sand conspire to make forest growth more
difficult, the sands are not covered with grasses but with
serub woods of jack pine and scrub oaks. Similar serub-
oak woods cover the Cross Timbers of Texas and portions
of other western states.
From this sketch it appears that fertile loams and clays
bear mixed forests composed largely of a variety of trees,
mostly hardwoods; while sandy soils are usually covered
with monotonous pineries, composed of one or few kinds
of trees. We also note that this distinction is very sharp;
that in most sandy regions, whether north or south, the
hardwoods are generally unable to replace the pine, and
that wherever they attempt to do so the oak alone is
partially successful.
THE WILDWOODS 23
Having seen what the soil does in determining the com-
position of the woods, we might also inquire whether the
forest can do anything to alter the soil.
As we have learned in our former studies, the tree gets
from the soil only water and certain useful salts, while
the rest of the material of the tree comes from the air.
The salts which it gets from the soil are its soil-food, and
when these salts are lacking in a soil we call it poor and
say that it needs fertilizing; 7.e., it needs to have these
salts replaced to make it fertile or enable it to sustain
plants. The salts which the tree uses, reappear as ashes
when we burn the leaves, twigs, or wood.
Now when a beech tree takes up twenty pounds of such
salts in a season, and perhaps fifteen pounds find their
way into the leaves which are shed in the fall, these
fifteen pounds may be taken up again by the tree, or its
neighbor, as soon as the water has leached out and carried
the salts down among the roots. In this way the trees
take and give all the time. But besides these mineral
salts the soil also needs decayed plant matter; it needs
mold or humus to make it really fertile. This is sup-
plied by leaves and twigs which are shed by the forest
trees, and these tend, therefore, to enrich the soil. It is
due chiefly to this mold that ‘“new-cleared” land is so
fertile. In many districts people clear land, use it for
some time, and then restock it with forest growth, which
in due time reéstablishes the former fertility.
24 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Thus, we see that the soil determines the character of the
forest, but that the forest also has the power to modify
and improve the soil, and so enables the soil to grow
more trees and better trees.
But this also teaches us that in all poor, sandy soils
the permanent removal of the forest and, especially, the
burning over of the sandy lands must needs injure the
land by diminishing its fertility; and that, therefore, it
is harder to start a forest, and the forest will grow much
less vigorously on such maltreated lands.
Wuat MoIsTURE DOES FOR THE Woops
On a trip along the Texas Pacific Railway from the
eastern boundary of Texas westward we first pass through
long stretches of pinery, then many miles of mixed for-
ests, which, on nearing the Trinity River, change into
more and more open woods composed almost entirely of
oak. From the Trinity westward these oak woods grow
more and more scrubby; the finest lands are prairies,
and the forest is restricted to the stretches of sandy lands
known as the Cross Timbers.
After crossing the Brazos River, west of Graham, the
forests are reduced to patches in the river bottoms, and
the broad fertile lands are either treeless prairie or mes-
quite openings, where scattering bushes of the thorny
mesquite help to relieve the monotony.
Fig. 138. Too Dry for Forest
Chaparral of scattering scrub or scrub woods in San Jacinto Reserve, California
(After Gannett)
25
26 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
The sandy ridges following the Brazos, Wichita, and other
rivers are either bare or scantily dotted with thickets or
clumps of the shrublike shin oak, while scattermg, bush-
like trees of red cedar dot the bluffs of the rivers.
Reaching the high and dry plateau of the Staked
Plains we find that tree growth ceases; the mesquite no
longer decorates the prairie, and the sand hills of these
plains are desolate wastes.
We have made a long journey from a humid country
to an arid one, passing through many intermediate stages.
Neither soil, altitude, nor the temperature factor of the
climate has changed materially, and yet we have passed
from a dense and stately forest of pme through oak and
mesquite openings into bare prairie and sand waste.
The great difference in the amount of moisture alone
is responsible for these remarkable changes. Had we
started from Duluth, Minn., and gone west or southwest,
our experience would have been similar. First, long
stretches of pimeries, in which white and Norway pine
often predominate; then, rather suddenly, oak, or else
poplar and oak openings; and, within a few hours’ ride
by train, the open treeless prairies.
This transition from the humid forests to the drier
prairie regions is very similar from Texas clear to our
northern boundary, and everywhere it is caused by the
lack of ram and snow, which appears to be the principal,
if not the only, cause of the fading out of the forest.
THE WILDWOODS 27
At first it culls the forest and reduces the number of kinds
of trees, —the elm, the ash, the basswood, etc.,drop out, and
the forest is finally reduced to open stands of scrubby oak.
Where the moisture becomes scarcer still these scrub woods
become more dwarfed,and soon the forest ceases altogether.
Lack of moisture then reduces the number of species ; it
stunts and, if extreme, it prevents forest growth altogether.
Fie. 14. Too Much Water kills
Timber killed by water backed up by state dam in Adirondacks. (After Fox)
Thus, a lack of moisture acts like a poor, sandy soil, and
wherever these two combine the effect is all the greater.
Let us now see what too much moisture does. When
the lumbermen in our northern forests dam up a stream
to store water for driving purposes, they select some large
flat, where a pond of considerable extent is produced by
the dam. In such a place large numbers of trees, which
28 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
so far have been growing on dry land, are now made
to stand in water; and in almost all cases they die, even
if the dam is closed for but a few months of the year.
Evidently these forest trees do not endure immersion of
their roots; too much water kills them.
In the valleys, or “‘ bottoms,” of the Santee and other
rivers of the South, floods or freshets are produced by
heavy rains in the mountains at the heads of these
streams. Where we can walk dry-footed to-day we can
boat on ten feet of water to-morrow. These freshets last
from one to three weeks and, during this time, cover
entirely all young trees not tall enough to project above
the water. And yet the forests of these. bottoms are
among the most luxuriant; there are many kinds of
trees, and the trees grow to large size.
It would seem, then, that in these fertile bottoms of the
South many different kinds of trees and shrubs have
learned to endure periodical, complete or partial immer-
sion of several weeks duration.
The hundreds of large and small swamps of our north-
ern forests are generally stocked with forests of tamarack,
cedar, and occasionally spruce. Generally these cedar and
tamarack swamps are monotonous; the trees are small,
the stands dense. The cedar swamps of New Jersey, the
numerous cypress swamps of the Carolinas, Florida, and
the Gulf States resemble our northern swamps, except that
we have here a different set of trees and trees of larger
THE WILDWOODS 29
size. In some of the “greenings ’ or white cedar swamps
the soil is a soft mud, and the trees gain a support or
hold chiefly from the general network of roots. In the
Dismal Swamp and the great Okefinokee a large portion
Fig. 15. Used to Water (Cypress about Lake Norris, Florida)
of the land is constantly under water, and these swamps
have more the appearance of grassy lakes.
Stretches of these swamps are entirely bare of trees
and take on the regular lake character, while other por-
tions appear like overflowed marsh lands, dotted with
so-called “houses,” or small clusters of gnarly cypress
festooned with long streamers of Spanish moss, which
help to emphasize their weird, fantastic appearance.
30 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
In swamps like the Chessahowiska of western Florida,
where a warm climate and a supply of lime in the water-
soaked earth assist the plants in withstanding the diff-
culties of too much water, the forest is often one of great
variety, consisting of a mixture of red cedar, oak, bass-
wood, yellow poplar, and ash, together with palm and
yucca, and the trees display a considerable degree of thrift.
These facts lead us to believe that wet soils, like dry
soils, tend to reduce the number of kinds of trees, and that
this effect is greater wherever a cold climate adds to the
difficulty. It also indicates that im colder countries the
monotonous woods of the swamp lands are simpler in
their make-up, and stunted in their growth; but that the
swamp forests of warmer districts do not generally share
this stunted character, since, for mstance, the cypress of
the southern swamps is among the largest timber of the
eastern half of our country.
In the Puget Sound country, where it rains the greater
part of the year, and where clouds, fog, and mist shut out
the sun and prevent the trees from giving off much water
from their leaves and twigs, we find some of the densest,
stateliest forests of the world. They are composed of
red fir, hemlock, cedar, and balsam; the trees grow rapidly
and reach unusual size. A well-drained, porous soil and
a very moist, cool atmosphere are evidently conducive to
the best tree growth. But even here it is rather remark-
able that the conifers prevail.
THE WILDWOODS 51
On the whole, then, we see that most of our trees require
a moderate amount of moisture in the soil and in the air,
Fie. 16. Cypress Swamp
The short stumplike structures projecting out of the water are the
} pro]
‘‘cypress knees,’ peculiar outgrowths from the roots of these
trees, apparently dependent on the wet surroundings
and that too much as well as too little water is fatal to
most of them. It seems also that drought is best endured
a2 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
by cedar, pine, and oak, while the swamp lands are occu-
pied mostly by conifers,—cedar, tamarack, and spruce in
the North ; cedar and cypress in the South,—and that the
swainp forests of cold countries are more monotonous and
more stunted than those of warmer districts.
Having seen of how much importance moisture is to
the tree, it would be of interest to learn how far the tree
can correct any deficiency,—to what extent it can drain
the soil of surplus water or duce a dry soil to take up
and hold more moisture. Experience and observation
seem to indicate that it does both.
Wuat Heat ann CoLp po FOR THE Woops
Let us make a trip from the northern boundary of our
country to the Gulf of Mexico and see how the forest
ditfers in different places along our route, keeping in mind,
however, that we must compare only such forests as are
stocked on well-drained lands of similar soils.
Along the south shore of Lake Superior, where long
snowy winters and short frosty summers restrict farm-
ing to the raising of grass, oats, and potatoes, the forest
of the fertile loam and clay lands consists of a mixed
stand of inferior hardwoods and conifers. The hard-
woods are principally birch, maple, elm, and basswood ;
the conifers, white pine and hemlock. Generally there
are more of the hardwoods—they predominate; but
—
ath ie ey
Cea a) /
Fic. 17. Palmetto
(After Pinchot)
33
34 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
occasionally the hemlock, more rarely the pine, forms the
body of the forest. The hardwoods are few in kind
and inferior in size and quality; the most valuable trees
of the forest are the conifers, pme and hemlock.
A piece of virgin forest in Indiana, where abundant
crops of apples, grapes, and peaches indicate a milder
climate, is usually an oak wood, heavily mixed with a
great variety of other broad-leaved trees, but entirely
without coniferous timber. Here we meet several kinds
of oak, hickory, and ash, both black and white wal-
nut, cherry, basswood, elm, yellow poplar, sycamore, and
beech. Moreover, the trees are tall, with long, clear,
heavy shafts, furnishing the choicest lumber.
In eastern Tennessee or western North Carolina the
warmer climate again changes our forest picture. The
yellow poplar and chestnut come to the foreground ;
the several oaks and hickories, a few magnolias, the
locusts, catalpa, mulberry, red gum, and others swell the
list of common species, and in addition the conifers reap-
pear; the forest again has its sprinkling of pine.
Although the number of different kinds of trees has
thus been increased, the forest retains its general appear-
ance; it is a fine, stately forest of hardwoods, and many
an acre of this forest could not be distinguished from
similar acres of our Indiana woods.
Going through one of the fine “ hummocks” of Florida,
the land of cotton, the orange, and pineapple, where snow
THE WILDWOODS 35
and ice are hardly known and where a frost is a general
calamity, we are struck with the radical change in the
appearance of the forest. It is still a forest of hard-
woods, —there are live oak, red and white oaks, ash, and
gum, —but among them is that peculiar tree of the torrid
lands, the palm tree. And to have a few of these palms
to each acre is enough to alter entirely the aspect of the
forest. Usually this hummock land has some cypress
and red cedar with a few scattering pine; and everywhere
the yucca and dwarf palms are conspicuous among the
undergrowth. Our forest has changed, and changed
radically; it possesses an entirely new form, a new
order of trees.
Let us review our trip. In the icy Lake Superior
region the forest is made of few kinds; the conifers
are an important mixture and the hardwood trees are
stunted. In mild Indiana it is composed of hardwoods
alone; the variety is great; the trees are large. In the
warm districts of the southern Alleghenies the variety
is still greater; size and quality are equally fine, and
conifers reappear; while in the hot climate of Florida
the variety is still greater, and the forest takes on a
subtropical aspect by adding the palm.
If our comparison had been for the sand lands or the
swamps, the difference would have been much. less;
the pinery of Florida is as monotonous as that of
Minnesota.
36 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
We see that cold affects the forest just as do a poor
soil and too much or too little water. It simplifies
the composition of the forest and, in extreme cases,
stunts its growth. But we also observe that this
effect is not very serious within the borders of our
land; that our most important hardwood trees extend
far north and south; and that the effect is less important
for our sandy or poorer lands than for more fertile
districts.
Were we to inquire into the growth and behavior of
our forest trees along the same route of travel north and
south, we should find the effect even more important.
We should learn that oak and maple in Tennessee sprout
well ; in the Lake Superior country, with difficulty ; that
most trees bear seed oftener and more abundantly, and
that young growth starts more easily, grows faster, and
stands more shade in warm districts than in cold. Here
and there, to be sure, there would be some exceptions to
this rule, but they would be just enough to emphasize its
general truth.
Having learned the importance of warmth and sun-
shine, we realize why, in our northern states, the forest
on the south side of a ridge often differs so radically from
that on the north side. It is the warmth and light of the
sunny south exposure which permits a greater variety of
trees and banishes the frugal conifers to the colder, darker
north side.
THE WILDWOODS BH
Had we extended our journey northward, far into the
Dominion of Canada, we should have first passed through
long stretches of pineries and woods of spruce, and finally
landed in openings of birch, willow, and alder, which fade
away gradually into the treeless wastes of the ever-frozen
North.
Woops AND THE MOUNTAINS
We have all read and heard, and some of us have had
the opportunity to witness, that the climate grows colder
as we ascend a mountain; so that if the mountain is very
high it may bear ice and snow all through summer, though
it be located beneath the tropical sun of Mexico or Peru.
From what we have learned concerning the influence
of cold on the forest cover we should at once infer that
the forest differs at different points from below upward
and that it becomes more and more simple in its compo-
sition ; more and more stunted toward the top of any high
mountain range or peak; and also that the forests of
higher mountains, like those of the colder northern dis-
tricts of our country, are composed most generally of
coniferous trees.
A few excursions will test and verify these conclusions.
If we start on the Raquette River in the Adirondack
Mountains of New York to go up to the top of Mount
Seward, we are at first about fifteen hundred feet above
sea level, and in the midst of a sandy old white pine
38 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
“slash,” surrounded by a rather inferior mixed growth of
hardwoods and conifers. Yellow birch and maple predom-
inate, and spruce, balsam, cedar, and hemlock make up
the coniferous portion. Climbing to an altitude of about
twenty-four hundred feet, we find that yellow birch is
largely replaced by white birch; the maple is a serub ;
and the spruce, together with cedar, forms the body of the
forest. As we ascend farther the forest becomes more
and more a pure stand of conifers; and, finally, on reach-
ing the top, at an altitude of about forty-five hundred
feet, we pass through thickets of dwarf balsam, from two
to five feet in height, which, in many places, form such
dense mats that it is possible to use the canopy of this
pigmy forest for a seat.
Ascending the Alleghenies of North Carolina, beautiful
hardwood forests accompany us up to an altitude of about
five thousand feet ; but the summits of all the peaks
above fifty-five hundred feet are clad in somber forests of
spruce, together with some scattering balsams.
Fully as interesting and instructive is a trip up to the
erest of the Cascade Mountains of Washington from the
west side. Following up the valley of the Cowlitz River
we pass through dense forests of the giant red fir, cedar,
and hemlock. Reaching an altitude of about two thou-
sand feet, we find the hemlock becomes more abundant,
and the red fir recedes and is replaced by the mountain
balsam. At an altitude of about thirty-five hundred feet
Fic. 18.
Coniferous Forests alone climb our High Mountain Ranges
Northern Cascade Mountains. (After Gannett)
39
40 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
the red fir disappears, and the forest is one of balsam and
hemlock with cedar. As we reach a height of five thou-
sand feet the complexion of the forest changes entirely ;
the dense forest of tall mountain balsam and hemlock
suddenly gives way to open, more or less interrupted
alpine park woods, composed of short, limby trees belong-
ing to entirely different species, the alpine balsam and
hemlock.
Thus, we see that our inference was correct: the high
mountain woods of our country are generally conifers,
composed of few species, and are usually more or less
stunted at higher altitudes. Similarly these woods change
from below upwards, decreasing in complexity of compo-
sition as well as in size and quality of the timber; and
their vigor, or rate of growth and capacity to maintain
and renew themselves, also decreases.
PART =i
FORESTRY
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST
We have learned something of different woods, of their
appearance and composition, and how they are modified
by different climates, soils, and other conditions. We are
now ready to see what man does with the forest.
When the pioneer settler in the backwoods clears his
farm he is anxious to destroy the forest as fast as possible,
for every acre of “clear land” is a big step toward inde-
pendence. In many places, especially of late years, he
has been able to sell at least the better kinds of logs; but
in the most cases, now as formerly, the wood is wasted.
The trees are cut into pieces small enough to handle and
the neighbors are invited to a “log rolling’; they pile
up the logs and branches into “log heaps,” and when the
weather is suitable these log heaps are set afire. Fire
and plow prevent the return of the forest.
This is not forestry; it is proper forest destruction,
such as goes on in the settlement of every forest-covered
country. The forest gives way to the field.
41
49 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
When the lumbermen cut the spruce in many parts of
our eastern states, or the white pme in the hardwoods of
Michigan or Wisconsin, they disturb the forest so little
that only the experienced eye notices the fact that the
= =]
ire MS hae Coppice Woods
(After Graves)
land has been “ logged over.” On the sandier “ pinery ”
lands, where the forest is nearly all pine, the case is
? 9
quite different. Here the lumberman usually leaves a
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 43
“slash.” Most of the forest is gone; a few young trees,
some worthless cripples, and a small number of isolated
stunted hardwoods still maintain the semblance of woods ;
while the ground is densely strewn with the tops of the
we na MN Re eS. "|
‘
Fig. 196. Coppice Woods
(After Graves)
fallen pine. In one or two seasons these tops are dry ;
they take fire from some cause or other, the slash burns
over, and instead of the former forest there is now a
waste, which may remain in this unproductive condition
44 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
for many years. Generally the lumberman does not con-
cern himself in either case about the forest or slash he
leaves behind; his business is to get out of the forest
whatever he can utilize or sell; he treats it as a ripe
field; he harvests, — but he does not sow. He does not
intentionally destroy any forest ; he merely harvests, but
does not care for and protect it, and thus make an effort
to keep up the forest and to grow a new crop of timber.
For this reason, and to the extent that he fails m this, he
is not a forester.
On the other hand, the farmer who has a piece of wood-
land, where, during the winter months he cuts his firewood
and fencing and a few logs for the repair of buildings and
implements, and during certam years, when prices are
high, cuts some logs for the neighbormg sawmill, but, at
the same time, looks after the piece of woods, cleans it
of dead timber and other rubbish, thus keeping out fire
and insects, and otherwise makes an effort to keep the
land covered with forest, — such a man practices forestry.
His forest may be small or large, his ways of doing may
be simple and imperfect, so that his woods do not contain
as many trees as they should; the trees may not be the
best kinds for the particular locality and soil; they may
not be as thrifty as they should and could be; but never-
theless here is a man who does not merely destroy the
woods, nor content himself with cutting down whatever
he can sell, but one who cares for the woods as well as
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 45
uses them, one who sows as well as harvests. He is a for-
ester, and his work in the woods is forestry. Since his
forest is small, the work is simpler, and it will be a good
opportunity to learn how he cares for the woods; for
trees start and grow in just the same way, whether in
small or large forests.
CopptcE Woops
Here is a piece of wildwoods in one of the picturesque
valleys of northern New Jersey. The soil is loam, very
rocky, and with too many large rocks on top of the ground
to encourage its use for plowland. The woods, mostly
chestnut and oak, appear rather scrubby, and we miss the
large stately trees of the virgin forest ; there appear to be
no old trees, and nearly all trees seem to be in clusters
about old and much disfigured stumps. Evidently they
started as sprouts — but here comes a native who can tell
us more about this:
** Yes, this is an old settled district, and the old woods
were cut down more than a century ago. Since then
these woods were cut over several times. Formerly,
when firewood was much in demand for iron furnaces,
the woods were cut over about every twenty years, but of
late we leave the trees to grow larger, so that they make
good railroad ties and telegraph poles, besides firewood,
and this requires that they be at least thirty-five or forty
46 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
years old. But still this does not make large trees, and
thus our coppice woods look young and small compared
with old virgin woods.
“ Yes, we use chestnut and oak mostly, but that is only
because they were here and nobody cared to try any
others. We cut usually in winter, the best time being
about February or just before spring opens, because then
the stumps make the best sprouts, and sprout immediately,
so that a good growth takes place that very season. If
we cut in the fall or early winter, many of the stumps
suffer from the weather; and before they are ready to
sprout are injured and, therefore, make fewer and weaker
sprouts.
“How much do we get per acre? That of course
depends on the age and condition of the woods and the
quality of the site [soil, exposure, ete. ].
“Generally we count on a cord per acre and year,
so that a thirty-year-old stand should furnish thirty
cords per acre. From such a stand we should get about
a hundred good telegraph poles, or else about three hun-
dred railroad ties, besides about fifteen cords of firewood.
For the poles we get four to five dollars, and for ties
perhaps fifty cents each; but firewood brings only about
three dollars per cord delivered.”
Let us now walk into the woods and see what we can
learn. Everywhere we see that both oak and chestnut,
but particularly the latter, are excellently well suited to
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 47
this kind of treatment; that their stumps furnish an
abundance of sprouts; that the sprouts grow fast, and
always much faster than young trees
started from the seed. Of seedling
trees we see but few, and none at
all in the denser parts of the woods.
But, though the woods are fairly
good, there are several things here
which might be improved by a little
more care. In the first place, we
notice open spots ten or fifteen yards
across, where grass and weeds cover
the ground together with a few iso-
lated trees of red cedar. Apparently
the forest gave out and the stumps
ceased to sprout. Perhaps they were
too old or else had been burned, or
possibly cattle kept the sprouts down
by eating off the leaves and thus
killed the stumps, for, as we have
learned before, the stump can live -
only if it has leaves to prepare
food for its cells. Such spots are
Fie, 20. Stump and
Sprouts
unproductive ; they are neither good pasture nor forest.
In the woods we notice that some of the stumps have
too many sprouts, that these crowd each other, some are
dead and others are stunted by their neighbors. Evidently
48 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
cutting out the weaker would have helped the better trees,
for the poor cripples use up water and soil-food and yet
are unable to make trees.
The stumps, we see, were not always cut with care.
Many of them are too high; part of the bark has dropped
off, and the stump is partly dry. Others are flat on top,
some even slant in (see Fig. 21), and many are rough, all
holding the rain water, and with this the spores (seeds) of
fungi, which will cause decay.
Note also that many of these stumps are too old to make
good sprouts ; they are much decayed, and the few young
trees they produce have a poor support. ‘They should be
replaced ; there is need for new stumps.
Let us think over what we have learned about coppice
woods. Simce we can use only trees which sprout well,
we cannot raise pine, spruce, and other conifers in this
way. As most trees in coppice woods should be cut before
they are forty years old, preferably when twenty or thirty
years old, these woods cannot furnish large trees, such as
would be needed for saw-logs to make boards for houses
and furniture. As to the work itself, we see that it is
quite simple. Ifa man had sixty acres of coppice woods
and wanted to cut some fuel and other timber every
winter, he might cut two acres every year, and in this
way cut the entire sixty-acre tract in thirty years. By
that time the two acres first cut would be thirty years old
and ready for the ax, and thus the cutting might go on
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 49
indefinitely. In his work he should take care to cut at the
right time of the year (late winter); to cut the stumps
low and smooth, with the slant to the outside; to leave
some of the smaller useless trees for the protection of the
ground and young shoots. He would naturally fill all
bare spots with young trees, and would thin out the
poorer sprouts when the stand is about ten years old,
using the material thus cut for firewood. The old
50 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
stumps, after they had furnished three crops of trees,
would be replaced by young trees, which he would start
by planting from a little nursery in his garden, or by sow-
ing acorns and chestnuts on the newly cleared parts of
this woodland. In this way he could cut at least two
hundred dollars’ worth of ties and poles each year, and
have more firewood than he would need on his farm.
Looking over the list of trees which have been used as
coppice, we find that it is not large and that the following
are the important ones: chestnut, oak, black locust, ash,
elm, maple, beech, birch; and where a light wood is used
for paper pulp, etc., basswood, poplar, and willow may be
used. This list would also indicate that a good coppice
growth is possible in the greater portion of the eastern
United States; that it fares well only in temperate and
warm climates, and on fairly good soil.
In Europe, especially in France, the coppice system is
very common, and rather preferred in the smaller forests
of private owners and villagers. Generally the trees are
cut when fifteen to twenty-five years old. The trees of
oak coppice are cut in summer and the bark is peeled,
dried, and sold to tanners, so that these woods are raised
really as much for the bark as for the wood, and are
called tan-bark coppice.
When the cutting in coppice woods is so regulated
that the trees are about thirty years old when cut, we call
this period of thirty years the rotation, and we say that
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 51
the coppice is managed on a thirty-year rotation. Rota-
tion in this sense simply means the age of the trees when
the woods are cut down, and does not mean, as in farming,
a certain succession of different kinds of crops, such as wheat,
corn, oats, and clover, to be repeated in the same order.
The fact that in the northern pineries the burned-over
slash lands are commonly covered by a growth of young
poplar or aspen, and not by pine, has led some of the
woodsmen of those regions to believe that there existed a
natural rotation of forest crops resembling the rotation of
farm crops; that pime could not follow pine, but that
poplar and pine always alternated with each other. As
a matter of fact, the poplar covers these “burns” because
all through these pineries there is produced every year an
abundance of poplar seed. Being extremely light, it is
carried by the wind for miles and thus covers the burns.
Moreover, the seeds of poplar and birch are the only tree
seeds which are at once strewn abundantly over the burns,
and both, especially that of the poplar, do well on this
freshly burned-over land. ‘Thus it comes that the poplar
and birch thickets are the first to reclothe these burns.
We have learned that in European coppice woods the
rotation is generally about fifteen to twenty-five years,
and, therefore, shorter than that of the ordinary New
Jersey coppice, which is usually thirty or forty years; and
that it is generally not advisable to make the rotation in
coppice much longer than forty years, even for oak, which
2 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Or
endures longest; while for poplar, birch, and willow it
should not be over twenty-five years.
Since large trees are not furnished by the coppice woods,
and since it is often desirable and profitable to raise larger
trees for timber and lumber, many people have modified
their coppice in this way.
Suppose our farmer has sixty acres of coppice and cuts
about two acres each year. Instead of cutting all trees
he leaves standing on each acre from fifty to a hundred
of the very best trees. These trees go on growing and
are cut thirty years later, so that they live through two
rotations of the coppice woods. By that time they are
sixty years old and of considerable size. These we call
standards and this kind of coppice woods a standard cop-
pice. Sometimes the standards are not all cut down at
the end of the second rotation, but some are left for a
third or even a fourth rotation, and thus get to be quite
large. But it is usual to cut part of the standards each
time the particular piece of woods is cut over.
Since too much shade would hinder the starting as well
as the growth of the sprouts, the trees left over for stand-
ards at any one time should not shade more than about
one third to one fourth of the ground. Usually a thirty-
year-old tree in good coppice woods has a crown covering
about fifty to a hundred square feet, and it nearly doubles
this every thirty years. Since an acre has 43,560 square
feet, and about a fourth may be covered by the standards,
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 0
we might leave about a hundred thirty-year-old trees of
the larger size.
In an oak and chestnut coppice it is well to use largely
these two kinds for standards, since in this way they will
seed the ground and thus furnish new stumps. Generally
it is better to use trees which have started from seed or
have been planted to fill out gaps or fail places; but good
trees from young stumps answer very well. Among the
broad-leaved kinds chestnut, oak, elm, ash, hickory, and
walnut make good standards; but beech and maple make
too dense a shade.
THE ORDINARY TIMBER FOREST
In southern Michigan we see many tracts of the ordi-
nary broadleaf forest, such as formerly covered Indiana,
Ohio, and a large portion of our eastern states. The
climate of southern Michigan is temperate, even mild;
the grapevine and peach tree thrive; the soil is largely
drift material,—earth and stone believed to have been
carried by ancient glaciers; while fertile, it is sometimes
very stony, being generally strewn with bowlders. The
forest is composed of oaks,—both red oaks and white
oaks, —elm, ash, hickory, basswood, beech, and other
broad-leaved kinds (hardwoods) in irregular mixture, with
the oaks usually predominant. Most of the trees seem
to be large, old veterans.
o4 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Here is a piece of woods with a beautiful border of
beech, low-crowned blue beech, mixed with elm, and
maple, and a fringe of hazel, dogwood, and other shrubs.
The whole border is so dense that it seems as if 1t might
shut out all visitors, as well as the injurious drying winds.
Let us enter. They are very stately old woods and remind
us of the virgin forest we visited some time ago. But
there are many things changed after all, and the hand of
man is clearly visible. There is no dead and fallen tim-
ber; it is all cleared away, evidently taken home for
firewood. Nor do we notice here any old crippled trees,
nor any of the greedy spreading ones which want a whole
acre to themselves. No doubt they were here at one time,
but all have been cut out and used up. Right here we
see a fine old mixed stand of mature timber, probably
every tree over a hundred years old. They are still
thrifty, but their shade is too dense for any young trees
to start. Let us walk on. Why, hereisa park! Every-
thing looks clean and neat, the stand is rather open,
nearly everything except the maple has been cut out, and
there are regular paths in all directions. Note the many
auger holes in the trees; this is a “sugar bush.” The
farmer, finding the maple predominant in this part of his
woods, cleared out much of the elm, oak, and other kinds
to give the maple more room. He also cleaned up more
perfectly to make his work in sap-gathermg time more
convenient.
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(SOARIy IdIFV)
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56 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
There are a good many small saplings of maple; evi-
dently this opening up of the dense woods stimulated
reproduction ; the trees bore more seeds, and young trees
found light and air to live. Some of the young stuff he
has cut out and has left only the best. They will be
fine sugar trees when his son takes the farm.
Here we come into a different stand. The trees are
mostly poles (less than twelve inches in diameter), and
must have started some thirty years ago. The large
stumps of the old mother trees are rotten and covered
with moss. Notice the many small stumps; evidently
there has been some thinning done.
Here is a thicket of bushy young trees, three to ten
feet high and standing rather crowded. The old stumps,
just beginning to decay, seem about ten or twelve years
old, and a few old trees are still left here. They need
cutting out, for the young trees need the light.
Here is a piece where the owner has cut timber during
the last few years. He seems to have picked out (selected)
the largest trees or those which stand too close to others
and thereby hinder them in their growth. He has not,
however, cleared out any large piece, but merely picked
out a tree here and there, and thus kept the forest intact
and the ground nearly all covered or shaded, so that grass
and weeds rarely get a chance to start. Going over the
entire sixty-acre piece, we find that the man has cleared
up and cut and thinned out everywhere; that he cut
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST SF
considerable timber about ten or twelve years ago, but
that he has since then been more frugal. Let us go over
to where he is plowing and ask him something about it.
“Am glad to tell you all I can. I came here about
thirty-five years ago; the farm was in bad shape, and the
first winter I cut a lot of logs for fencing, where you saw
that young growth you speak of. Since then I have been
cuttimg wood and timber for my own use every winter,
and now and then a little to sell. Ten years ago I cut a
large amount for the sawmill; sleighing was good and
prices rather high. For firewood I cut everything, and
if it does not make four-foot wood, it is cut sixteen to
twenty-four inches long and split to suit the people. In
this way I have cleaned up pretty much all through the
piece. For the rest I merely pick out where the timber
stands too close.
“Of course I can raise all kinds of timber, for the
trees do not have to sprout and I can cut them at what-
ever age I choose. So far I have been careless. Except
in my sugar bush, where I want as pure a stand of maple
as possible, [ have let them come in as they would.
“In the future I am going to do differently and cut out
more of the kinds I wish to get rid of, thus favoring
those kinds, like oak, which are of more value to me.
I intend also to plant some conifers, most likely some
white pine, as this does well hereabouts. How do I get
anew growth started? Well, so far I have done nothing
58 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
but to let it start as it would. The large tree is cut down
and removed; this gives a small opening in which young
growth starts, the seed, of course, coming from the trees
left behind. In this way | open up new spots every year.
How old do I let them grow? No particular age; I take
them whenever it suits me; but, on the whole, I lke to
let the sound, thrifty trees (dominant trees) reach a good
size, say about eighteen inches in diameter or more, before
I cut them down. Just how much wood is growing per
acre on my land I could not tell you, nor do I know
whether I am cutting more or less than is growing here.
Of course if I cut more, I reduce my wood capital; if I
cut less, I increase it. So far I have probably cut less
than the growth.”
We have here, then, a timber forest; one in which the
trees usually start from seed and not as sprouts, where
all kinds of trees may be raised which the climate and
soil permit, and where the trees may be cut at any age.
The procedure is quite simple. Every year the farmer
goes over part of the woods and selects such trees as suit
his purpose and such trees as need cutting out to better
the woods. It is a process of selection, and the woods so
managed is a selection forest.
Since it furnishes many different kinds and sizes, and
since it is so simple and natural a way of using and treat-
ing the woods, this selection method is well suited to many
forests. It is the best and often the only safe way for
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 59
mountain woods, where forests are difficult to start if
once cleared away ; it is the best way of treating the for-
est border to keep it close and dense; and it is an excel-
lent way wherever the forest 1s small and the owner can
go over it often, so that he knows all parts and can pick
out, or select, with proper care and knowledge.
In all cases he should see to it that the ground is coy-
ered with the right kinds of trees; he should cut out
those kinds which do not sell, or grow too slowly, or
never grow large. What the right kinds are depends
on the land. On the better kinds of soil in a temperate
and warmer climate most of our broadleaf trees do well,
and in many places a mixture of these with pine and
spruce would be profitable. At present oak sells better
than elm, ash better than maple, and any of these better
than beech, while logs of white pine and spruce sell best
of all.
Since such kinds as the oak are quite intolerant or
sensitive to shade, they must be mixed with others that
can stand more shade. Of these the beech and maple
are good. Often it pays to plant them under the older
oaks when these no longer shade the ground and there
is ight enough to encourage grass and weeds.
One of the chief difficulties in this way of treating the
forest lies in the danger of damaging the young growth
in felling old timber, and in cutting and barking young
growth and trees in dragging out the larger logs.
60 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Besides having the right kinds of trees, the forester
should also see to it that there is no land idle, and that
all trees are in a thrifty condition, growing in size and
value. The amount of wood which grows each year per
acre varies very much with the nature of the soil and
with the kind, the number, and the age of the trees.
For better lands about one cord per acre and year may
be expected; on poorer lands or from more neglected
woods the amount may fall to only about one half cord.
The selection forest is the oldest form of properly
tended woods and has been in use in some European
states for more than seven centuries. In our own coun-
try it is practiced with more or less skill by many hun-
dreds of farmers; and even some of our large forests are
lumbered on the selection principle. Thus, in the pmeries
of North Carolina, the home of the “tar kiln,” farmers
are selling the timber of their large woodlands to lumber-
men, and many of these pieces are logged over for the
third or fourth time in a century, each lumberman cut-
ting only the larger trees and leaving the smaller for a
future crop.
The same is true of a number of tracts of spruce
lands in Maine, where some men introduced this method
many years ago. Generally these large woods have not
received much care. In cutting, the men often cleared
large patches, which remained uncovered a long time.
Commonly fire gets into these larger slashes, since it
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 61
is unprofitable to remove the tops, and thus much dam-
age is done to the remaining trees. Furthermore, the
dead and fallen timber and all useless and crippled trees
are always left in the woods and hinder the good trees,
serving as breeding places for fungi and insects, and
increasing the danger of fire.
Why do these lumbermen and holders of large forests
treat their woods with less care than our farmer forester ?
Let us examine into this a little more closely. When the
farmer wants to cut some wood he can step out any day
with his men, utilizing good weather and spare time, if it
be but half a day; he can cut as carefully as he wishes,
since his crew is small, usually interested, instructed, and
satisfied with whatever wages the work may bring.
When the lumberman goes out to log in our northern
states, for instance, he must start Im summer, must build
camps, cook house, men’s quarters, stables, storehouse,
and smithy; a crew of fifty or more men must be hired,
and supplies hauled for all his outfit. He must work
systematically, so that everybody shall be kept busy,
and in good weather or bad he must pay his men defi-
nite wages.
The farmer can draw home his logs, firewood, and
fencing or other material whenever the weather and
roads are good. His firewood he may pile near the
house to season; his logs and his old seasoned wood he
takes to mill or to town whenever hauling is good. His
62 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
roads are all made, and, just as he cuts, so he hauls when
it is convenient, utilizing weather and time to good advan-
tage. If the winter is too open or otherwise unfavorable,
he does no more than he is obliged to do.
Once in the woods the lumberman must build roads,
clear a landing, and make sure that he has a brook or
river capable of floating his logs; otherwise he must
build a railway to haul them out. Im all cases this
item of railway building is very great, amounting gen-
erally to twenty per cent and more of all expenses.
Then, when once the crew is felling and skidding or,
as In the Adirondacks and many of the spruce woods,
when once the logs are all skidded, he must haul them
out whether there is too much or too little snow, whether
the weather is good or bad. If the logs are to be driven
down a brook or small stream, a broken dam or a dry
season may cause lack of water and prevent the driving,
and thus the logs will remain in the woods, involving
great loss to the owner.
Again, the farmer forester lives in a settled country,
near mills and towns where he can sell his wood, and
not an inconsiderable part of his market is in his own
household and farm. His market is at home or near by,
and transportation to market is practicable for nearly all
kinds of his wood materials.
In many parts of our country the lumberman’s logs
travel more than a hundred miles before they reach the
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 65
sawmills or any settlements where any of the material
may be used; and the greater part of his wood travels
several hundred miles, some of it more than a thousand
miles, before it reaches the man who is to use it.
To ship cord wood out of the woods a hundred miles
without a railway would, in most cases, cost much more
than the wood could be sold for. For this reason the
lumberman can often take only the best kinds of logs,
and of these only the lighter, which may be floated, like
pine in Wisconsin, and must leave hemlock and all hard-
woods where they are, to say nothing of dead material,
crippled-and worthless trees, small poles from thinnings,
and the like. .
It seems, then, that the proper care of a small forest in
a settled country is quite easy, but that it 1s very diffi-
cult to bestow the proper care upon a large forest in
out-of-the-way districts, and that often only the simplest
improvements are possible. Of course there must be
intermediate cases, and so there are also different degrees
of care which can be given to the woods.
This also teaches us another useful lesson; it is this:
Since cord wood and other cheap material cannot profit-
ably be shipped far, and since they cannot be used up to
good advantage in unsettled districts, such forests should
be made up chiefly of soft woods, pine, spruce, ete., which
furnish a small amount of tops and a large amount of
light, valuable log material, which pays for long-distance
64 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
shipment. Of old maple, birch, oak, and other hardwoods,
only about thirty per cent of all the wood is in valuable
logs, and seventy per cent is cheap firewood, while in
good pine or spruce over seventy per cent is usually cut
into valuable logs.
In managing large pieces of selection forest it is best
to treat one part after another, and not to pick all over
the tract. Thus, if a man has sixty acres of such forest,
he would best cut over about five acres this year, five the
next, and so on, and in this way get over the entire sixty
acres every twelve years. This would give twelve years’
rest to the five acres first cut, during which time there
would be no cutting and dragging of logs and other mate-
rial, and at the same time the cutting would recur often
enough to keep the woods properly thinned and cleaned.
STARTING THE YOUNG GROWTH UNDER SEED TREES
In the selection forest old and young trees are mixed
in such an irregular way that it is difficult to know how
many trees there are a hundred years old, eighty years
old, etc. This makes it difficult to regulate the busimess
of the forest, to know how much is growing, to cut about
the same amount of the same kinds and of similar sizes.
Moreover, many a fine young tree thirty or forty years old
is damaged by the felling of a large neighbor, and many
good trees have to be taken out before their time because
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 65
they were injured in logging. For this reason many
foresters have changed this method as follows:
Suppose a ten-acre stand of spruce or beech has reached
the age at which the owner wishes to cut it (maturity, or
age of rotation). Instead of cutting only a tree here
and there, he thins out the entire stand, taking out about
twenty per cent of the trees. After a few years more,
when he expects a seed year (a matter which every for-
ester watches closely) or when an abundance of seed has
been produced during the summer, he cuts out more of the
trees, leaving only about fifty to seventy per cent of the
original stand, so that the crowns of these trees, which
are so tolerant of a great amount of shade, would be sepa-
rated by about two or three yards, thereby allowing con-
siderable light to get to the ground. The marking out for
this cutting (for every tree is marked by the forester) is
done in the early fall when the foliage is still on the broad-
leaved trees, and the cutting is done the following winter.
In the spring the seedlings spring up and grow under the
protection of the mother trees, which shield them from sun,
wind, and frost. After three years, when the seedlings
are well started and are in need of more light, about halt
of the old trees are cut out; and a few years later, when
the young plants are about one or two feet high, the
remaining seed trees are removed, and any spots which
have no young plants are stocked with plants from a
nursery. In this way the forest is harvested, and a new
66 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
growth started under seed trees in the period of about
ten or fifteen years, which makes this new crop of trees
covering our ten-acre lot near enough of an age to be
treated alike and harvested together, producing a stand of
uniform age. Some twenty or thirty years later the stand
is thinned for the first time.
Where the forest consists of a mixture of oak, ash, elm,
maple, etc., the method is about the same, only the seed
trees are fewer, representing only about half or less of the
original stand. Moreover, it is well in these mixed stands
to give the young plants more light and remove the last
of the seed trees earlier, since the young plants need more
light and care less for protection.
In pine, only about twenty-five to thirty per cent of the
trees need to be left for seed trees. Some men leave only
about a dozen trees per acre. The seed trees should be
removed when the young plants are two years old, since
the young pine does not tolerate much shade.
All kinds of trees can be reproduced in this way, but
the success varies considerably with different kinds and in
different localities. In Europe, where this method has
been tried a long time, it is commonly used for beech and
balsam, less often for spruce, seldom for pine and oak.
In our own country, where land is cheap and labor dear,
this method will give good results in all our large pineries,
East and West, in the spruce forests of the eastern states
and Canada, and in the majority of our hardwood forests.
Fig. 24. Young Growth of White Pine under Old Seed Trees
68 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
In our northern states, where the oak is more sensitive
to shade, it will need to be given a little advantage in order
to keep elm, maple, etc., from crowding it. Other sensitive
trees, like hickory, chestnut, and walnut, need watching
and should be planted before the other kinds get started.
The age at which the trees should be cut — the rotation—
naturally varies for different places; it is longer for cold
districts and slow-growing trees than for warm localities
and rapid growers, and of course it depends also on the
size of trees to be raised. In our temperate region and on
better soils most of our hardwoods make good-sized timber
in an eighty- or one-hundred-year rotation; on poorer
lands — mountain districts such as the Adirondacks and
Alleghenies — one hundred and fifty to two hundred years
are needed. The white pine makes salable material at
sixty years, good lumber at one hundred ; the red fir, white
cedar, and redwoods of the Pacific will do the same, while
spruce and balsam for pulp purposes may be managed on
a still shorter rotation.
In carrying out the method of starting the young growth
under seed trees several things should be kept m mind.
The pieces of forest which are taken in hand at any one
time should not be too large. Thus, if a man had a forest
of a thousand acres, worked on a hundred-year rotation,
and wished to have it in such order that a fifth of all his
woods were between eighty and a hundred years old, a
fifth between sixty and eighty years, etc., then he might
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 69
take two hundred acres in one piece and thin for seed
trees, get a new crop started, and harvest everything on
the two hundred acres; then take up the next two hun-
dred acres; and in five twenty-year periods he would
have harvested and renewed the woods on the entire
thousand acres. But this would not be good; most likely
his large open stand of seed trees would invite the winds ;
the old trees would blow down, and the young trees
suffer from drought. For this reason it would be much
better to pick out five forty-acre or ten twenty-acre
pieces, and treat each by itself. To pick these cuttings,
or, as they have been called, “ felling areas,” is not always
a simple thing and requires good judgment as well as a
knowledge of the woods and the lay of the land.
Generally it is better in our country to work from east
to west, to prevent the regular west and northwest winds
from throwing the trees; but in a hilly country this must
be modified. In picking out the cuttings it is but natural
that pieces where considerable young growth exists come
first ; and also that a really thrifty stand of timber is left
and a less thrifty one taken instead, since the latter is
not growing as much timber as it should, and, therefore,
is not earning so much rent.
On all points where the wind is likely to do much dam-
age, and also in the border of the woods, it is better to use
the simple selection method by which the woods aro left
more intact, and are, therefore, more resistant.
70 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Wherever it is possible, as in all small woods in settled
districts, care should be taken not to leave fail places or
empty spots, and if the young growth has not started
well or evenly, planting from a nursery should help out.
Where this method is to be introduced in our own wild-
woods of mixed stands the work must be suited to the
case. If, for imstance, we have a sixty-acre piece of
woods, there would most lhkely be some parts stocked
with old trees, some other parts where old and young
are mixed, and some pieces where the ground is covered
largely with young trees.
In this case it would be best to begin on the pieces of
old timber. But since the crowns of our old trees are so
very large, the directions about having the crowns three
to five yards apart for seed trees could not easily be fol-
lowed. The cutting of a large oak would often separate
the neighbors by twelve yards or more. For this reason
the large trees would be picked over, so that a selection
system would be apphed at the start. But instead of
coming back at long intervals, the selection here would be
repeated as often as the gaps are restocked with young
growth. In this way one piece after another is renewed.
If it were desirable to have the woods in a regular shape,
and have it renewed in five twenty-year periods, of course
one fifth, or twelve acres, would have to be cut over and
renewed during twenty years. At first this would not be
very strictly adhered to, and if the regular cutting does
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST i@!
not furnish enough timber, or if any of the other parts of
this piece of woods are in need of thinning or cleaning,
the cutting would be extended to these parts.
In large woods the forester would need a map wherein
he could readily see just what condition every acre is in, so
that he might study and plan the work at his house. In
carrying out the plans the cuttings would be marked out
in the woods as well as on the map.
To make this map requires not only a survey in which
boundary lines are run, as in ordinary surveying, but
it needs an examination and an estimate, or better, a
measuring of the trees,—all of them, if they are very
valuable, or at least of sample pieces or stands; and it
also requires a careful noting of any young growth, and
a description of the land, the slope, the soil, the drainage.
Whether the ground is covered with grass, weeds, and
shrubbery, or is bare, should also be indicated, for all
this knowledge is helpful and even necessary to a proper
planning of the work.
STARTING THE YOUNG GROWTH BY SEEDING FROM
THE SIDE
Along the Potomac, in Maryland, many old fields which
were cleared and tilled in the time of George Washing-
ton are covered to-day by dense stands of jack pine. In
the same way numerous old, abandoned fields in North
72 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Carolina and Virginia are covered with pine. In this
case the pine is a fine tree, called by the people of those
districts shortleaf pine, and on account of its disposition
to cover old fields it is also called old-field pine. It is
cut in large quantities for saw-logs, and it is not an
unusual sight to see men log this pine on land where the
old corn rows are still visible. Evidently the seed from
which these pine trees sprang came from the neighboring
forest and was blown across the fields. Being so success-
ful in many cases, this way of reproducing the forest has
been used by the forester, and since the seed comes from the
neighboring forests, the ground 1s seeded from the side and
not under the seed trees, as in the method described before.
In using this method it 1s customary to fell all trees on
a strip fifty to seventy-five yards wide, or about twice as
wide as the trees are high, and then to wait until the
strip is fairly covered with young seedling growth; then
to cut another strip, widening the original strip by another
seventy-five yards, and so on, until the entire piece is cut
over. Of course any young growth is saved as much as
possible in cutting the timber, and in valuable forests any
places which are not covered within a reasonable time,
say three to six years, are filled by planting. Since the
seed is carried by the wind, it 1s well to extend the strips
north and south, and begin on any particular piece along
the east line, so that the prevailing westerly winds will
carry the seed over the strip.
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 73
Where the forest is large there are as many strips
worked at once as is necessary to cover the entire forest
within the time of rotation. Thus, if we want the pine to
be cut when eighty years old, and always allow each strip
rig. 25. Natural Seeding from the Side
Young pine encroaching on cleared land. (After Bureau of Forestry)
five years’ rest to seed and start a young growth, the
forest might be divided into a number of parcels such that
each parcel would be about sixteen strips wide, and this
could be cut in eighty years’ time.
74 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Where the wood is still in the ordinary irregular mixture
of old and young trees the larger trees on the western
half of each parcel would grow old and produce too little
wood before the time for cutting, and it is better to take
out the oldest timber all over the parcel from time to time
whenever convenient, independently of the regular cut-
ting on the strips. If it is desirable to cut about the same
amount of timber every year, as, for stance, where a pulp
mill or sawmill is dependent on such regular supply, it is
necessary with this, as with all methods, that the yearly cut
should not be greater than the yearly growth. In woods
where too much timber is young sapling stuff the cut must
at first be kept proportionately below the normal amount.
Just what this cut should be can only be found by making
such a survey as was indicated in the previous chapter.
What this growth should be can be learned from the
following table :
FOR PINE
NUMBER OF CORDS OF Woop (LOGS AND CORD WOOD) WHICH MAY BE EXPECTED ON
ONE ACRE OF LAND IF PROPERLY COVERED
When the Stand On Site No. 1, or Good On Site No. 3, or Inferior
is Old Pine Land Pine Land
Years Cords Cords
40 | 40 25
60 70 40
80 95 55
100 110 65
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 75
Since much of this wood in our forests is wasted, the
entire top being left in the woods, the slab and sawdust
being usually burned as rubbish, it requires about three
cords, or about two hundred and seventy cubic feet (solid),
to make one thousand feet board measure.
Thus, even on the poorer land, our stand of pine would
cut about thirteen thousand feet board measure per acre
when sixty years old. In most of our Virginia and North
Carolina pineries it would do much better. Generally,
however, even well-kept woods are not fully stocked, and
if a fully stocked wood cuts a hundred cords, a forest in
which only seven tenths of the ground is covered with
trees would cut only seven tenths of that amount, or
seventy cords.
Dense woods of beech or spruce, or both in mixture, cut
more than pine, and most of our mixed hardwoods grow-
ing on better soil could be made to cut at least as much
as the pine.
Seeding from the side can, of course, be expected to
succeed only with trees like the pine, spruce, red fir, cedar,
birch, poplar, elm, and others the seed of which is light
enough to be blown some distance.
In Europe, where it has been tried, this method has not
given general satisfaction ; the soil is exposed too long to
sun and wind and thus loses of its fertility; grass, weeds,
and bramble cover the sunny eastern edge of the strip,
and often the seeding is too imperfect for those countries
76 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
where land is very valuable and must never be left idle.
In our own country Nature indicates the use of this method
for a large portion of the pineries of the South, and parts
of the Rockies, and also in the red fir forests of the
Pacific coast, where millions of acres of burns have been
most beautifully restocked in this manner without any care
on the part of man. The chief advantages of this method
are that it does away with the tedious marking; that, in
felling, the men are not hampered by the fear of injuring
young growth or standing timber; and that the skidding
and hauling is not interfered with by standing timber and
young growth, and therefore can be done much cheaper.
STARTING THE YOUNG GROWTH BY ARTIFICIAL
PLANTING OR SOWING
On many of the old farms in Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, and other eastern states, portions of the land
have become worn out by long tillage and use. They
became pastures and, finally, almost useless brush lands.
Some of these were planted or sowed to white pine, and
land which sixty years ago was worth almost nothing to
its owner, since it could earn no rental worth mention, is
now covered with a forest of white pine worth one hun-
dred and fifty dollars and more per acre.
This way of dealing with the forest, to cut clean and
then replant, is a common method in European countries
== Ss
SS
Fic. 26. White-Pine Cone, Seed, and Seedling
a, cone; b, seed with wing; c, d, e, plant of first season; /, plant two years old
(After Division of Forestry)
-
/
(© 0)
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
and much used in the pineries of North Germany, and in the
spruce forests of Saxony and other districts. In our own
country this method has not yet been used systematically
in the care of forests, but many thousands of acres of
what was formerly forest lands and large areas of prairie
land have been planted and converted into useful forests.
The method is the simplest ; the logging can be done at
any time, in the cheapest manner, and the reproduction or
starting of a new growth is simple and satisfactory.
With the natural seeding under seed trees or in clear
strips one spot has thousands of seedlings on a few square
rods, so that not one plant in a hundred can possibly live ;
and the next spot is left without any growth and must
either be left idle or be replanted. All this is avoided by
planting, for if done well it 1s usually successful, and the
plants are sufficient In number and yet do not crowd each
other. They therefore grow fast and symmetrically, with
good healthy crowns, and the sticks are not so slender as
if grown in dense thickets.
Since this method requires a large number of plants,
we shall have to learn something about tree seeds, where
and how to get them, how to raise plants, and how to
plant them.
Nursery and Planting. — The seeds of most of our forest
trees are still so high in price at seed stores that it is
well to collect them whenever possible. Thus, the seed of
our pines, spruces, and cedars costs from two dollars to
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 79
five dollars per pound; that of ash, maple, and birch
from one dollar to two dollars, and even acorns cost
twenty-five cents and more per pound. It pays, there-
fore, to gather our own seed; for, besides being cheaper,
the seeds we gather are fresh and, being matured in
our own locality, are apt to furnish plants well suited to
our climate.
There are a few kinds like the elms, the willows, the
poplars, and also the silver and red maples which ripen
their seeds in spring and early summer; but most trees
ripen their seed in the fall, the majority in September and
October. Some kinds bear seed nearly every year; most
kinds bear every two or three years with a specially good
seed year at longer intervals.
Large seeds, like those of oak, beech, chestnut, hickory,
and walnut, can be picked up when they fall, and the
same is true of the pods of locusts and catalpa. The seeds
of basswood, maple, and ash may be beaten off the tree
and caught on a sheet spread out on the ground ; or they
can be gathered by cutting the best bearing twigs with
shears, either from the ground or from a ladder.
This way of cutting the twigs or picking off seeds is
the best also for elm and for trees where the seeds are
in cones or balls, as with the yellow poplar (tulip poplar),
sweet gum, sycamore, birches, and conifers. The seed of
willows and poplars rarely needs to be gathered, as these
trees are easily grown from cuttings.
80 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
The seeds which ripen in spring and early summer,
as those of elm, poplar, and willow, must be sown as
soon as ripe, for they do not retain their vitality very
long.
The small cones of birch, yellow or tulip poplar, and
balsams fall apart easily when dry, and then the seeds
and scales (chaff) may be separated; but the cones of
pie, spruce, larch or tamarack, hemlock, and white
cedars remain intact and have to be dried, preferably
in a warm room, until the scales open and let the seeds
drop out.
After we have gathered the few kinds of seeds from
which we wish to raise plants we have to take care of
them, for seeds are not only eagerly eaten by mice, but
they spoil by drying out or by heating and molding.
Different seeds behave very differently in this respect.
The seeds of pine, spruce, and other conifers may be kept
in bags hung up in a dry, cool shed, but the majority of
seeds of broadleaf kinds, especially all the fleshier ones,
are best kept in sand.
For this purpose the bottom of an ordinary box is coy-
ered with a two-inch layer of sand (not dry, but moist
like ordinary earth); then a layer of seeds one half to
one inch thick is spread out on the sand; this is covered
with a two-inch layer of sand, then a layer of seed, and
so forth. When filled the box is nailed up and may then
be placed in a cool cellar or else put into a pit dug in the
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST Sl
garden, deep enough to receive the entire box. After the
box is set in, earth is shoveled over it to cover it at least
six Inches deep and make a small mound to shed the
water. This should be still further guarded by a covering
of boards or slabs. The seed thus kept should be sowed
immediately after it is taken out in the spring.
To save the trouble of keeping the seed over till spring,
it is often better, where mice are not too numerous, to
Fig. 27. Drill Board
a, board; b, cleat to make the drill; ¢c, upright’ board with handle, d
sow the seeds in the fall. This may well be done with
all fleshy seeds, like those of oak, beech, chestnut, hickory,
walnut, maple, ash, etc., but seeds of conifers and most
seeds which can stand only a very thin cover of earth
should be kept till spring.
8? FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Seed Bed.—To raise plants of broad-leaved trees any good
garden beds will do; for pine and other conifers most gar-
dens have too much stable manure, and a small spot in the
woods is often better. Broad-leaved kinds need a good
loam, but can stand quite heavy clay; but the conifers
fare better on a sandy soil. All seed beds should be
plowed or spaded deeply to loosen the soil for the roots,
and the land should be well fertilized with phosphate
of lime, well rotted compost, or forest mold. All this
is easily done where only a few thousand plants are to be
raised; for a bed four by twelve feet is capable of producing
a thousand or more of such plants as pine and spruce.
For this reason some prefer raising tree seedlings in
boxes in the house, or under glass, and in many cases
this way is the cheapest and most convenient. Of course
where a large forest has to be supplied every year with
plants it is necessary to have a large nursery.
Sowing. — In sowing large seeds it is generally better
to plant in drills, which may be made with a narrow gar-
den hoe; but for small seeds the drills should be pressed
into the ground with a drill board, shown in Fig. 27, where
the two cleats make the drills. In boxes and where space
is valuable broadcast sowing may be employed. With
most of the broad-leaved kinds the drills should not be
closer than twelve inches; for conifers six inches suffices.
As soon as they are in the ground, conifer seeds should
be covered about one half inch; maple, ash, ete., about
ee wee
sc yg
Fig. 28. Seed Beds
Part of the screens are covered with brush to give a denser cover
84 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
one inch; oak, hickory, walnut, and also black locust,
about two inches. An old rule says that tree seeds
should have a cover three times as deep as the seed is
thick. After covering, it is well to roll or press the sur-
face of the ground with a board or roller. To prevent the
drying out of the ground it is best to give the seed bed
a cover of brush or else cover it with a screen. (See
Fig. 28.) This screen is placed on the ground until the
seedlings push out of the soil; then it should be raised,
at first four inches, later on twelve inches for conifers,
and for broad-leaved trees two feet, so as not to hinder
the plants in their growth. This screen protects the
plants against sun and wind, and thus keeps them from
drying out.
Some broad-leaved trees and also the pine can some-
times be raised without the screen, but all kinds do better
if thus protected ; while some kinds, like spruce and bal-
sam, do not get on well without it, and should have it all
of the first and at least part of the second year.
Many seeds will germinate within a few weeks after
sowing; some few, like ash, basswood, larch, and even
white pine, often ‘lie over,” @.e., a part of the seed does
not come up until the second year. To prevent this the
seed should be soaked for several days before sowing.
The majority of fresh or properly kept tree seeds are
good, and from sixty to eighty per cent of all seeds may
be expected to germinate; but of those of balsams, birch,
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 85
elm, ash, and maple generally less than half are good,
while of yellow poplar seed ninety per cent is commonly
worthless.
The number of plants which are obtained from a pound
of seed depends, of course, on the number of seeds in a
pound, on the per cent of good seeds, and also on the
vigor of the seedlings.
The number of seeds in a pound varies within wide
limits. In the light and winged seed of birch there are
over four hundred thousand grains to the pound; in Nor-
way, shortleaf, and Scotch pine, red fir, and spruce, about
seventy thousand; in white pine, about thirty thousand ;
in white ash, about ten thousand ; in basswood and sugar
maple, about seven thousand, while in walnuts there are
only about thirty nuts per pound. In sowing, the seeds
should be well spaced so that about three to five grains
of coniferous seeds come to one linear inch of the drill.
Acorns and nuts are dropped about two to three inches
apart, and in the case of most of the smaller seeds of
broad-leaved trees one to three seeds are sown to each
inch of drill.
Seedlings. —If properly cared for, i.e., hoed, weeded,
and, if need be, watered, and carefully sheltered, the
little seedlings should take a firm hold of the ground
and become fully established durmg the first summer.
Pine, spruce, and other conifers generally remain small
the first season, usually growing to a height of only one
86 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
and a half to three inches; those of most of the broad-
leaved kinds in the temperate zone of our country grow
usually to a height of six to twelve inches the first year,
Lett
Ndi ity ball
Fie. 29. Seedlings. (All two years old and about three feet high)
a, maple; b, box elder; c, aspen
and some of them, like catalpa, black locust, and the
walnuts, grow commonly to a height of twelve to twenty-
four inches.
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 87
During cloudy weather and in the fall the screens should
be removed or used sparingly, to give the seedlings sufh-
cient light. During the winter the tiny little plantlets
of conifers may be protected with a cover of branches or
leaves, but generally they do well enough without cover.
Fie. 30. Planting in Old Burned-over Slash Land in Adirondacks
For the taller, broad-leaved seedlings a ‘* hillmg up” is
usually desirable, and where tender kinds, such as hickory
and chestnut, are to be raised in colder localities a cover
of brush and straw is desirable.
Planting.— The plants of such trees as the elm, catalpa,
and black locust, and most of our hardwoods may well
88 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
be set out in the woods when one year old; and even
beech and pine do well if set out at thisage. Pine plants
do better if set out when two years old, and spruce and
balsam in their third year. When it is desirable to have
stout and hardy plants, as in planting on poor soil or in
places exposed to wind and sun, it is best to take the
plants from the seed bed when one, or even better, when
two, years old and set them in another bed in the garden,
giving them more space. This transplanting makes stout,
bushy, long-rooted plants, and is much used in raising
spruce, balsam, and oak. Generally it costs as much to
transplant a thousand plants as it costs to raise them in
the seed bed to the second year.
Where the trees are set out on forest soil with stumps
and small brush and rotten logs and other rubbish in the
way, they are placed wherever there is good space, but
preferably not closer than five feet apart. The planting
is best done by two men, one digging the holes with a
mattock, the other setting out the trees.
The plant should not be set deeper than it stood in the
seed bed; the soil must be filled in neatly and firmly
about the roots, so that the plant cannot readily be lifted
out by the top after plantmg. In this way two men can
plant eight to twelve hundred small plants per day. By
using the spadelike iron shown in Fig. 51, B, where the hole
is made by one thrust, the plant held in by a boy, and
the hole closed by a second thrust, the two men can plant
a
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 89
as many as fifteen to twenty hundred per day. This
method does very well in sandy soil and with two- to
three-year-old conifers.
On prairies, where the land may first be plowed and
harrowed, the trees may be set in regular rows, and the
v
Fig. 31. Planting Tools
A, ax-mattock, one of the best tools used in the woods; B, planting dibble,
used in loose soil and for small plants
larger plants of broad-leaved kinds may well be set out
in furrows.
In all kinds of planting, but especially with pine,
spruce, and other conifers, the greatest difficulty is found
usually in trying to keep the plants in a fresh, healthy
condition. If they are bought at a nursery, a thousand
9() FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
or more miles away, they are apt to heat and mold if
packed too closely, and dry out if packed too loosely.
The best method is probably to ship them in large bas-
kets, packed in bundles and with the roots wrapped with
damp moss. Seedlings of pime, spruce, and other coni-
fers should never be allowed to dry at their roots; im
fact, a few minutes of such drying in bright sunlight is
often enough to kill them.
During planting, the bunch of seedlings carried along
should not be held in the hand but kept in a pail with
wet moss and a little water, and in warm, sunny weather
the pail should have a cover of wet sacking. The broad-
leaved kinds are much more hardy, but in all cases success
in planting depends on keeping the plants fresh. Planting
in spring is universally preferred, though fall planting is
often equally good.
Sowing in the Forest. — Where seed is cheap and where
the soil is in good condition, as on newly clean-cut forest
land, many people prefer to sow the seed directly on the
land and thus save all the trouble of raising plants.
With the seeds of oak, chestnut, hickory, walnut, beech,
locust, maple, ash, and basswood this is a very good way ;
and even for pine and spruce excellent results are obtained
by this method. In sowing, the man hoes small spots
about twenty-four inches square, scraping the ground a
little toward the center to make this part the highest ;
he then drops three to five seeds in about the middle and
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 9]
covers them lightly, pressing the ground afterward with
the hoe. In this way he goes back and forth, sowing
wherever there is room, but so that the spots are at least
(After Graves)
five feet apart. Where mice are numerous, and where
insects, sun, and wind, together with a poor soil, combine
to injure the seedlings, this method is not reliable.
92 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Occasionally wild seedlings may be found in great
abundance in the woods. When these plants are still
small, z.e., from one to two years old, they usually thrive
if transplanted ; but older plants, especially if taken from
rather dark woods, are generally too spindling and rarely
do well.
Poplars and willows are best started by cuttmgs. These
are pieces of young shoots, one to two years old, gathered
in March and cut into twelve-inch pieces. These pieces
are bundled and then buried until spring opens, when
they are set out either m the garden, if we wish plants,
or else at once in the woods, where they are to remain
permanently. In the garden they may be planted in a
trench made with spade or plow; and in the woods they
are stuck into a slanting hole made with the spade, about
two inches of the cutting being left to project from the hole.
In both cases the earth is packed firmly by tamping.
In our prairie regions, of course, all trees must be
planted; the forest is yet to be made. Here planting,
chiefly of broad-leaved kinds, has proved most successful.
Later on, when the woods exist, conifers may be added.
In our forest lands such trees as poplar, willow, birch,
elm, and even maple, basswood, and ash, need introduc-
tion here and there; but m our hardwood forests they
will usually be numerous enough without special care.
Hickory, walnut, and even oak, chestnut, and beech
may well be started by planting the seed; thus, generally,
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 93
the main object of forest nurseries is to produce conifers
and only secondarily to start such kinds as do not exist
in a given locality, or common broad-leaved trees for poor
soils and difficult waste lands.
The method of cutting clean and replanting, though
used successfully for many years and in many places, and
used in forests
which have paid
the highest yearly
rental of any in the
world, has, never-
theless, been criti-
cised by many for-
esters. Usually it is
claimed that it costs
too much; that it
leaves the ground
bare for several
years and thus
exposes it to sun
and wind ; and, Fig. 338. An Oak Grove from Artificial Seeding
finally, that it Sele il
induces the people to grow forests composed of one kind
of trees, either spruce alone or pine alone, and thus
increases the danger from insects and disease; for if a
spruce forest is attacked by a spruce-loving caterpillar,
the insect finds so much food that its numbers increase
94 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
all the more rapidly, and a whole forest may be destroyed.
Experience in Saxony, involving thousands of acres annu-
ally, shows that planting is not costly, for it costs there
only about two per cent of the total or gross income of
the forest. But even if it should not be well to clear off
large tracts of forest and then replant, it will be safe to
do so on better lands in a temperate climate and for small
areas ; and it is probable, also, that it will prove satisfac-
tory for larger areas situated near good markets, like some
of our spruce forests which supply pulp mills in their midst.
Aside from this it will always be found not only help-
ful, but even necessary, to assist Nature in restocking the
forest ; for, however carefully dealt with, mistakes produce
fail places, and therefore every one who cares for a forest
should know how to plant and sow and should at all
times be ready to do so.
It would be misleading, however, to infer that the
planting of forests is always profitable in the ordinary
sense of the word. Like the pioneer’s clearing of forests
for plowland, and like the farmer’s labor of raising the
bread and meat of the nation, so the planting and raising
of forests, though one of the most necessary of human
occupations, rarely produces those large returns which a
speculative age expects from a “paying” investment.
But like the conversion of the wilderness to productive
farms and pleasant homes, so the planting of the forest
is sure to reward in the end.
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 5)
REviEw oF METHODS OF STARTING NEW GROWTH
IN FORESTS
We have now looked over the various ways which dif-
ierent people employ to keep up different kinds of forests.
Of course every one of these principal ways may be, and
actually is, modified or changed by different men to suit
particular cases. In this way there are a good many kinds
of coppice, using different trees and different rotations ;
one man leaves only a few trees in his standard coppice,
another holds over so many trees that the standard coppice
approaches the timber forest. In the same way one man
picks over his whole tract of selection forest every year ;
another works one fourth of it until this fourth 1s all cut
over and stocked with new growth, and then goes to the
next fourth, ete. In this way his selection forest becomes
more regular and approaches the common method of
starting the young growth under seed trees.
We have learned, too, that whatever the system of
management may be, the starting of a new growth —
the reproduction, the keeping up of the forest —is the
main feature in the mind of the forester, and his methods
are described, named, and compared with this chief object
in view.
The table on the following page will help us to fix in
our memory the principal methods of reproduction, each
giving rise to a particular form of forest.
96
FIRST
BOOK
OF FORESTRY
THE SIX PRINCIPAL METHODS OF REPRODUCTION
METHOD
How THE CUTTING
IS DONE
THE TREES
START FROM
WHERE THE METHOD
MAY BE USED
1. Coppice
2. Standard
Coppice
3. Selection
Under
Seed Trees |
Natural
Seeding
From the
Side
6. Artificial
Seeding or
Planting
All trees are cut off
Part of the trees are
held over to grow
to larger size, and
are cut at the end
of the second or
third rotation
The largest and old- |
est trees and also
the worthless and |
younger |
crowding
trees are picked out
| The piece of land is
cut over two to four
times within 10-20
years; the first cut
merely thins out,
the second leaves
only the seed trees,
the third cut gives
light to the young
growth, the fourth
cut removes the last
of the old trees
Strips 50-75 yards
wide are cut clean
and left until
seeded, when a new
strip is cleared
All timber is cut
| Sprouts
| sprouts, the
| standards pre-
ferably from
seed or plants
Mostly from
seed
| Seed
the wind from
forest
| Seed carried by |
Main crop from |
Only for broad-leaved trees,
preferably oak and chest-
nut, on fairly good forest
soil and in mild climate
Same as coppice. For
standards use oak, chest-
nnt, ash, also pine
For all kinds of forests, on
all kinds of land, and for
cold and warm climates.
The best way for difficult
mountain forests and
wherever it is hard to
keep forest growth
|All kinds of forests, less
| neighboring |
| Seed, or nursery |
plants
good in cold climate, on
poor soil, and in exposed
(storm-beaten) places
Only with trees which have
light seed,— pine, spruce,
red fir, white cedars, elm,
birch, poplar, etc.,—and
only in warmer localities
and where seed falls
abundantly and regu-
larly, and where the soil
is not covered too badly
with grass and brush
All kinds of forests, good
and poor soil, cold and
warm climate. Simplifies
the business, makes cheap
logging, and prevents
useless crowding of young
plants
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST O7
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST
A piece of wildwoods, as we have seen, may do very
well without the care of man; young growth will start up
where old trees die and fall; in the dense thickets the
more vigorous choke out the weaker, the taller shade
down the shorter; the tolerant crowd out the intolerant.
A gap made by the storm is filled in sooner or later by
trees starting as sprouts, or by trees whose seeds have
been carried there by the wind. Large openings made by
fire are restocked, here slower, there faster, according to
the circumstances; and large areas of forest destroyed by
some caterpillar are gradually reforested by those kinds
which this particular insect does not feed upon. This
would seem to tell us that forests need no care. But this
is true only if we are satisfied with the small amount of
good growth which most wildwoods make. Where man
wishes the forest to produce a larger amount of wood and
wood of particular kinds and sizes, more or less care is
necessary. In the stately forests of red fir and cedar of
the Puget Sound country, where a good forest soil, mild
and humid climate, and excellent kinds of forest trees
combine to make a forester’s paradise, a little care might
suffice ; but even in these districts the old trees hinder the
young, and the young trees crowd each other, and thus
the trees themselves call for help, for mterference, for
improvement.
98 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Besides this the farmer with his thirty acres of woods
is not satisfied with the philosophic view that, in the wild
state, forests gradually right themselves; he must know
what he had better do to protect his woods against fire
and insects, and how to treat them to make them more
resistant against wind, snow, and frost.
THINNING AND CLEANING
Going over a newly planted piece of young pine where
the little plants are five feet apart, we see that each of
these has more than twenty times as much space as it
needs. If we come back five years later, we find the little
bushy-topped trees beginning to touch each other. Ten
years later we find here a thicket of saplings, twenty feet
and more in height, the lower limbs mostly dead, and the
short crowns firmly locked. The struggle has begun, and
if no trees are taken out, the stronger choke the weaker ;
but, and this is the serious part, the weaker also hurt the
stronger by using up some of the much-needed water and
mineral food from the soil and hindering the growth of
both limb and root.
If we return again ten years later, we find a large
number of trees dead. Others are dying, and the living
trees have grown taller and their stems have fewer dead
limbs. The trees have “cleaned” more perfectly, but
they have grown but little in thickness; they are a
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 99
spindling lot of thin poles with a little crown of green
limbs altogether too small for thrifty growth. A glance
shows that the stand is suffering and that help is needed.
He
cod
aR a
tht
os
et : a} ay
Sea BS
a
+ ei
:
Fig. 34. Which should come out?
(After Kraft)
Here then would be our first thinning, and the question
arises, What shall we take out?
A study of Fig. 34 will help us. Here the strongest trees
are marked No.1; they represent those exceptionally
100 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
vigorous ones which project above the general level of the
canopy of the woods. The three next best trees are marked
as No. 2; they represent the thrifty trees whose crowns
make up the body of the canopy. Let us call the trees
of class No. 1 and No. 2 the dominant trees. The trees
No. 5 are weaker; they form a small part of the canopy
and give little promise of ever making good trees. Those
of No. 4 are bemg crowded out, and those like No. 5 are
dying or dead.
If our piece of forest were twenty-five years old and
the trees about thirty feet in height and we might thin
out every ten years, we should take out only trees of the
fourth and fifth classes; and also such trees of the third
class, and even of larger size, as interfered evidently with
some better trees. This would be repeated in ten, in
twenty, etc., years, until the timber should be cut.
In places where the pole wood cut during the first and
second thinning could not be sold, this process would
cost some money; for the material cut in the thinnings
should really be taken out to prevent the development
of too many injurious beetles. For this reason a more
thorough thinning would, in most cases, be better; and
then most of the trees of even the third class would be
taken out.
Where the young growth starts from natural seeding,
so that often twenty and more trees start on one square
foot, the crowding begins very early and it would be
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 101
better if the majority of little plants were taken out or
destroyed before they are a foot high. To do this well
would cost too much, and the forester usually leaves the
thicket to itself until it is about twenty years old, when he
thins it out im much the same way as described above.
Fig. 35. Thinned, but will need it again
To get a better idea as to how much ought to be cut
it may be said that for pine on good pine land there ought
not to be left more than ten trees on one square rod at the
age of twenty, four at forty, two at sixty, and one ata
hundred years, as tabulated on the following page.
102 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
THE NUMBER OF TREES ON ONE ACRE IF FULLY STOCKED
FoR PINE FoR SPRUCE
WHEN THE STAND = = | a
Is OLD em - ae
= lea : On an Inferior ‘ ate | On an Inferior
| On a Good Site On a Good Site |
Site Site
20 years. . . 1600 2000 — —
40). «k. 4 eee 700 1200 1000 2000
GO) tc. bee 300 600 500 800
BO ree Boe 200 350 300 400
100 ee 175 250 250 | 300
120%.°* J... Se 150 | 200 | 225 275
By dividing these figures by 160 (the number of square
rods m an acre) we can readily find how many trees we
may leave on one square rod. 3
Many foresters are guided by the crowns and thin just
enough to keep the crowns from crowding.
Naturally enough, trees which, like spruce, balsam,
beech, and maple, can tolerate much shade, are thinned
later, and must be thinned less thoroughly, if they are
to clean themselves and grow smooth stems, than the
intolerant kinds, which clean more easily. On the whole,
thinning is one of the most difficult things the forester
has to learn, and much good sense and care, as well as
experience, are needed to do it well.
That injured and crippled trees and also those with
unduly spreading crowns should be taken out is self-
evident. After a thimning our woods should be evenly
and well stocked with as perfect trees as can be produced.
‘OYRp] ‘eAdosoy IOAN ISOM
(Qqjouuey teiyy)
“OL
‘OS
ee CLO ” V
104 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
PROTECTION AGAINST INJURY FROM THE ELEMENTS
Fire. — For our American forests, fire has been, and is
even now, the most dangerous enemy. When the white
inan first came to this country he found an undisturbed con-
tinuous forest covering the eastern United States. When
the “cruisers” of forty years ago located timber lands
in Michigan and Wisconsin there were few extensive
‘burns,’ or areas where the fire had converted the forest
into a barren waste. To-day many millions of acres are
burns; large ones are found in Maine, Canada, in the
Lake States, and the forests of the Rocky Mountains.
The Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges are fairly dotted
with unsightly burns; and even the ever-dripping, fog-
shrouded forests of red fir in Washington have suffered
extensive and most destructive fires.
Our hardwoods or broad-leaved forests have never been
ravaged by fires to any great extent; fire is a danger
chiefly of the coniferous forest, particularly of the pimeries
covering the large sandy districts of both the North and
South and the dry mountain forests of the West.
In our settled districts forest fires are rather uncommon
and the danger is steadily growing less; but in our large
pineries, and wherever extensive lumbering is done in
coniferous forests, fires are of common yearly occurrence.
Now and then, during dry seasons, they are more numerous
and some of them become truly terrific.
1)
ne RUGRATS AR
Ora ee
Fig. 37. Tangle after Fire
Priest River Reserve, Idaho. (After Gannett)
106 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
The Miramichi fire of 1825 in New Brunswick, the Pesh-
tigo fire of 1871 m Wisconsin, the great fires in Michigan
of the same year, and the great Hinckley fire of 1894 in
Minnesota destroyed several towns and hundreds of farms;
they cost the lives of many hundreds of people and con-
sumed millions of feet of timber.
The behavior of fire differs very much in different kinds
of woods and even in the same woods at different times.
In Georgia and Florida pineries it may be merely a light
“surface fire,’ consuming the thin layer of long pine
needles, and usually traveling along at a very moderate
rate. In the denser parts of the mixed woods of the Adi-
rondacks it 1s a ground fire, eating along on the surface of
the earth and in the dry layer of the duff so slowly that a
whole day’s burning adds only an acre or two to the burn.
On the other hand, a fire in one of the large slashes,
especially in the drier lake countries and the West, may,
after it gets well started, travel by fits and leaps; and the
draft is often so great that burning brands are carried
through the air for several hundred yards, lighting new
fires as they fall. Then it becomes a forest fire of the
dangerous kind, and if the lone settler and his family
have any great distance to run in order to reach a large
clearing or other point of safety, they are almost sure to
be overtaken and suffocated, if not actually burned.
To what extent the woods are destroyed by the fire
differs in much the same way. In the southern pinery it
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE. FOREST 107
may be only the litter and the little seedlings and young
plants which are cleaned up; in the mixed woods of the
Adirondacks a large part, often all the timber, dies wher-
ever the fire has occurred (see Fig. 42); in the Hinckley
fire the forest was not only killed for miles, but in many
places almost everything was cleared ; all dry limbs, tops,
Fig. 58. The Camp Fire as it should be
dead timber, standing or down, were entirely consumed.
In a dense stand of green pine, balsam, or spruce it is a
common thing for the fire, intensely hot as it is, not
merely to kill all the trees, but to burn a large part of
the limbs with their resin-filled leaves, fairly roaring as
it shoots up one tree after another, and often flashing
through the crowns of several dozen at a time. |
2
=
©
LZ
cr
=]
se
ms
a
AA? FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
broad roadways, as fire lanes, through the larger pine
woods is contemplated, in order to prevent fires and to
help in fighting them. Such a system of fire lanes is
used in the larger forests of Europe, and even in British
India, and is probably the best means of protection for
many of our extensive coniferous forests. Since hardwood
forests do not take fire as readily as pine, etc., strips or
belts of hardwoods have been used along some of the
railways in Europe to protect the pine woods from the
sparks of the locomotives. For the same reason it is
recommended to use such belts of hardwoods to break up
larger bodies of pine, etc., and also to use a mixture of
hardwoods with conifers. In addition it is necessary that
everybody in and about the woods should watch and help,
and for this reason should know the danger and the law.
To teach and to warn the public, the authorities of sey-
eral states and the United States, as well as many private
owners, are now distributing * fire notices”’ in conspicuous
places along roads, trails, and streams in all parts of the
forest.
Storms. —If we should look over the old maps of tbe
many townships of Wisconsin, we would see so many
“windfalls” marked by the surveyors that it would seem
as if Wisconsin were a regular storm state. This would
be an error, for a trip through the South would convince
us that storms have there been more frequent, covered
larger areas, acted with more force, and destroyed more
Fia. 40.
Fighting Fire in the Adirondacks
(After W. F. Fox)
113
114 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
timber. Against storms the forester is helpless. Not
so with regard to ordinary winds. Against these, as we
have seen, he can protect the woods by the ordinary selec-
tion method so that no part of the forest is ever exposed ;
Fig. 41. The Fires have cleaned up
(After Bureau of Forestry)
and also by beginning with the cutting of any tract or
block of woods on the east side, and thus working in the
direction from which the prevailing wind comes.
In other ways the elements often damage forests.
Frost kills young plants; snow loads down the crowns of
weaker trees and bends them low, often breaking them ;
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 115
in cold weather fog and rain lay a covering of ice on all
the limbs; twigs and leaves of conifers, and frequently
even large branches are broken off by the great weight of
this ice.
By selecting hardy kinds of trees for frosty places, and
by starting young growth either in the nursery or under
the protection of older trees the forester will avoid loss
from frost ; but, on the whole, he is rather powerless against
these injuries, which, in northern localities, do considerable
harm.
PROTECTION AGAINST ANIMALS
If we take a stroll in the woods during summer and
look for animals instead of trees, we shall see a few squir-
rels, perhaps a rabbit, and many little paths made by mice,
though probably few of the mice themselves. We may
also see a number of birds busily hopping and flying about
and finding food for themselves and their brood. But if
we sit down by an old stump, a dead or newly felled tree,
and begin to look for smaller things, we are soon convinced
that for every bird and larger animal we see dozens and
hundreds of the “little people,
ants are busily looking for prey, seizing any stray cater-
”?
the insects. Troops of
pillar, grub, worm, or other animal they can master,
carrying it off bodily or tearing it to pieces. Little hunt-
ing beetles go singly, exploring every crack and boring ;
and wee little brown beetles may be found boring in the
116 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
bark and even the wood of the newly felled stem. Above and
around us we notice flies, wasps, millers, and butterflies, and
a world of smaller winged insects restlessly flittmmg about.
Insects. — Ot all animals this vast army of the * little
people” are by far the most dangerous enemies of the for-
ests. Thus, the bark beetle, in the early seventies, ruined
over twenty-two thousand acres of spruce in Bohemia
alone; the caterpillar of the nun moth devastated in East
Prussia, between 1853 and 1863, over two hundred and
sixty thousand acres, killing more than four and a half
million cords of timber. In our own country the gypsy
moth has become the terror of woodlands in Massachusetts,
and nearly a million dollars of state money alone has been
expended in fighting it. The bark beetles have destroyed
enormous quantities of timber in Maryland, in the Vir-
ginias, and in North Carolina; the larva of a sawfly has
destroyed the tamarack in the Adirondacks ; the tent cater-
pillar is ravaging many of our hardwoods; while tussock
moth and bagworm are ruining thousands of shade trees
as Well as trees of the woodlands.
The “little people’
b]
accomplish these great feats of
destruction through their ability to multiply very rapidly
and thus to act in immense numbers. The mother bark
beetle of this spring may be represented by half a million
of her offspring before the end of the second season; and
even the leaf-eating moth may have four hundred thousand
descendants in a period of only three years.
Fig. 42. ian
. eo age eee GO
ee
Fic. 60. Cypress Logging in Florida
(From E. C. Tufts)
159
160 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
his work by having lumber of definite sizes and grades.
Thus, in building an ordinary frame house with walls
sixteen feet high, he need not shape the frame pieces, but
orders sixteen-foot studding and thus saves a great deal
of extra work. Moreover, the owner also saves a great
deal of material by this arrangement, since the sixteen-
foot pieces all fit, and but little of his lumber is cut into
short, useless pieces. Formerly hardly any hardwood
timber ever entered in the construction of an ordinary
house, but of late years much hardwood is used as finish-
ing lumber, 7.e., for floor, ceiling, doors, ete.
The carpenter's lumber should be light to handle, soft
to nail and saw; it should dry without much warping, and
it should be safe against insects. On the other hand,
most of it need not be pretty, since it 1s covered up; and
it need not be very strong or tough, since it is rarely
heavily loaded or jarred.
The desirable combination of qualities for house-build-
ing material is found in most conifers, but in very few
hardwoods, and our frame house will cease to be common
wherever pine and other coniferous lumber becomes scarce.
Most of our hardwood lumber is used for all kinds of
furniture and implements. In a table or chair the pieces
need not be long or broad, nor need they be light and
soft. On the contrary, they must be firm and strong,
quite tough, and, in addition, they should have a pleasing
appearance.
USE OF THE FOREST 161
In getting out logs for lumber it is usually better to
fell the tree with the crosscut saw, cutting as near to the
ground as possible. In the white-pine districts contracts
commonly call for stumps eighteen inches or less in height,
and there is no good reason why, in logging good oak,
ash, etc., any man should make a three- or even four-foot
stump, and thus waste at least ten per cent of the best
part of the tree. These large stumps, moreover, become
breeding places for insects and harbor fungi, and thus are
a menace as well as a loss.
In measuring and marking off the logs a great deal of
waste may be avoided if the woodsman has clearly in
mind what kind of goods he wants to make of his timber.
For all small jobs it pays well either to do it oneself or
else to engage an experienced man and give him clear
instructions as to what should go into saw-logs, ties,
poles, ete.
The skidding is mostly done by dragging the log on
the ground. Especially for hardwoods men use a “ go-
devil,” or simple sled, often made of a crotch or fork of
two large limbs. Where this is done one end of the log
is placed on the sled and thus prevented from striking
against many obstacles.
The work of loading and of hauling to the mill varies
for different localities. In cold, snowy districts this is
done most cheaply on sleighs; in other localities, with
wagons, which of course is far more expensive.
162 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
In most localities farmers still sell their logs commonly
‘on the stump,” 7.e., 11 the woods. This is rarely a good
plan, as the buyer’s workmen care too little for the woods,
damage trees in dragging, and cut too much young growth
that they may get as near as possible to the logs with
sled or wagon. Selling at the mill is better. Some men
have their logs cut on shares, and then haul and sell the
lumber to the neighboring retail lumber yard. This is
the right way, but unfortunately the retailer is too often
disposed to take advantage of the farmer in grading
and price, preferring generally to buy of the wholesale
dealer rather than get his goods in small lots from his
neighbors.
This is avoided in some localities where farmers codp-
erate and run a small mill of their own, using one or two
threshing engines for power and “swapping work”’ as in
threshing time. In this way a number of farmers cut
each year a large amount of lumber, which, after season-
ing in the pile one or even more years, is readily taken
by some wholesale merchant at much better prices than
can usually be secured from the retailer. In addition,
this method always supphes the neighborhood with good
seasoned material for home use.
The regular lumbering in the remote, unsettled forests
of our country is carried on, of course, on a much larger
scale. In such work camps have to be built, comprising
cook’s shanty, men’s quarters, barn, smithy, office, and
.
USE OF THE FOREST 163
often a large storehouse; and provision is made to dine
seventy-five and more men at one sitting.
Much preparatory work must be done. Roads, dams,
or railways must be built, and supphes hauled to the
camp from distant railway stations. The logging itself,
for instance, in white-pine woods proceeds then about as
follows: Some of the men go in pairs, each pair with
a crosscut saw, felling the trees and cutting them into
logs. Another set skid the logs, /.e.,drag them out of the
woods to the roads, and with the universal * peavey” roll
them up into piles on skidways. Still another set haul
them to the neighboring stream, where a “landing”’ is
cleared, on which the whole season’s cutting is piled
up. The hauling is done on sleighs, and on a road which
has been carefully laid out so that there are no uphill
pulls, and one which is kept clean during all the hauling
and sprinkled with water or “iced” nearly every night.
When the winter's work is over, and spring opens the
stream and fills it with water, the “driving” begins. A
set of men roll the logs into the water, and men go along
the stream to keep them moving. The logs always catch
on the banks, or on obstacles of some kind, and form
“jams,” which have to be broken and rebroken whenever
formed. In smaller streams the ordinary flow of water
is not sufficient, and the brook must be ‘ splashed” or
flooded, i.e., the dam built during the summer before is
opened as often as a good head of water exists, or as often
164 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
as is necessary, and thus, artificially, a flood is produced
which carries the logs farther and farther. In good
streams this is a cheap way to transport logs; in small
crooked streams it 1s not.
The logging of spruce in Maine and other states is
done very much. in the same way. In the southern
pineries logging is carried on by means of railways, the
skidder dragging or hauling the logs directly to the railway.
Here the work goes on all the time; a log cut to-day is
hauled to mill to-morrow, sawed next day, and passes at
once into a dry kiln to prevent the boards from “ bluing,”
or becoming dark.
Cypress is mostly dragged out of the large miry swamps
with huge wire-rope machinery; and the monstrous logs of
redwood and red fir of the Pacific coast are logged by
means of heavy teams, —six to twelve yoke of oxen or
teams of horses, — or else are dragged together and loaded
on cars by means of donkey engines and wire cables.
ESTIMATING AND MEASURING TIMBER
When a man buys a lot of standing timber, or when a
lumberman or farmer prepares for the winter’s logging,
he wishes to know beforehand approximately how much
timber he is likely to get from the tract of land he is about
to cut over. In most districts of our country this is still
done by estimating or counting the trees and guessing at
their contents.
USE OF THE FOREST 165
On a small piece of woodland this work is quite simple,
but when the estimating is to be done in some unsettled
forest district, where the only landmarks consist of dim
blaze lines made by surveyors years ago, separating only
one section or square mile from another, it is necessary
not only to estimate timber, but also to know where we
are. ‘Thus, a section has sixteen forty-acre lots, and four
of these are interior “forties” which have no marked
boundaries. ‘To know when he is on one of these forties
and on what part he is estimating, the man uses the same
methods which the mariner employs on the high sea; he
uses a compass so that he may always know where he is
going, and he counts his paces to know how far he has
gone, and for this reason these travelers of the woods are
often called cruisers.
Formerly only the log or saw timber was considered,
but of late years the number of posts, ties, telegraph
poles, even the amount of cord wood, is estimated.
In estimating a large tree we guess its diameter and
the number of logs which it will cut. Suppose we guess
the tree to be twenty-four inches in diameter, breast high,
or four feet from the ground, and to cut three logs, each
sixteen feet long, and that we believe the bark to be about
one inch and a half thick at the base; also suppose that
the tree tapers about one inch for every eight feet in
length. Then the first log is about twenty-one inches in
diameter at the butt, or base (without bark), and nineteen
166 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
inches in diameter at the top end; the second is seventeen
inches at the top, and the third fifteen inches at the top.
Looking in our table (Appendix I), we find that by the
Doyle rule these logs contain,
‘The farstone! ) seh ees ee eee 2orieethBs Me
The second one ) csthgs Gt ea eeon dl GOtTeetuBeMe
‘The thirdone™ 3). a0 . 121 feet B.M.
Total, 516 feet B.M.
which means that five hundred and fifteen feet B.M. of
boards may be cut from the logs of this tree, provided
the logs are straight and sound. Usually this is not quite
the case, and ten to thirty per cent, according to the
quality of timber, must be deducted for “ defects.”
After some practice in a forest the estimator or cruiser
commonly decides that the trees generally cut one and a
half, two, or three logs per tree, and also that it takes
about eight, twelve, or twenty of these logs to make a
thousand feet B.M.
Thus, in ordinary eastern spruce, the trees cut about
three logs per tree and it takes about fifteen to twenty
logs to make a thousand feet B.M., so that the estimator
finally decides that about five trees make a thousand feet
B.M. After this he merely counts the trees and divides
by five, to find how many thousand feet B.M. he has esti-
mated. In old white pie he would find that it takes
about two trees to make a thousand feet B.M. (write M
feet B.M.), and in large red fir and redwoods one tree often
would make five to ten M feet B.M., and even more.
USE OF THE FOREST 167
In such estimates poles are merely counted ; the number
of ties follows from the number of trees, .¢., the estimator
decides that the trees which would naturally be cut for
ties generally cut three, four, etc., ties; while figures for
cord wood and posts are iB
usually mere guesswork,
which have value only
when they come from a
very experienced man.
seepectese tees
'
Where a large piece, say
oe 7
a forty-acre tract, is to be
estimated, and the timber
is at all valuable, it is best
‘
ban (on
-4-
‘
'
'
'
'
to work in an orderly way.
We find the corner A and ""3°*—go—*— 20 * ZoRods
go along the line AB ten Fie. 61. Diagram to show how a
rods; then we go north ten Hora ae cae : ae 2
rods to station No. 1. Here a cae i oad) =
we put down our staff so
that we keep the right spot, for there are no fences or other
convenient landmarks to guide us, and then we begin to
count and estimate all the trees in the square of which
this station is the center. I{ we go four times through
the forty-acre tract, this square contains + $=2) acres.
All we learn about this square of two and a half acres
we put down on a separate page of our notebook, so that
when we have finished the square, or this station No. 1,
168 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
we need not remember anything more about it. Then we
go to station No. 2, which is twenty rods from No. 1, and
so on, until the “forty” is done. To have our note-
books orderly we should have them lned and arranged
somewhat like the sample on the opposite page.
Whether the diameters are estimated or measured, it is
better to go by even inches, as 1s shown in the scheme,
but it is not necessary to measure by one inch, unless
the number of trees is very small.
When the “forty” is finished we add up and put on the
same kind of sheet all the totals. Then we can calculate
the amount of wood very much closer than is ordinarily
done. First we find the amount of saw timber in the logs
in the way explained before. Then we calculate the real
volume of the wood in the following way:
Suppose the twenty-four-inch trees are generally about
ninety feet high (estimated or measured) and that they
cut three logs each, so that they cut about five hundred
feet B.M., as in our example. Then we look up the area
of cross section of the tree in the table (Appendix II)
and find that a tree twenty-four inches in diameter has
an area of 5.14 square feet. If the tree were simply a
cylinder of wood, we would need only to multiply this
number of 5.14 with the height of the tree to find the
volume in cubic feet. But the trunk of the tree tapers,
and tapers irregularly, so that not even the contents of the
trunk can thus be calculated. In working up many trees
ARRANGEMENT OF NOTEBOOK IN
USE OF THE FOREST 169
ESTIMATING
AND MEASURING TIMBER
YOUNG
GROWTH
Considerable young Youxe ‘| Considerable young red oak 1-6 ft. high; little chestnut and oak 1-6 ft. high; little chestnut and
Forty No. 5. Station No. 3.
DIAMETER OAK CHESTNUT LS MAPLE
(INCHES) POPLAR
12 ra ;
14 TKK ‘
NUMBER 16 [1 fet
OF TREES 18 /1/1 = cy |e aia
eS 77 ie | // an
22 | |
24 | i | a E |
TOTAL | 15 ee | ii | 2
Ky CUCL Pe Wf.
NUMBER OF 14 hh i x
16 FT. LOGS 16 THE THE ///
CORRESPOND- 18 ULM a =
ING TO THE ; ;
ABOVE TREES - TELL / ih U/ THE. /
24 PHL FALL / mite
NUMBER OF 96
ies | | 28 | 22 | 6
SMALL TREES | e |
6-11 IN. DIAM. | 18 | 15 | 23 11
SURFACE
COVER
maple, but no poplar
Considerable shrubbery, hazel,
covered with grass and weeds
ete. ; about one third area is
SURFACE
SoIL
Moderate slope to north ; fairly smooth, no bowlders
i
Fine, gray, sandy, deep
DRAINAGE
NOTES
Perfect
Easy logging. Stand too open; need of more trees ; well suited
to hardwoods and conifers ; justifies cleaning and filling in by
sowing or planting
170 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
it has been found as a matter of experience and measure-
ment that the volume of the trunk of the tree is about
one half as much as the volume of the cylinder just men-
tioned. Usually this ratio between the cylinder and the
real volume of the tree varies from about 0.45 to 0.60
according to the kind of tree, and naturally is larger
if the entire tree, limbs and all, is taken than if only the
volume of the stem is to be calculated. This figure, or
ratio, is called the factor of shape and is very useful in tree
measurement.
Since the factor of shape is equal to the volume of the
tree divided by that of the cylinder, or since
volume of tree
factor =
ye ?
volume of cylinder
we Can say:
factor x volume of cylinder = volume of tree ;
or, volume = area x height x factor of shape.
In our case, then,
3.14 x 90 x .60 = 169.5 eubiec feet.
This includes the logs as well as limbs, and means that
if the entire tree were cut into cord wood, it would make
one hundred and sixty-nine cubic feet, solid wood; or,
since about ninety cubic feet solid make one cord of wood
in the pile (air and wood), each twenty-four-inch tree
would make 1.88 cords. Allowimg two cords of wood to
each thousand feet B.M. of logs, we deduct one cord for
USE OF THE FOREST t7t
the logs and find that these trees furnish each about 0.88
of a cord of firewood. When trees are very branchy, as
in our old hardwood forests, the number of logs is usually
D Cc
Fie. 62. Calipers for measur- ,
ing the Diameter of Trees
pala, by Al Dee ure ee 5 - _ Wants Ce UL, VA
Fie. 63. Measuring the Height of a Tree
small, and the amount of firewood commonly more than
half of all the timber. In pine, spruce, etc., the reverse
is true ; here the logs often make over seventy-five per
cent of all the wood in the tree.
lef FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Since estimating is always guesswork and liable to
much error, it is far better to make definite measurements
wherever we can. This is always possible in the case of
the diameter, and usually of the height. In domg this
two men go ahead with calipers (see Fig. 62) to measure
the diameter and also estimate the number of logs, and
one man walks behind them and keeps tally. The meas-
uring is done breast high, and each tree is marked with a
gauge or chalk to show that it has been measured.
During the work each man calls out, as, for imstance,
“White oak, twenty-four, two,” meaning that this tree of
white oak is twenty-four inches in diameter and will cut
two logs. The heights are measured as shown in the
figure, with a homemade triangle or else with a special
device, the Faustman ‘ Heightmeasure.”
In measuring or “scaling” a log, it is customary, in
our country, not to measure its real volume, but to state
how many feet B.M. of lumber might be cut from this log.
Since the saw wastes a great deal of wood, cutting it into
dust, and since the slabs also are largely waste, only
fifty to seventy per cent of the total volume of the log
can be obtained as boards.
A stick on which are marked the number of feet B.M.
for each diameter and the ordinary lengths is called a
scale rule. Of these rules the Doyle rule is by far the
most common and is quite a fair rule, except for logs
smaller than sixteen inches diameter. If a rule is not at
USE OF THE FOREST 4173
hand, we can readily make one, for in Doyle’s rule the
contents of a log sixteen feet long are equal to the square
of the diameter reduced by four. Thus, a log twenty-four
inches in diameter has (24 — 4)? = 20 x 20, or 400, feet B.M.
if it is sixteen feet long. If it is only twelve feet
»
= EAR
aS
Ne
1)
ie
=
le
at the smaller or top end, and if the
log is crooked, partly decayed, or
excessively knotty, an arbitrary deduc-
tionis made. Where valuable timber
is bought or sold these methods are
improved in various ways to obtain
12:
===
Ea=S
-14= DOYLE——-— 14
——t
=
=—
=
more exact results.
Tan Bark. —In many of the oak
forests of the Allegheny region, and
in the hemlock woods of Wisconsin
and Michigan, many men are engaged
in peeling tan bark. |
This is done in summer, May to
July, while the bark readily lets go of Fra. 64. Scale Rules
the wood. In peeling bark the tree Only the lower end of each
is felled, and then girdled every four ge
feet clear up to the crown. Then these four-foot cylinders
of bark are cut lengthwise along two or more lines, and
the pieces peeled off with a special peeling iron. They
are then set up, rough side out, against the log to dry.
—
————=—$c
174 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
When dry they are carefully stacked in cord piles, and
later on hauled out when convenient. Care is taken to
do the work during dry sunny days, since bark molds
very easily and is thereby spoiled.
Being bulky, bark does not pay for long-distance ship-
ping, and tanners prefer to move their tannery to the woods
and ship the hides, rather than to move the bark over great
distances. In times of business depression farmers have
been driven to peel bark without being able to use the
logs, so that much timber has been wasted in this way.
This should be, and usually can be, avoided by the use of
portable mills; for even if the lumber cannot at once be
used, oak and hemlock bear stormg for a long time.
RESIN AND TURPENTINE INDUSTRY
In the large forests of longleaf pine covering the level,
sandy coast plain of the South, the production of turpen-
tine and resin, the “ naval stores” industry, is one of the
principal occupations. The process is as follows:
One or two deep pockethke notches are cut into each
tree to receive the crude resin as it oozes out of the
wound. Since the resin hardens in a short time and
stops up the wound, this latter must be renewed about
once every week all through the “ bleeding” season, from
spring to fall, as shown in Fig. 65, a, where a man is about
to cut a thin strip, or “ streak,” with his “ hacker.” Once
ro ‘D
1dd
punoa yselj B ayvU 0} ‘SU
‘
tddtp ,, ‘q
pavyoig sutuediny, v uy
utdd
e
oO
cc OPNAD ,, OUI,
uUtsed 10
"G9 “STW
176 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
a month the men “dip” the “ crude,” and this is hauled
to a distillery, a ‘“ turpentine still,’ where the “ crude”
is boiled with a little water. By this means the spirits
of turpentine, or “spirits,” go off as a vapor and are
cooled in a coiled tube, the “worm,” which is kept cool
by flowing water. As soon as the “spirits” are distilled
the remaining mass, the rosin, is run out like molten
metal through a sieve into a trough, whence it is ladled
ito barrels. This soon hardens on cooling, so that the
barrels need not be very tight.
Some distillers get all their “crude” from farmers;
others have special crews in the woods to tap for them.
Ordinarily a tree is tapped only four years, but in many
of the settled districts of North Carolina trees have been
“bled” for more than twenty years.
One man tends, “ chips,” or “streaks,” about five thou-
sand trees. His trees form a “crop,” and are supposed
to have ten thousand notches or “boxes.” Such a crop
yields during the four years of “bleeding” about. fifty-
four hundred gallons of turpentine and six hundred and
eighty barrels (two hundred and forty pounds each) of rosin.
The yield is greatest the first year, the four years com-
paring in this respect as 7 to 6 to 4 to 1.
When the lumberman follows the turpentine man, and
uses up the timber as soon as the tapping is finished, this
industry is entirely proper; but where the trees cannot
be utilized afterwards it is too wasteful. The output of
USE OF THE FOREST i
this industry in 1892 was about three hundred and fifty
thousand casks of turpentine and about two and a half
million barrels of rosin.
The ordinary tar, formerly manufactured in large quan-
tities, especially in North Carolina, and much used on ships,
was not made in the manner described, but in special char-
coal pits, and was thus a product of dry distillation, akin
to the tar produced in retorts.
SEEDS AND MAsT
In nearly all of our eastern hardwood forests the nuts of
chestnut, hickory, including the pecan, walnut, and butter-
nut, and to some extent the beechnuts, are gathered and form
one of the common dainties of winter-evening gatherings.
Nearly all of our large oak forests are used to pasture
thousands of hogs, which fatten whenever the “ mast,” or
crop of acorns, 1s good.
Aside from these simple and ancient uses, the seeds of
our trees are generally allowed to go to waste; but as
there arises a market for many of our tree seeds, it will
prove profitable to gather them. ‘This is so now in most
parts of Europe, where the value of the seed from a small
piece of woods is often far greater than that of the wood,
and where, whenever a seed year occurs, hundreds of
people make it a business to collect such seeds as pine,
spruce, and balsam.
178 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
PASTURAGE
Pasturing in the forests is almost universal in all settled
portions of our country, and even many of the remote
districts, ike those of the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra
Nevadas, furnish summer feed to several millions of sheep
and cattle. In the forest of the longleaf pine in the
South the cattle feed on rough pine-grass, which is
renewed and also protected against a cover of pine needles
by being burned over from time to time.
Though the cattle and sheep do not eat the pine, they
trample down seedlings, and thus hinder the starting of
young growth. This, however, is made up in part by
the good they do in breaking the cover of dead leaves,
etc., and thus making it possible for the seed of the pine
to find the ground. On the other hand, fires set for their
benefit do damage in killing seedlings and young trees,
and scorching the * feet” of the old.
In our hardwoods the cattle and sheep live as much by
browsing off the leaves and fresh shoots of young trees
as by feeding on grass, and, therefore, pasturing in these
woods always hinders the starting of young growth and
leads to a crippling of many of those saplings which
continue to live in spite of injury. For this reason it
is generally a bad plan to pasture cattle im the woods.
Where, however, this appears still advisable or necessary
the work in the woods should be so regulated that the
USE OF THE FOREST 179
cattle can be kept off from the parts where a new growth
is to be started, until the young trees are over ten feet in
height. With cattle this is easily and cheaply done by a
two-strand fence of barb wire, which can be used over
and over again; with sheep this does no good, and they
should be herded.
In the dry portions of our western mountain ranges the
sheep find a summer range which is considered quite
indispensable to the sheep industry of many districts.
Since the forests are stocked with conifers, which the
sheep do not eat, it is chiefly their trampling which does
any damage. In these mountains most of the herding is
done on the high ridges where timber does not grow very
well, if at all, and also in the numerous “ burns,” where
repeated fires have killed and consumed everything.
These burns are without seed trees and therefore restock
very slowly, commonly remaining open grazing grounds
for years.
Where forest growth is very difficult to start, and
where, as is usually the case in these mountain countries,
it is very necessary to avoid serious erosion from the
irregular flow of the streams, pasturage should be regu-
lated or abandoned altogether.
180 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
GAME AND FISH
In the Adirondack Mountains the game and fish, as
much as the beauty of forest and lake, have brought to
these mountains millions of dollars, and helped to create
a sentiment worth many millions more. Streams and
lakes well stocked with fish, and a few dozen of deer to
every thousand acres of forest, are capable of producing
considerable income through the pleasure which they give
by their beauty and the possible chase, without interfering
in the least with the real objects of the forest.
In hardwood forests, like those of the Alleghenies, at
least twenty-five deer should find their living on every
thousand acres of land; but in all cases the number
should be regulated, and old does as well as old bucks
should be removed.
Pine and spruce forests naturally offer very much less
feed ; and, therefore, if game is to be kept, more or less
hardwood should be mixed in with the conifers. Patches
of coppice growth, especially of poplars, cottonwood, aspen,
etc., also willows, mountain ash, maple, oak, and beech,
furnish large quantities of fodder and are well suited to
help the animals in severe winters, when the poorer trees
may be thinned out merely to feed the game.
But, above all, the animals must be protected against
the dog and gun. Of these the former is by far the more
harmful, and in any district where stray dogs, these
Fia. 66.
Game
181
182 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
protected wolves of our forest, are free to chase the game
day and night, as, for instance, in many parts of the South
and West, it is impossible for deer to maintain themselves.
THE BUSINESS OF THE FOREST
When a farmer carries on forestry on his thirty-acre
piece of woodland he looks after it himself, plans and
conducts the cutting, planting, and thinning, sells the
wood, and thus performs all parts of this business, just as
he does his farming. He may hire some men, he may
even keep a book to see just how much his piece of wood-
land is brmging in, but it is a very simple kind of record.
In the same way his plans are perfectly simple. He may
manage it all as a piece of selection woods, cuttmg over
a three-acre piece each year, using the same road to haul
out his wood, or he may treat it as a coppice ; but, in any
case, he needs no map or book to see where the oldest
timber is located, and what parts are in need of thinning.
Half an hour’s walk will show all this, and a few hours’
time will suffice to mark out all the trees he wishes to
take out the coming winter.
Suppose, however, he has two thousand acres of woods
in four pieces, thirty miles from his home; then the case
is quite different. It would take a month’s faithful walk-
ing to examine this amount of land as a good forest
should be examined. Moreover, he needs to note down
THE BUSINESS OF THE FOREST 183
at every step what he sees, or else he would forget it
before he could reach home. But of what use is it to note
down what he sees on a particular spot, unless he knows
where that spot is and can send a man there, if he wants
to do so? This means, then, that he should survey it
first and establish some marks in the woods. Then he
examines and estimates or measures the timber and
describes his land. But after he has a map and descrip-
tion, to have it orderly he must keep it in some kind of
book, arranged in some definite order. Here the book-
keeping begins, for this survey and this examination cost
some money, which he must charge against his forest.
Then he wants to manage this forest.
We will suppose he decides to treat it as a selection
forest, and suppose also that he can sell the wood and
timber, and wishes to use his forest to furnish work for
teams and outfit, and also for his men, whether tenants
or neighbors. In this case he will wish to do some log-
ging, perhaps, every winter; and he will need, about every
ten years, to return to each part of his woods to make
sure that it is properly cleaned and thinned. He would
have to log over about two hundred acres a year, and this
would be a considerable business in itself. To do this he
would need a foreman, better a forester, and a small crew
of men, and considerable bookkeeping would be necessary
to keep his accounts in proper order. But to handle a
foreman and crew means administration; to survey,
184 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
subdivide, map, and measure his land and timber, to plan
where, what, and how much to cut and plant, to improve
by roads, ditches, and otherwise,—all these mean to
regulate his forest. We have here, then, a simple form
of forest administration and regulation.
When this forest grows to twenty-five thousand acres,
in perhaps thirty pieces, the owner needs several perma-
nent foresters who know what to do and how to do it.
Each of these men takes a portion of this land and car-
ries on the business, making reports at regular times to
the owner, or his office, so that the owner, like a store-
keeper, knows every day about how his forest business
stands. Thus, forest administration and regulation, up to
certain limits, grow in complexity as the forest grows
larger and more diversified, and both are necessary for
order and good business.
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS
So far we have been considering forests in general, but
there are a few important cases which deserve special
attention.
THe Woop Lor
The farmer’s small forest of twenty to forty acres is
often entirely neglected, as a thing neither forest nor
field and hardly worth paying any attention to. And
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 185
yet it is in this form that a very large
and a very lmpor-
tant part of our forest wealth exists,
and here is where
Fic. 67. Tapping the Sugar Maple
(After W. F. Fox)
the best kind of forestry is frequently met with, and
where the most careful attention and the greatest outlay
186 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
of labor always pays and pays handsomely. The ordi-
nary wood lot in the eastern or forested portion of our
country is usually a remnant of the old forest; it is
on forest ground and commonly on rather good land,
when considered from the woodsman’s standpoint, so that
quite a variety of timber may be grown here. Let us
consider what might be done with such a wood lot in
our eastern districts.
First, we will see what kinds of trees the woods contain
and what condition they are in. In most cases we find a
considerable number of old, long-overripe trees of maple,
elm, oak, especially red oak, and others. Some of these
clearly show their bad condition by large knot holes,
numerous dead limbs, and other signs of degeneration.
They are growing neither in value nor in wood and had
better be removed; but there is no need of haste, — any
time during the next ten to twenty years is soon enough;
for there is no immediate danger of great loss.
Besides the old, overripe trees there are a number of
younger trees with broad, spreading crowns, also trees
like blue beech and dogwood, which are not wanted.
We see that considerable change is needed here, merely
in respect to the kinds of trees to be raised. In most
cases we should wish to reduce the elm, basswood, poplar,
and others, and give preference to oak. Moreover, we
would rather raise white oak than red or black oak,
because the former is durable and, therefore, useful even
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 187
as a small tree, when it can be sold at good prices for
railway ties and piling. The same is true of chestnut.
In addition, it would be better in most cases to introduce
Psy
Si zy —
a th .
=
4 BF bon
ne :
‘ : Vi
Site ¢
Ts
toe
M/
Fic. 68. Old-Fashioned Way of boiling Maple Sap
(After W. F. Fox)
considerable pine or spruce, since much coniferous lumber
is used everywhere. To prevent the groves of oak from
becoming too open and grassy, it would be well to mix
in some beech and maple wherever this trouble appears.
188 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
The trees may be mixed all through the piece, or else the
oaks, the ashes and elms, hickories and walnuts may be
raised in small clumps or groves of one half to two acres
in size, surrounded by the mixed woods.
A general maxim in the choice of the trees to be
raised would be: * Raise only those kinds of trees which
thrive and grow well in our locality, and among these
select the kinds which furnish the most valuable material.
and especially those the wood of which is valuable at an
early age or in smaller sizes.” Of course it is not neces-
sary and would not even be profitable to change the entire
thirty acres of woods in one year; but it is well to make
up our minds as to what we should do with the woods,
and improve them from year to year, restocking the
ground with the kinds we want as we use up the old
and thin out the inferior trees.
In most woods we would also find much dead material
still on the stump or on the ground, also thickets of
young stuff in which good and bad trees alike are trying
to hold the ground. These cases, as well as the main-
tenance of a close border and the restocking of all bare
places, should in all such woods receive prompt attention,
for dead material in a forest is always a source of mis-
chief. A lot of serubby blue beech is apt to crowd out
the finest saplings of oak, and a bare place in the woods
is fallow land, bringing no rental, but serving as a
starting point of brambles and other forest weeds.
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 189
As to the best way of managing the woods, the farmer
forester has the widest choice. With him any method, if
at all applicable to the kinds of trees he wishes to raise,
will bring good results. Generally the common selection
method will prove most satisfactory, since, as we have
learned, it is well suited to all the different kinds of trees,
to all climates and soils, and incurs less danger of injury
by wind and insects.
On an ordinary thirty-acre tract about three acres
may be gone over each year, cleaned and weeded of use-
less stuff, the denser thickets thinned, perhaps a few of
the oldest trees cut out, and all open spots restocked.
At first this will best be done by sowing and planting,
for if we wish to increase the proportion of white oak
and introduce pine and spruce, the only safe way is to
sow or plant in the manner before described. A small
basket of white-oak acorns, chestnuts, and beechnuts
sown in the fall, and a few hundred plants of white pine
raised from a few ounces of seed in a small flower bed
in the garden and set out in the spring, will soon. pro-
duce a complete change in the complexion of this forest.
In many localities a few acres of good ‘sugar bush”
may prove desirable, though frequently this is better
attained by trees along roads and fences and in open
groves about the farm premises. The same is true of
nut trees, of which a goodly number of the choicer kinds
should be grown on every farm. It is just as easy in
190 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
most places to grow a good walnut or a good hickory as
it is to grow pignut, elm, or ash; and in warmer districts
a grove of fine-grade chestnuts or select pecans may often
bring in considerable money by the fruit alone.
In suitable localities a part of the forest may well be
managed as coppice, and this same method is a very good
means of starting a new forest on old, worn-out plowland
and on pasture, for it is very easy to pass from a coppice
to a standard coppice, and from this to regular selection
woods.
The use of the wood lot as pasture land is ordinarily a
mistake; for if the forest is well stocked with trees, the
grasses have no chance, and there is nothing for the cattle,
sheep, etc., to do but to browse and gnaw bark. In a
small tract of hardwood forest the grazing will almost
always reduce the capacity of the woods to half and less,
so that only half as much wood is produced, and it 1s not
uncommon to see these over-pastured wood lots change
into mere “ cripples,” or stands of dwarfed and deformed
trees, which rarely grow into anything better than cheap
firewood. When the wood lot must be pastured, the
directions concerning pasturage mentioned before should
be followed. In using their woodland farmers accom-
plish much by a little organization and codperation. In
some localities, where formerly the logs were rolled up
and burned, and the lumber used on the farm was bought
at the lumber yard ten or fifteen miles away, the farmers
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS $91
now use portable sawmills, just as they use threshing
machines, thus cutting not only the lumber and timber
for home use, but sawing timber for railways, wagon
makers, furniture makers, and other consumers.
In cases where the lumber and timber is not sold
beforehand it should be piled and covered in the best
possible way, for it is usually through careless handling
that the lumber of small mills becomes less acceptable
and has to be sold at lower prices.
An illustration of what may be done by careful, systematic
management is shown in the following particularly inter-
esting case of timber exploitation, in no feature imaginary
or theoretical, but actually carried out a few years ago.
Forty-three acres of well-stocked rough timber land in
eastern Pennsylvania were bought for $5800, together
with forty-eight acres of improved farm land, for which
$2500 additional was paid. A portable second-hand mill
was purchased for $1000; mill shed and shanties were
erected, and this outlay, together with all the wages
(nearly $4000) and cost of hauling, railway and canal
freights (little over $4000), brought up the total outlay,
land included, to $18,855. As the mill was at once set
in operation, some income was derived from the first, thus
obviating the necessity of considermg the interest on the
several expense accounts.
The following represents the cut from these forty-three
acres made in just two years, with only the partial
192 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
personal attention of the owner, and without the employ-
ment of a special superintendent :
AMOUNT AND VALUE OF ARTICLES AND LUMBER SOLD
Miscellaneous :
111 tons of oak bark
801 cords of firewood .
196 telegraph poles
16,800 hickory spokes
66,000 feet slabs (running dasarey aned bagelz in mines
For custom sawing
Sawdust
Lumber (board measure):
Total,
Hickory butts (bought by paper mill for cogs), feet 9,680
hickory (sold to toy
Birch, sycamore, and second-cut
concern )
Ash .
Walnut
Yellow poplar
Gum
Maple
Chestnut
Oak .
Railroad ties
Switch timber .
Other materials
Total,
feet 11,822
«“ 957
3,414
« 12941
« 1,386
« 1,042
« 34,719
« 162,552
238,513
‘ . number = 9,345
feet, linear measure 6,217
Total,
Place and mill were then sold, the former at $4623, the latter at
$1000, making a total of
Against an expense of
Leaving a profit of .
Sold for
. $1,224
2,640
500
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 193
Here was a tract of forty-three acres of timber with a
yield of less than sixteen thousand feet B.M. per acre, as
ordinarily estimated, a stumpage of about five dollars
per thousand feet, and a profit of over one hundred dol-
lars per acre. Though it is not possible to repeat this
everywhere, it goes far to explain why good hardwood
timber in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey sells at
one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre
when farm land does not bring one half as much, while
only thirty years ago the case was exactly the reverse
and the farms were rated by the amount of cleared land.
It also shows how, at least in a large part of the eastern
United States, woods may be exploited in a careful instead
of wasteful manner, and how many a small holder, who
can give the matter his personal attention and do much
of the work at odd times, may make his wood lot a source
of revenue.
WastTE LANDS
On every trip through the country, especially in all
hilly districts or in walks about any of our smaller towns
and villages, one notices pieces of land from a few rods to
several, often many, acres in extent which have practically
gone to waste. Some of these pieces are rich spots along
our streams, perhaps a little wet or subject to overflow ;
others are dry, often stony, hillsides, where the removal of
the woods, the decay of the roots, and subsequent plowing
194 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
deprived the soil of a hold and allowed the rain water to
carry it away, leaving the surface a mass of gravel and
stones. Generally these places are used as pastures, but
their grazing value is very slight, and where this grazing
value becomes less than one dollar per acre each year it
is In most cases better to convert such waste land into
woods; for, as we have seen, a soil which is quite poor
for agriculture may still be very good for trees. Most of
these hillsides or bluffs at one time carried a good growth
of trees, and it is not uncommon for such lands to change
without help from bare pasture lands into brush lands
and, if left alone, gradually to revert to regular forest.
Usually this process is too slow; lack of seed trees and
repeated fires keep these wastes in their bad condition,
and it is far better, therefore, to restock these places by
sowing or planting. In the New England States some
waste places have been restocked by white-pine seed in
spots five or six feet apart, and the same may be
accomplished at small cost and with good success by
sowing acorns, chestnuts, and seed of locust, maple,
and elm.
Where the ground is rocky and poor, and the success of
sowing rather doubtful, especially in the case of pine and
other conifers, it is much better to plant young trees one
or two years old. When a mixture of oak, chestnut,
locust, elm, and maple is used the woods may at first be
treated, as coppice. Later on it may be changed to a
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 195
standard coppice, and from this to an ordinary selection
wood, which will, in the end, prove the best for such
lands.
On wet overflow land willow produces fine crops of
long sprouts for basket weaving. Poplar, ash, elm, syca-
more, and, in the Southern States, sweet gum, water oak,
and other valuable trees thrive in similar situations.
What such reforestation can do for a piece of land, even
in our country, is best illustrated by some of the worn-
out pastures in our New England States, where land which
produced no income at all has been converted into forests
cutting over thirty thousand feet B.M. of shook boards
at the age of sixty years and less; or, in other words, a
forest capable of producing yearly a net income of three
dollars and more per acre.
Forest PLANTATIONS ON PRAIRIES
As with so many other good things, the forest is never
so keenly missed as in the vast treeless regions of the
West. Generally the land is fertile, but lack of moisture
has helped the grasses to monopolize the land. In all the
states east of the Rocky Mountains numerous forest plan-
tations have been established. The majority contain only
hardwoods, particularly maple, box elder, cottonwood, elm,
ash, catalpa, walnut, and locust. Pine and other conifers
have also been tried with success.
196 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
The majority of failures in these plantations appear to
be due to the fact that the plants dry out at the roots
before they are established, probably in most cases before
ie
»
A
iP
Fic. 69. Black Locust Plantation, Meade County, Kansas
Trees twelve years old, six to eight inches diameter and twenty feet high
(After Toumey)
and during planting. Generally the plants are raised at
distant nurseries and thus, necessarily, suffer during the
long journey to the place where they are to be used.
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 197
Nevertheless, many thousands of acres of praine in Iowa,
Nebraska, Kansas, and other states have been converted
into useful woods, supplying the much-needed shelter
from wind, and, at the same time, producing fuel and con-
struction material, fence posts, ete.
How successful some of these plantations are is clearly
seen from Figs. 69 and 70. In this latter case the catalpa
Fic. 70. The Yaggy Catalpa Plantation, in Reno County, Kansas,
showing Posts cut when Trees were nine Years Old
The posts are four to six inches in diameter, and many of the trees made
two posts. (After Toumey)
trees were raised in a nursery on the farm, and set out,
when one year old, in furrows six feet apart, at intervals
of three and a half feet. When two years old the trees
were cut off and allowed to sprout. The followmg winter
the tall sprouts were thinned, leaving only the best sprout
on each stump. The land was cultivated for three years
198 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
to keep down the grass, but after this the shade of the
trees sufficed for this purpose. When the trees were eight
years old the largest ones were cut out for fence posts,
most of them making two posts each. In two years’
thinning, over fifteen thousand trees were taken from the
eighty-acre tract. When the plantation was ten years
old there had been raised on one acre about eighteen hun-
dred trees, furnishing over thirteen hundred good posts,
besides smaller posts or stakes and a lot of firewood,
valued in all at about two hundred and sixty dollars.
This plantation 1s located on good bottom land, bought
at twenty-five dollars per acre, and of course presents an
exceptionally thrifty growth. Nevertheless, it clearly
shows what may be accomplished on the western prairies
and how even forestry that requires the most painstaking
care may be profitable in many parts of our country.
SaAnD DUNES
Passing through Michigan City, Ind., one can see
from the car window low ridges of bare white sand
stretching along the shore of Lake Michigan. These
ridges or dunes are constantly moving, and a number of
houses have been covered entirely, while parts of others
are seen sticking out of the sand. Similar dunes occupy
long stretches of our Atlantic coast and the coasts of
France, the Netherlands, and the countries about the
Fie. 71.
Sand Dune along the Coast
(After Gifford)
99
|
200 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Baltic. In some places they are simply a desert waste, and
have comparatively little effect on the adjoming country ;
but in other localities, like The Landes of France, bordermg
the Bay of Biscay, the sand dunes formed long, continuous
ridges along the shore, and thus dammed up the water in
Fie. 72.- Sand Dune in Holland, after Reclamation
(After Gifford)
the streams and-converted what, at one time, was a forest
into a pestilential, marshy waste.
On the whole, these dunes occupy large areas; those of
Europe alone have been estimated to cover over twenty
thousand square miles; and since the wind easily drifts the
sand farther and farther inland, it is difficult to say how
much land might eventually be laid waste by these moving
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 201
dunes. For over a century the people of France, the
Netherlands, and other countries have fought these sands,
and some excellent results have been attained.
The methods employed by all are similar. First of all
a close board or brush fence is erected. This is situated
about three hundred to six hundred feet from high-water
mark, and runs parallel to the coast line. Usually a
parallel fence is built about forty feet from the first. The
sand, whether blown from the ocean or from the land side,
is caught by these fences, which thus cause the formation
of a new dune. As the sand gets deeper and deeper the
fences are raised higher, until, in the course of several
years, this new shore or littoral dune is about thirty feet
high. When once of this height the new dune keeps the
sand from traveling farther inland, and the sandy stretches
in its rear, or on the land side, have a chance to become
quiet. Then the new shore dune is covered with sand
grasses, mostly the sea marram or matweed, which thrive
on these mobile sands, and the land behind it is planted
or sowed to pine, both plants and seed being protected
by brush evenly covered over the entire tract.
The pine woods are usually treated by the selection
method, so that no large bare spots are ever produced.
The chief danger, fire, is guarded against by a number
of fire lanes and by careful watching.
The shore dune requires continual close watching, and
must be kept covered with sand grass to prevent renewed
202 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
attack on the reclaimed lands, and its care, therefore,
forms an important part of the forestry service.
Though very expensive, this kind of work in The
Landes alone has converted more than a million acres of
worthless marsh into valuable productive forests, and
has changed this large area from an unsightly, pestilential
region into a health and pleasure resort.
Part III
RELATED TOPICS
THE FOREST AS A PROTECTIVE COVER
BESIDES supplying one of the most necessary materials,
wood, and besides rendering productive large areas of
otherwise useless land, the forest in most places has still
another function, namely, that of protection.
The forest protects the soil against washing away, or
erosion, and it protects both the soil and the air in the
forest against the wind and sun, and thereby keeps them
cooler and moister.
A simple experiment illustrates this influence very well:
Take a common wooden table and prop up one side so
that it is about six inches higher than the other side; let
this table top represent a gently sloping hillside. If now
we pour water on this table top with a sprinkler, and
thereby imitate rain, we see that the water at once runs
off faster or slower, according as the table, our hillside,
slants more or less.
This is exactly what happens on our sidehill or moun-
tain wherever its rocky body is bare of any soil or cover.
203
204 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
If we cover the table with a four-inch layer of garden
earth, and repeat our sprinkling, care being taken not to
sprinkle too hard, we observe a very interesting and
important fact.
There is at first hardly any water on top of the soil —
it soaks in; but after a time there arise little rivulets on
top, and by gathering they grow larger and we have
exactly what we see in our settled plowed districts, —an
ordinary surface run-off. But, im addition, we note after
a little time that there is also a run-off along the face
of the table just as before, except that the water runs
slowly ; it has to seep along. This is our underground
drainage, such as occurs everywhere, and it is this under-
ground water which feeds our springs, streams, and lakes
when there is no rain; and it is underground water that
we reach in digging our wells. Thus, when the rain falls
on a bare rocky area some of the water evaporates, most
of it runs off as fast as it falls, and when the rain is over
the rocky surface is dry. On the earth or soil-covered
area, on the other hand, part of the rain water runs off at
the surface, but much of it soaks into the ground and
stays there until there is enough to form slow under-
ground streams. Thus, the soil acts as a water storage
for plant and stream. If we stop sprinkling, the surface
run-off soon stops, but the underground drain keeps on
moving for many hours. This is what happens all over
the land.
How the
F
Ol
est
)
r
egul
ates
Ex
Osion
O45
2
206 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
If now we sprinkle again. but very hard this time, we
see that the water washes out gullies and carries away
the soil, just as we all have seen soil carried from plow-
land, and just as many thousands of acres of plowland
in Mississippi and other states have been gullied and
ruined by water. Let us now cover part of the layer of
earth on our table by a one-inch cover of moist cotton
batting. Repeating the sprinkling, we find that this
cover of cotton does two distinct things: it protects the
soil and keeps the water from carrying it away; in addi-
tion, it keeps the soil moist for hours after we cease
sprinkling. This is exactly what the forest does: the
torrential rain finds a canopy of twigs and leaves to
break its force, and when the water reaches the ground
it finds a layer of leaves which prevents it from carrying
away the soil. In addition, a network of numberless
roots holds this earth for a considerable depth, and the
many dead roots of former trees have softened the soil
and made it more penetrable; thus, the water soaks in
instead of running off.
That grass and other herbaceous vegetation cannot
well replace the forest in this respect is clearly shown
by the fact that the Missouri River and its tributaries,
which come from prairies, are muddy torrents after every
rain, while the streams of the dense forests run clear and
are undisturbed by ordinary rains even though they have
a greater fall.
THE FOREST AS A PROTECTIVE COVER 207
While it is thus quite easy to see how the forest pro-
tects the soil, and, by so doing, regulates the flow of
Fie. 74. How the Land erodes after the Woods are gone.
(Common sight in Mississippi)
(After McGee)
water, the influence of the forest on the climate by
making it more temperate and humid is not so plain,
and remains still a much-disputed question.
208 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Formerly it was claimed that the forests would increase
the rainfall, making the climate moister and more equable.
Great scientists and travelers have spoken on both sides of
the question ; and for over fifty years attempts have been
made to test the truth of these things in a scientific way
by carefully measuring temperature, rainfall, ete. Most
of these experiments, however, have failed, and there is
still much dispute as to just how much the forest can do.
At present it is generally believed that the forests do not
change the amount of rainfall very materially, and that
the arid oriental countries like Egypt, Asia Minor, and
Persia were, even during their most glorious days, dry as
they now are. On the other hand, the effects explained
above remain valid; and, of course, the more the condi-
tions favor the destructive work of the water, the more
apparent is this protective influence of the forest.
Thus, parts of the French Alps were cleared off about
the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nine-
teenth century. Floods followed this clearing off with such
regularity and force that many villages were destroyed
and others abandoned because the floods covered the
fields often yards deep with sterile gravel and bowlders.
Then France began the great task of reforesting these
mountains ; and, though not half completed, this task has
already cost many millions of dollars.
_ In our own country we are not without like examples.
Lack of a forest cover in Mississippi led to a gullying
THE FORESTS OF OUR COUNTRY 209
which destroyed so much good farm land every year that
a good authority says the damage amounted to more than
the total income of the state from all its industries.
As to the influence on the moisture of the air, it is
well known to every farmer that a rail fence, if allowed
to be crowded by woods, is thereby prevented from drying,
and rots twice as quickly as it otherwise would. Again,
it is well known in all newly settled districts that a road
can never be kept in good condition unless the “ right of
way” is cleared of timber to let in wind and sun.
Similarly, in our Lake Region hundreds of miles of
“corduroy” road are dirt roads to-day and thousands of
small swamps have dried up, not through any drainage,
but merely because the woods were cut away. That
these small changes are accompanied by great changes
in the “run-off” of our larger streams is well illustrated
by the fact that navigation has become difficult in a
number of our important rivers, and altogether impossible
in others, which within our own times were navigable.
THE FORESTS OF OUR COUNTRY
If we examine the accompanying map of our country,
where the areas originally wooded are colored and the
open prairies uncolored, we see that the Mississippi divides
the country approximately into an eastern timbered and
a western prairie portion. We see, too, that the line dues
210 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
not quite follow the great river, but bends across to the
east, leaving part of Wisconsin and Illinois as half prairie,
and then crosses it again, including the greater part of
Missouri, all of Arkansas, the eastern part of the Indian
Territory, and Texas in the timbered portion. Following
this western timber limit, we note a belt marked with
green dots, extending from Texas to Minnesota, which
is a sort of half prairie country where patches of forest,
usually scrub-oak woods, alternate with prairies. To the
west of this we see the great prairies and plains; then
a set of narrow red patches, representing the ragged, conif-
erous forests covermg part of the numerous high ranges
of the Rockies; then the bare, arid regions of the Great
Basin ; and west of this, a broad belt of coniferous forests
skirting the Pacific from the northern boundary nearly to
the southern limit of California.
Our eastern forest, we note, consists of three parts: a
northern and a southern belt of coniferous forests, and
a broad hardwood forest between these two.
The northern belt of conifers is composed largely of
white pine, Norway pine, and hemlock in the western and
central parts, and of spruce in the eastern. The great
pineries of Wisconsin and Michigan and the spruce woods
of Maine belong to this belt.
The southern belt of conifers is composed almost entirely
of pure stands of the southern pines, the longleaf, loblolly,
and shortleaf, with cypress covering the swamps.
tt On
i
+
++) 5
Coniferous forests
Conifers with a mixture of hardwoods
+,+4| Conifers scattered, singly in groves or
+ ‘ , 5 £
pated small bodies
Hardwood forests
ear
Hardwoods with a mixture of conifers
;
=. Bare lands, prairie and desert
Fia. 75.
General Forest Map of the United States
211
212 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
The broad-leaved or hardwood forests occupymg the
greater portion of the eastern United States may be divided
into a southern and a northern half. The former extends
from New England to Missouri, and is characterized by
the fact that, almost everywhere, the hardwood forest is
dotted conspicuously by pine; the part north and west of
the Alleghenies is practically without this mixture. On
the whole, this great hardwood forest may be called an
oak forest with a variable mixture of chestnut, hickory,
yellow poplar, elm, ash, beech, and other broad-leaved
trees. At its northern limit the oaks give way to birch,
and at its southern to pine.
Both the northern and southern belts of conifers are to
this day large, almost unbroken forests, with compara-
tively little settlement. It is in the great hardwood
region of our country that a goodly share of the forest
has made way for the plow and that the greater part of
our people live.
The coniferous forests of the Rocky Mountain ranges,
composed mostly of yellow pine, red fir, and spruce, are
interrupted by numerous prairies and bare lands, and thus
cover but part of these mountains.
The forests of the Pacific coast region are among the
most remarkable forests in the world. Those of Cal-
fornia are largely made up of gigantic redwoods, red fir,
and pine, while those of Oregon and Washington are
chiefly forests of red fir, hemlock, cedar, and balsam.
THE FORESTS OF OUR COUNTRY BES
Both redwood and red fir grow to be over two hundred
and fifty feet high; and while an acre of good spruce land
in Maine yields ten thousand feet B.M., it is not a rare
thing to cut over two hundred thousand feet B.M. from an
acre of redwood or red fir.
Ii we ask how much forest we have left, the answer
is quite encouraging. In the New England States, the
Lake States, and the entire South, not over thirty per cent
of all the land is in use for field and meadow, leaving
nearly seventy per cent for forest and waste, of which the
greater part is still fairly wooded.
The forest lands of our eastern United States practically
all belong to private owners, individuals, or companies,
though some tracts are owned by the several states as
school lands, etc. In the Western States the Federal
Government still holds a considerable portion, especially
of the more remote forests covering the several mountain
chains.
Of the private owners, railway and lumber companies
have most of the larger tracts, especially in the pineries,
both north and south; while the greater part of the hard-
wood forests are in the hands of actual settlers or farmers.
Of late years the Federal Government has set aside a
number of tracts of mountain forests in our Western States
as forest reserves for the purpose of protecting these
areas against erosion and consequent disturbance of
water flow. There are now over forty of these reserves,
214 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
including over forty-six million acres of land, an area
nearly as large as North and South Carolina together.
Largely for the same purpose the state of New York
has established the Adirondack Park. of which it now
owns about one million three hundred thousand acres;
and the state of Pennsylvania also is begining to buy
some of its denuded and burmed-over mountain districts
for similar use.
SOME HISTORY
Even the ancients, the Greeks and Romans, had some
notion of the value of their forests, and put forth many
efforts to prevent their useless destruction. These efforts
were of little avail, and the Mediterranean lands to-day
are sorely in need of more wood, and their mountains of
a better cover.
In the colder climates of central Europe the value of
forests was fully recognized as early as the year 1300.
Though at that time the increasing population required
larger and larger fields to provide grain and fodder, yet
the clearmg away of forest was regulated, and in many
localities entirely forbidden. Many of the towns began
to buy forest land to guard against a wood famine. The
fundamental principles of forestry, that the land must be
kept stocked with trees and that we must not cut more
than the growth if the forest is to be kept up, were also
clearly recognized.
SOME HISTORY 215
Thus, in the Sihlwald, a tract of forest which has been
in possession of the city of Zurich for about a thousand
years, the amount of wood to be cut each year and the
proper way of cutting it were determined by competent
men more than six hundred years ago. And so well was
this done, and so carefully was their plan followed out,
, that this forest all this time has furnished every year the
fixed amount of timber, and is to-day in better condition
(and, therefore, better able to supply wood) than at any
time before. j
Numerous laws and orders, issued from the twelfth cen-
tury forward by communities, towns, and governments,
regulated every feature of forest management and use.
The cutting, shipping, and selling of timber, the burning
of charcoal, the peeling of tan bark, the gathering of rosin,
the pasturing of cattle and hogs, and even the keeping of
bees and gathering of wild honey, which in those days was
a very important business in many districts, were all care-
fully prescribed, to avoid dispute, and still more to prevent
“the killing of the goose that lays the golden egg.”
As with laws in all times and countries, many were
unjust and oppressive; and when the French Revolution
freed the people of Europe from the fetters of medieval
ignorance, sophistry, and brutality, there was a reaction
against the forest laws, the real worth of which was
always least understood by the very people most benefited
‘by them.
216 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
In France this reaction did serious and permanent
damage; the forests everywhere were slashed and cleared,
and the great expense of restocking the southern Alps,
and the enormous sums paid every year to Sweden and
Russia for lumber which the short-lived coppice woods ot
France are unable to furnish, are the fines paid for folly.
The people of the Teutonic lands were not so readily
moved, and their conservative attitude with regard to the
forest has been fully rewarded. In densely populated
Germany the forests cover twenty-six per cent of all land ;
about one third of these forests belongs to the govern-
ments, about one half to private owners, and the rest to
cities and villages. In Prussia and Saxony the private
people can do with their forest whatever they choose, cut
and clear as they please; but in most of the states the
government looks upon a forest as an inheritance which
the owner may use, but which he may not mismanage, and
may never destroy without giving satisfactory reasons.
Most of the forests of Germany are of pine and spruce.
Nearly all of the government forests are “ timber forests,”
and are managed on a rotation of about eighty to a hundred
years, so that all timber is cut long before it is overripe.
The majority of these forests are im small bodies, in
the midst of settlements. and have, therefore, good per-
manent roads, a local market, and ample protection. The
sawmill here is not a temporary affair, some mills having
been in operation for several centuries.
bo
-—
~I
THE WOOD
THE WOOD
Having learned something about forests, let us now
examine a little more closely their main product, the wood.
SOME STRUCTURAL FEATURES
Sap and Heart.—We have observed on some of the
stumps and ends of logs that different kinds differ in
appearance. On the oak we saw the rough bark outside,
then a layer of lighter colored wood, the sapwood ; and
within this the darker heartwood, containing, somewhere
near the center, the tiny brownish pith. This same
arrangement of sapwood and heartwood we find in the
majority of our useful timber trees. In some, like hick-
ory and elm, the sapwood is wide; in others, like the
locust and catalpa, it is narrow; and in some trees, like
spruce, balsam, hemlock, and maple, it has no distinct
color at all. The sapwood and heartwood differ not only
in color, but also in durability; the sapwood part of our
oak post decays in a very short time, while the heartwood
part lasts for years. This difference is very important,
and particularly in those kinds of woods where the heart
is durable.
Annual Rings. —We have also noticed that the wood
at the end of the log appears to be made up of rings;
and we learned that these are called annual or yearly
218 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
rings, because one is formed each year. These rings are
valuable age marks, since they tell us a good deal about
the history of the tree.
Let us now take pieces of oak, maple, and yellow pop-
lar, and of pme and hemlock, and cut the ends with a
sharp pocket knife, moistening them first and making the
cut a little slanting. We observe that the rings on the
oak are easily counted and are distinguishable by a line
of little holes or pores; those of the maple and yellow
poplar are distinguished by a fine line, but not a line of
pores; and those of the pine are divided by a line of
darker wood, which sometimes forms a broad brown band,
especially in yellow or hard pine.
Spring Wood and Summer Wood.— The inner portion of
the ring, usually on the concave of the are, is naturally
formed earlier, and the outer part later in the season; we
call them, therefore, the sprmg wood and the summer
wood of the rmg. In the yellow pme these two are
sharply defined; the spring wood is of a hght yellowish
color, and the summer wood of a dark orange brown. In
maple and many other woods they are not sharply defined,
but it is convenient, just the same, to use the terms in
talking of these woods.
Looking at Figs. 56 and 57, we notice that the patterns
of rift and bastard or tangent boards are principally due
to the difference between spring and summer wood. The
dark bands in yellow pine are summer wood ; the scratched,
THE WOOD 219
usually darkest, but in the picture lightest appearing por-
tion, in ash, oak, etc., is spring wood.
Pores.—We have already noticed the conspicuous
pores in the spring wood of oak. Besides the larger pores,
there are many smaller ones in the same wood. Most ot
Fig. 76. Cross Section of Oak (upper), Ring-Porous Wood; Hard
Pine (lower), Non-Porous Wood
these are in the summer wood of the rings, so that we
have in the oak large pores in the spring wood and small
pores in the summer wood, all of which serve as water
ducts or vessels when first formed.
In maple and yellow poplar we can also see pores, but
they are extremely small and usually require a magnifying
220 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY ;
glass tosee them. These pores are nearly all of one size, and
they are evenly scattered through spring and summer wood.
In pine and hemlock we do not find these pores, though
in pine we do find little white specks which resemble
Ec
aot Che Bes
el ele
La a AN »
By Aston
le ° i"
BRE
2 a
eal SP
yt
FT
: Fs
eg
Fa bel Feed [ese]
fed Fes Brae P84 [3
x yee) (8S
2 helehs
5 4
E
ba kes ome
Bran
SEs: sibbtos re ss oy
PRR GRRE RP
° Ss a
o
:
Se BCCC hye 1. -- Sycamore. __- ee) ae
Fie. 77. Diffuse Porous Woods
Fic. 78. Non-Porous Woods
A, fir; B, hard pine; C, soft pine; a7., annual ring; 0.e., outer edge of ring; 7.e.,
inner edge of ring; s.w., summer wood; sp.w., spring wood; 7.d., resin ducts
pores; they are resin ducts, however, and are not like
the pores we see in other woods.
The pores, especially the large ones, are easily seen on
the sides of boards, and they have much to do with the
THE WOOD 221
pattern or picture presented by the wood. This is best
seen in woods like oak, ash, and chestnut, where the pores
of the spring wood are so iee that they need a “ filler”
——aSSSSSS——SSSS
ZS
Ne LT V7 Ty) ih
A ile Ao i
—>
By
a
==
ree | REI Hina
| |
OM }) x 1 Hii tty
\ Al | ‘2 4 a | { li¢\ { NA
s Jy) Hil fl }
\ i! | i | y, | a) i f
Sal 71 I onl dil)
{ | q if | i
\ \ I}
==Ss35 s= S
SSS
———
Fia. 79. Wood of Spruce
1, natural size; 2, small part of one ring magnified 100 times. The vertical
tubes are wood fibers, in this case all ‘‘tracheids.”’ mm, medullary or pith
ray; n, transverse tracheids of pith ray; a, b, and c, bordered pits of the
tracheids, more enlarged
in finishing or polishing. The pores are the most impor-
tant marks by which we can distinguish woods, and we
divide all of our woods into three groups:
A
K
<5
y
ay
CY
1S a a x
\ .
c
=~
oe’
pou
ey
7
SES
Cee ®
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FIRST BOOK
OF FORESTRY
Fic. 80
Spiral Grain.
Fria. 80.
(Season
checks,
after
removal of bark, indi-
cate the direction of the
fibers or grain)
Pre ase
Shortleaf Pine.
(Cross section of parts
of two rings)
sp-w., spring wood with thin
walls; su.w., summer wood
with thick walls.
The cells
run in rows which extend
through several rings. (Mag-
nified about 70 times)
The ring-porous
woods, like oak, ash,
chestnut, locust,
elm, hickory, etc.,
where the ring is
defined by a line
of large pores in
the spring wood.
The diffuse
porous woods, like
maple, yellow pop-
lar, and cherry,
where the pores are
usually very small
and evenly scat-
tered through the
annual ring.
The non-porous
woods, like pine,
spruce, hemlock,
and all our coni-
erous woods.
Pith Rays.—
Looking at a cross
section of a log or
piece of oak, we
observe broad lines
THE WOOD 223
running from the bark toward the center, or pith. They
are the pith rays. If we examine the side of the board, |
they look like broad bands if the board is quarter-sawed
or rift, and as short brown lines if bastard or tangent.
Fie. 82. Alternating Spiral Grain in Cypress. (Side and end
view of same piece)
When the bark was ato the grain at this point was straight. From that time
each year it grew more oblique in one direction, reaching a climax at a, and
then turned back in the opposite direction. These alternations were repeated
periodically, the bark sharing in these changes
224 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
In the oak, part of the pith rays are very large, the
rest too small to be seen without a magnifying glass ; in
chestnut they are all small; in beech some are large, some
small, as in oak; in maple and cherry most of them are
small, but easily seen; in birch they are all too small to
be seen without a magnifying glass. Thus. the pith rays,
like the pores, are valuable marks by which to distinguish
the different woods. and they help to make up the pattern,
as is clearly seen on almost every kind of hardwood board.
The Grain.—The
wood of our trees is
made up of cells, all
of which are little
tubes, which have
walls of definite
Fig. 83, A “ Bird’s-eye ” Board
thickness and ap-
pearance. Each such cell is the abandoned dwelling of a
living being, the cell proper, which fed and digested,
secreted and worked, built up the little wooden case which
we now call cell or fiber, and then died and disappeared.
Most cells die during their first year, so that the wood is
nearly all made up of little lifeless cases or tubes.
Some of these tubes are short, others long, some have
thick walls, some thin, and most of them have their walls
more or less sculptured. The long tubes, which make
the bulk of the wood, we commonly call fibers, though
there are several distinct kinds of these.
THE WOOD
995
|
Some cells in wood are large enough to be seen with
the unaided eye, but most of them are very small and
Fic. 84. Wavy Grain in Beech
(After Nordlinger)
can be seen only if much magnified.
If the fibers run straight up and
down in the log, so that it splits
straight, we call it straight grain;
if they run spirally around as well
as up, we call it spiral or twisted
gran. Most logs have more or
less twisted grain. Sometimes the
fibers twist one way in a number
of rings and then in the opposite
way in the rings farther out (see
Fig. 82), and thus make splitting
Fig. 85. Section of Knot
P, pith of both stem and limb;
1-7, seven yearly layers of
wood; a, b, knot or basal part
of a limb which lived four
years, then died and broke off
near the stem, leaving the
part to the left of a, ba
“‘sound’’ knot, the part to
the right a ‘‘dead’’ knot,
which would soon be entirely
covered by the growing stem
226 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
almost impossible. In maple, cypress, ash, yellow poplar,
and many other woods, the surface of the log often is not
smooth, but has many little projections (cypress) or depres-
sions (maple, etc.), which continue from year to year, 7.e.,
they do not fill wp, and one layer of wood after another has
the dent at the same point. Similarly, the fibers often run
wavy, as shown in the figure. Now if such wood is cut by
the saw in a straight line, the darker summer wood in
cypress, or the fibers cut almost transversely in maple and
other similar woods, appear at this point as a circle of dark
on a field of lighter colored wood, and we have the bird’s-
eye structure. ‘‘ Curly” maple is wood in which the fibers
run in wavy lines, so that part of the fibers are cut across,
others cut lengthwise, thus giving bands of darker and
lighter shades owing to the darker color of the cross
section.
Knots. — The position of the grain and the appearance
of knots are explained by Fig. 85.
Knots, like cross grain, are normal defects, and occur
in all kinds of trees and nearly all kinds and grades of
lumber. A dead knot, of course, is always much more
serious, since it may drop out at any time and leave a
hole in the structure.
THE WOOD Beni
Some PuysicAL PROPERTIES
Weight. — Most of our wood is lighter than water, and
therefore it floats. But if we leave a piece of wood m
water a long time it sinks; and thus we see that the solid
or wood substance of which the cell walls are made is
heavier than water. If, therefore, the walls of all cells
are very thick, the wood, like many of our tropical woods,
may never float. Most of our useful timbers float when
dry, and the majority weigh about four to seven tenths as
much as water, or about twenty-five to forty-three pounds
per cubic foot, and hence about two to three and a half
pounds per foot, board measure.
Moisture. — When first formed the cell is filled with
living substance resembling the white of an egg, so that
the freshly formed wood is full of water. In an ordinary
log of pine, more than half the cells are empty, but their
walls are still moist.
Most of the water in such a log is in the sapwood, but
there is much difference in different kinds of trees. Com-
monly it is supposed that the water in the wood, usually
called “ sap,’
the sprmg. The reason for the belief is the fact that
?
goes out of the log im the fall and returns in
many trees bleed in the spring but not in winter. This
belief is erroneous, for by actual trial we find that the
wood contains about as much water in winter as in
summer.
228 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
If wood is sawed or split, so that it is exposed to air, this
water evaporates. At ordinary temperature, as in a wood
shed, it will dry so far that a hundred pounds of wood will
contain only about ten pounds of water. If we putthis lumber
in a hot room or “dry kiln,” it dries out still more. When it
comes out of the “dry kiln” it absorbs water again, and after
a few days may have as much as six pounds per hundred.
Shrinkage. — While drying, the wood shrinks, 7.e., it
grows smaller. It shrinks about ten times as much side-
wise as endwise, and shrinks less radially, 7.e., im the
direction from the pith to bark, than tangentially, so that
a “rift” or “quartered” board shrinks only about one
half to two thirds as much as a tangent. board.
When a board lies on the wet ground in the sun it dries
and shrinks on one side and less or not at all on the other,
and therefore curls or warps.
If a peeled log or a thick board dries rapidly the outer
part shrinks before the inner, and thus the “jacket” is
too small; it bursts, and the wood is said to “ check” or
crack. After the inner part dries these checks close up;
but in larger pieces some stay open and grow larger for a
long time. This kind of checks is permanent and is due
to the greater shrinkage in the tangential direction.
Coniferous wood shrinks less, warps and checks less than
hard wood, and generally heavy woods shrink more than
light ones. To avoid the mischief of shrinking we use
flooring in narrow strips, so that the change is distributed
THE WOOD 229
among many pieces, and the opening among many
joints. We also use panels in doors, and veneer in furni-
ture, and for the same reason bore
out columns, and build up columns
and posts of several pieces.
Strength.— W ood is very strong.
To crush a cube of dry wood one
inch each way, with the fibers on
end, requires about six to ten
thousand pounds pressure. It
requires only about one third to
one half as much if the piece is
soaked, or if it is green; for sea-
soned timber is always stronger
than green timber of the same
kind.
To pull it apart lengthwise,
wood requires about twice as much
power as to crush it endwise; but
to pull it apart sidewise, as when
we pull out a mortise, requires
only about one tenth as much
force as to crush it endwise. BG odd detects Gr
Most conifers break without taser
much bending; but elm, hickory, etc., are strong and yet
bend far before they break. We call them tough woods.
Heavy woods are generally stronger than lighter woods.
250 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
SoME CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
When sufficiently heated wood burns or oxidizes; and
this, while it is not a desirable quality in a building mate-
rial, is otherwise one of its greatest virtues.
If heated in a close vessel, various substances are made
in the form of gases; and, as we have seen, this is taken
advantage of by the “ acid man.”
By means of chemicals wood is easily changed into
sugar; and if ever this can be done cheaply enough, wood
may become an important source of food.
Durability and Decay. — All kinds of wood are subject
to destruction by decay-producing fungi. One of the
countless millions of spores of some fungus drops on a
timber, and is carried by a raindrop into the interior of
a pore. If conditions are favorable, it germinates, grows
into a thread of “ mycelium”; and this thread, which is a
series of living cells, attaches itself closely to the wall of
the wood cell, secretes a juice which is capable of dissolv-
ing wood, and which changes at least a part of it into
sugarlike substances which are taken into the cells of the
mycelium as food. Now decay has begun, and in a short
time, if beech or maple is the timber, it 1s penetrated in
all directions. At first the wood is merely discolored, and
looks “dead”; later on it becomes brittle, and finally
it becomes a powdery mass, and in keeping with these
changes loses its resistance.
THE WOOD 231
If kept dry or if kept under water, wood does not
decay. Charring the wood gives it a wrapper of charcoal,
which the fungus cannot pene-
trate; painting and whitewashing
dothe same. But if painted before
dry, the paint does harm by pre-
venting the timber from drying.
Salts of zinc, copper, and mer-
cury, and heavy oils are used to
Fic. 87
Fie. 87. “Shelf” Fungus on the Fic. 88
Stem of a Pine
Fig. 88. Fungus Threads in Pine
a, sound wood; 0b, resinous “light”’ Wood
wood; c¢, partly decayed wood or
punk ; d, layer of living spore tubes;
e, old filled-up spore tubes; f, fluted
a, cell wall of the wood fibers; +,
bordered pits of these fibers; ¢,
upper surface of the fruiting body
of the fungus, which gets its food
through a great number of fine
threads (the mycelium), its vegeta-
tive tissue penetrating the wood and
causing its decay. (After Hartig)
thread of mycelium of the fungus;
d, holes in the cell walls made by the
fungus threads, which gradually dis-
solve the walls as shown at e, and
thus break down the wood structure.
(After Hartig)
232 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
kill the fungi. Usually the wood is boiled in the solution,
or else this is injected into the wood. Railway ties are thus
made to last much longer than they otherwise would.
The sapwood of all kinds of trees is very perishable ;
but the heartwood is usually more or less resistant. No
wood is entirely exempt from destruction by decay.
All cedars, cypress, redwood, etc., also locust, walnut,
white oak, chestnut, mulberry, and catalpa, make a durable
timber; maple, beech, birch, poplar, ash, red oak, hick-
ory, black gum, spruce, balsam, and hemlock are perish-
able; while white pine, yellow or hard pine, elm, tulip,
and red gum seem to have an intermediate position.
In dry countries, ike our arid West, even perishable
woods last a long time; while in moist and hot districts
even durable timber decays fast. Warmth and moisture
help, dryness and cold hinder, and full seasoning and
complete immersion prevent decay.
Woop AS COMPARED WITH IRON
Much is often learned by comparing a substance with
its natural or most Important competitor. Examining
wood and iron in this way, we find:
1. Wood is a natural product; iron the product of a
costly, complicated manufacture. Wood may be grown
wherever man wishes to use it; the manufacture of iron
is practically confined to particular localities. The mines
THE WOOD Poa
of both iron and coal are exhaustible; the forest, under
proper management, produces forever.
2. Wood is cheap; metals are dear. Even in the form
of lumber, and with the cost of long-distance transporta-
tion added, wood rarely costs the consumer in this country
more than twenty-five cents per cubic foot; while iron in
bars and sheets is worth at wholesale from five to ten
dollars per cubic foot.
3. Wood is soft; simple tools and small effort suftice
to shape it. Iron is hard; any change of form, whether
by casting, rolling, sawing, cutting, planing, turning,
filing, boring, or grinding, requires much labor, or else
complicated and costly processes and equipments. In
the ease and rapidity with which wood can be shaped,
reshaped, and combined in structures, it excels all other
materials.
4. Wood cleaves or splits; metals do not. While this
property has its disadvantages, it is one that in some
directions determines the usefulness of wood. It permits
ready preparation for fencing and firewood, which latter
use exceeds in bulk ten times the amount of iron and
steel used in this country.
5. Wood is stronger than is usually supposed. In
tensile strength (pull lengthwise or with the grain of the
wood) a bar of hickory exceeds a similar bar of wrought
iron of the same length and weight, and it even surpasses
steel under the same conditions.
234 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Similarly, a select block of hickory or of longleaf pine
sustains a greater weight in compression endwise (parallel
to the grain of the wood) than a block of wrought iron
of the same height and weight, and nearly approaches
cast iron in this respect.
6. Wood is light;-iron and steel are heavy. The
average weight of all wood used in this country does not
exceed thirty-one pounds per cubic foot; that of iron and
steel is from four hundred and thirty to four hundred
and fifty pounds per cubic foot. This quality affects ease
of handling and transportation ; it permits the floating of
most woods when green, and of all of them when dry.
7. Wood is a poor conductor of heat and electricity.
Heated to one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, or
cooled below the freezing point of water, iron, steel, and
other metals are painful to the touch ; and even far within
these limits metals are objectionable on account of their
ready conductivity of heat. Wood, on the other hand, is
entirely inoffensive as long as its temperature remains
within the above limits. The objections to metal dwellings
on this account are experienced in heavy-armored ships,
which, in spite of the excellence of an ocean climate, are
notoriously uncomfortable.
When exposed to heat, wood is ignited and destroyed
by fire. The inflammability and combustibility of wood
at high temperatures, though among its most valuable
properties, are, at times, a drawback which metals do not
THE WOOD 239
share; nevertheless, durmg conflagrations the behavior
of wooden structures is often less objectionable than that
of metal structures ; for, though a beam of wood burns, it
retains its shape to the last, and the structure may stand
and be saved ; while under the same circumstances metal —
beams twist out of shape and thereby occasion the fall of
the entire structure: This behavior of wood in conflagra-
tion has induced the best authorities, fire underwriters
and others, to recommend the use of wood in all large
structures where the combustible contents of the rooms
annul the value of fireproof metal construction.
If wood were a good conductor of electricity, its useful-
ness as a material of construction in our large cities
would be much impaired, for it appears to be a very
serious and constantly growing difficulty to protect life
and property against this dangerous but useful force.
8. Woods are normally inoffensive in smell and taste.
Liquors and wines of the most delicate flavors are kept in
oaken casks for many years without suffering in quality.
Chemical changes, often directly producing poison, pre-
vent the use of cheap metals for these purposes.
9. Owing to their structure, all woods present varieties
of characteristic aspects, and possess no small degree of
beauty. A plain surface of metal, of whatever kind, is
monotonous ; while one of wood, unless marred by paint,
presents such a variety of unobtrusive figures that the
eye never tires of seeing them. That this beauty is quite
236 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
fully appreciated is best illustrated by the fact that
pianos, sideboards, and other elegant furniture are not
covered with sheet metal (as they might very cheaply
and effectively be), and that the handsome floors of costly
structures are neither painted nor carpeted.
10. Wood is easily and eftectively united by the simple
process of gluing, so that valuable combinations, whether
for behavior, strength, or beauty, are possible. A three-
ply veneer board may be not only as pretty but also
more serviceable than a simple board of any one of the
two or three kinds of wood of which it is composed; and
a white-pine door with cherry or walnut veneer is not
only fully as handsome as a walnut door, but it is far
superior in its behavior, since all shrinking and warping
is thereby practically prevented. Iron and steel may be
welded; most metals can be soldered; but neither of these
processes can be compared to gluing in ease of operation.
So far wood has been regarded only as a material of
construction ; but while this is perhaps the most impor-
tant consideration, the use of wood as a substance which
may be altered physically and chemically is far more
important than is generally admitted.
11. The great mass of mankind is warmed and has its
food cooked by wood fires. Even in this country to-day,
in spite of the great competition of coal, three fourths of
all the homes and thousands of manufacturing establish-
ments are supplied with heat from wood.
THE WOOD Dat
12. Wood is ground into pulp and made into paper
and pulp boards with endless variety of application.
Wood pulp, made by chemical processes, results in cellu-
lose and its countless derivatives, which are capable of
supplying almost anything, from a shirt collar to a car
wheel.
138. Distillation of wood furnishes charcoal to the smithy
or furnace; vinegar to the table; alcohol to the artisan ;
creosote to the wood preserver; gas for fuel and light ;
tar for roof boards ; pyroligneous, oxalic, acetic, and other
acids, as well as acetone, paraffin, naphthalin, ete., to the
manufacturing chemist; and, by a slight variation of the
process, lampblack to the printer and painter.
Wood also differs from the metals in several other
respects. It is not fusible; it cannot be cast; hence, to
duplicate a form in wood requires the same amount of
effort as did the original. Changed into pulp, and still
more into cellulose, this drawback is largely overcome.
Wood cannot be welded, — though, as stated before, this
is more than compensated by gluing; nevertheless, an
end-to-end junction of the kind produced in iron cannot
be effected.
Wood cannot be rolled; it must be cut ito shape; but
owing to its softness and cleavability this requires incompar-
ably less effort and equipment than the rolling of metals.
Wood is hygroscopic ; it contains water under all ordi-
nary conditions, and the amount so contained varies with
238 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
external conditions and with it the dimensions of the piece.
Though an advantage in a barrel or tube, by making it
more secure against leakage, this peculiarity of wood is
nevertheless a drawback not belonging to the metals, but
corresponding to the drawback in the use of metals
occasioned by their annoying expansion and contraction
due to change of temperature.
Wood decays; iron and steel oxidize or rust. Both are
serious drawbacks to the use of these materials; but since
decay depends on living organisms, whose multiplication
is sometimes extremely rapid, at other times almost
unperceptible, varying with the conditions of the wood
(moisture, temperature, etc.), the decay of woods is gen-
erally more damaging than the oxidation of metals.
Under water, wood lasts longer than steel or iron.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH OUR COMMON TREES
Most of us know a few trees sufficiently well to distin-
guish one kind from another. Usually it is the general
appearance, sometimes the bark or leaf, which we recog-
nize; and often we know the tree only while in its
summer dress.
Let us examine our common trees more closely and
note where they differ.
Here is a red-oak tree. Breaking off a twig, we notice
that the leaves are simple and not made up of several
HOW TO DISTINGUISH TREES 239
leaflets; that they stand singly, not in pairs; and that
they are lobed, each lobe with one or two sharp points.
Examining the twig of an elm, we find that the leaves
are also simple, and alternate, but that they are finely
toothed. On this sprig of maple the leaves are in pairs,
they stand opposite, and are both lobed and toothed. On
the ash we find each leaf made up of several leaflets; it
is a compound leaf, and we find the leaves opposite or in
pairs, while in the hickory the leaves are also compound
but not im pairs.
Thus, the leaves are an excellent guide to the study of
trees; and since opposite leaves also leave opposite scars
and lead to opposite buds and branches, they help us to
know the trees even in their winter garb.
We will arrange our common forest trees according to
their leaves, and thus make a key which will help us to
recognize them with more certainty. Generally we shall
be assisted by the fruit, the twigs, the bark, and the buds ;
more rarely by the flowers, since these can be seen only
during a few days in each year, and in some cases are
even then quite difficult to examine.
Looking over our trees, we may at once divide them
into two large groups: the evergreen or cone-bearing trees,
and the broad-leaved or deciduous trees. These names
we must not take too strictly, for some evergreens like
the tamarack shed their leaves every fall, and some
deciduous trees like live oaks are green the year round.
240 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Our important cone-bearing trees all belong to the pine
family. In the pines the leaves are needle-shaped and
long (up to twelve inches), while in spruce, balsam, ete.,
they are short, and in most of our cedars they are mere
green scales, closely appressed to the twig.
Arranging the groups of the pine family according to
leaf, fruit, and bark, we have the following simple scheme :
CONTFERS
I. Pines, spruces, ete.
Bark smooth or rough but never stringy. Leaves needle-shaped.
Fruit a woody cone of many scales.
A. Leaves in bundles or clusters.
a. Pines. Leaves in bundles of two to five in a com-
mon sheath (Fig. 89). Among pines we have
approximately :
(1) Leaves five in a bundle: white pines (Fig. 45).
(2) Leaves three in a bundle: yellow pines (Fig. 89),
including our southern and western lumber
pines.
(3) Leaves two in a bundle: Norway pine, jack pines,
and pinons.
b. Larch or Tamarack, The short, light green leaves,
in clusters of ten and more, are not in a common
sheath and are deciduous (Fig. 89).
B. Leaves singly scattered over the twig.
1. The cones are pendulous, 7.e., hang downward; they cling
to the twig for months after they are ripe, and do not
fall to pieces by the dropping away of the scales.
Wes a Maas: GS
RY S07 ]
eS AY f | \)
\ \ WLLL
— Ym
pir Z4,
i
(
Fie. 89. Conifers with Leaves in Bundles
A, B, C, shortleaf pine; D, larch. A, pine leaves in bundles of two and three ;
B, pine cones just about ripe; C, old empty pine cone still clinging to branch ;
PD, larch; leaves in bundles of ten or more
241
242 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
a. Spruces. Leaves stiff, mostly four-sided, and pointed ;
the bark scales are never bright red; the wood is
white (Fig. 90, A).
b. Hemlocks. eaves are soft, flat, and short, usually
two-ranked so that the sprig appears flat; the bark
scales when broken off appear red; the wood has
a reddish cast (Fig. 90, D).
Fie. 90. Conifers with Leaves not in Bundles
A, spruce: leaves stiff and pointed, cones hang down; C, red fir: leaves soft,
cones hang down, bracts protrude like little tongues; D, hemlock: leaves
short and soft, cones small, bracts do not protrude; B, balsam: cones erect,
fall apart after ripening, so that no old cones are found on or under the tree.
(A and D after Bureau of Forestry; B and C after Beissner)
Fra. 91. The Cedars
A, cypress: the leaves deciduous, cones persist; B, redwood: the leaves and cones
persist; C, white cedar: leaves are mere scales, cones spherical; D, arbor
vitze: cones small, elongated, but persistent. (All after Beissner)
2438
244 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
c. Red Fir. The leaves are flat, soft; the cones are
“feathered” by sharp-pointed bracts projecting
from between the cone-scales (Fig. 90, C).
2. The cones stand erect on the twig, and fall to pieces soon
after ripening, so that no full-sized cones are seen on
the trees nor under them except at the time when the
cones approach maturity.
d. Balsams or White Firs. Leaves mostly soft, flat, and
blunt; the bark mostly smooth; the crown dense
and sharp-pointed (Fig. 90, B).
II. The cedars and their allies.
b]
The bark has a “stringy ”
group are conspicuous on this account. The leaves are needle-
shaped or mere scales; the fruit is a small cone, and, in one group,
appearance, so that all trees of this
a berry.
A. Leaves needle-shaped.
a. Cypress. Leaves deciduous, the trees bare in winter ;
the heartwood light brown (Fig. 91, 4).
b. Redwood. Leaves persistent, the heartwood red
(Kies 91, B).
B. Weaves scalelike, appressed.
1. Fruit a persistent woody cone, which can be seen at all
times of the year on or under the trees.
a. White Cedars. Cone small, spherical; heartwood light
brown (Fig. 91, C).
b. Bigtree. Cones quite large; heartwood red.
c. Arbor Vites and Incense Cedar. Cones elongated ;
heartwood brownish (Fig. 91, D).
2. Fruit a berry, usually of a dark bluish color.
a. Red Cedars. Heartwood red.
Fig. 92. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, ‘Tooth-Edged Leaves
A, beech; B, chestnut; C, birch: the little cones fall to pieces when ripe; Dd,
poplar: the fruit borne on catkins. (A, C, and D from Britton and Brown’s
“Tilustrated Flora of the United States and Canada.”’ B from Schwartz’
‘‘Forstliche Botanik ’’) ;
245
* al
246
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Broap-LEAVED TREES
I. Leaves simple (not compound, z.e., not made up of several leaflets).
A. Leaves alternate, not in pairs.
1. The edge of the leaf toothed.
a,
b.
d.
Beech. Trees with smooth, grayish green bark; fruit
a small prickly bur (Fig. 92, 4).
Chestnut. Large trees with rough bark; fruit a large
prickly bur, often two inches wide (Fig. 92, B).
Birches. Trees generally with smooth whitish bark,
which in most kinds curls up and peels off in thin
layers. The bark of the twigs when chewed tastes
of wintergreen. Fruit a small soft cone, resembling
that of conifers, and falling apart when ripe (Fig.
92,C), thus strewing the ground with the small
crosslike scales and the tiny winged seeds.
Poplars and Cottonwoods. Bark smooth on young trees
and on limbs, rough on older stems; wood soft and
white, very brittle. The fruit is very small and
borne on little perishable catkins resembling willow
“pussies ” (Fig. 92, D), so that it is not ordinarily
met with either on or under the tree.
Elms. Bark dark brown, rough; the fruit, which ripens
in spring, is shed and blown away at once, so that
it is not commonly seen; the wood is yellowish
to reddish brown when fresh, and is very tough
(Fig. 93, A).
Basswood. Bark gray and rough, with a tough stringy
inner portion, the bast. The fruit is a small round
berrylike nut, of which two or more are attached to
a long stem coming out of a narrow, specially modi-
fied leaf. These leaves and nuts endure for months
on and under the tree (Fig. 93, B).
Fic. 93. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, Tooth-Edged Leaves
A, Elm: fruit ripens in spring; B, basswood: fruit persists; C, cherry: bark
tastes of almond; D, sycamore: fruit conspicuous and persistent. (After
Britton and Brown’s “ Mlustrated Flora of the United States and Canada ?)
247
248 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
g. Cherry. Bark sealy, of dark color, its inner part with
a taste of cherry seeds; heartwood of reddish color
and hard. The fruit is so perishable that it helps
us to distinguish the tree only for a short time in
summer (Fig. 93, C).
h. Sycamore or Button Tree. Bark whitish to greenish
gray, smooth, peeling off more or less regularly and
thus gives the tree a very conspicuous appearance.
The peculiar fruit (Fig. 95, D) persists all through
winter and thus helps us to recognize this tree.
2. The edge of the leaf lobed.
i. Oaks. The bark of the older trees is rough; the fruit,
or acorn, is similar in all kinds of oaks, consisting
of a scaly cup and a leathery smooth berry or nut
containing the fleshy seed. There are three distinct
groups of oaks: the white oaks, red oaks (includ-
ing the so-called black oaks) and the live oaks. In
the different kinds of red and white oaks the leaves
vary considerably in size and shape; some are large
and much lobed, others small and almost or entirely
without lobes, so that a part of the oaks might well
be treated under another group.
The following scheme helps to separate the principal
groups of oaks.
(1) Leaves with bristlelike tips on their lobes, or at
their tips if entire: red oaks.
(a) Leaves large, much lobed: red, scarlet, black,
and Spanish oaks (Fig. 94, A).
(6) Leaves broad, little lobed: black jack and
water oaks.
(c) Leaves mostly entire, narrow, pointed, bristle-
tipped: willow, laurel, and shingle oak
(Fig. 94, C).
Cc
Fig. 94. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate,
but Lobed Leaves
A, red oak; B, white oak; C, willow oak ; D, live oak (this latter really belongs
in the next group of trees, if classed by its leaves). (A, C, and D after
Dippel; B from Britton and Brown’s “Illustrated Flora of the United
States and Canada’’)
; 249
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
(2) Leaves large, lobed, the tip of the lobes rounded
and not pointed or bristle-tipped : white, bur,
and post oak (Fig. 94, B).
(3) Leaves crenate or toothed, resembling those of
chestnut: chestnut oaks, including the cow oak
(Fig. 95, A).
(4) Leaves small, rounded, leathery, and evergreen: live
oaks (Fig. 94, .D). Really belonging to group 3.
j. Tulip or Yellow Poplar. A rough-barked tree with a
leaf so peculiar in shape (Fig. 95, C) that it is
never mistaken for any other. The flower resembles
a tulip, is green and yellow; the fruit is a cone
which persists all through winter.
k. Sweet or Red Gum. Trees with long-stalked, five-
lobed, finely toothed leaves and rough, long-stalked
little balls for fruit. The fruit persists a long time
after ripening, so that it may be seen all winter
(Fig. 95, D).
1. Sassafras. Trees with large entire edged leaves, most
of which have one large lobe, giving them some-
what the shape of a mitten, while some leaves
have two lobes and some have none. Fruit a blue
berry ripening in summer (Fig. 95, B).
3. The edge of the leaf neither lobed nor toothed.
m. Magnolias, including the Cucumber Tree. Leaves very
large (often more than twelve inches long); flowers
large and showy; fruit a soft-scaled cone (Fig. 96, 4).
n. Tupelo; Black or Sour Gums. Trees of the swamps,
chiefly of the South, with bluish or blackish berries,
each containing a stone or pit. In the cotton gum,
or large tupelo, some of the leaves have one or a
few irregularly disposed notches (Fig. 96, B).
~~ Tan”
Fie. 95. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate,
but Lobed Leaves
A, chinquapin oak; B, sassafras; C, tulip poplar: cones persist all winter; D,
sweet gum: fruit persists. (A after Dippel; B, C, and D from Britton and
Brown’s “ Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada ’’)
251
Fie. 96. Leaves Simple, Alternate, but with Entire Edge,
and Trees with Opposite Leaves
A, magnolia; B, tupelo, or sour gum; C, catalpa: leaves with edges entire, fruit
a long pod; D, sugar maple: leaves lobed, fruit two-pronged, winged. (From
Britton and Brown’s “Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada *’)
252
:
——
——— ————
Fic. 97. Compound Leaves, but Alternate
A, honey locust: with large thorns and large pods; B, black locust (Robinia) :
small pods and thorns; C, butternut; D, hickory. (A, B, and C from Britton
and Brown’s “Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada”’; D after
Dippel)
253
254 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
B. Leaves opposite or in pairs.
a. Maples. Rough-barked trees, with five-lobed, notched
or toothed leaves, and a peculiarly shaped winged
twin-fruit, which is so persistent that it may serve
in most cases to identify the tree (Fig. 96, D).
b. Catalpa or Indian Bean. Leaves large, entire (occa-
sionally three-lobed); flowers in large clusters, very
showy; fruit a long (twelve inches and more)
brown pod, resembling that of the bean (Fig. 96, C).
II. Leaves compound, or made up of several leaflets.
A. Leaf feather-shaped, the leaflets arranged on two sides of
a straight stem (Fig. 97, A).
1. Leaves alternate.
a. The edge of the leaflets entire, 7.e., not toothed.
Locusts (Fig. 97, A and B). Of these, the honey
locust has large thorns and broad brown pods six
to ten inches long; and the dlack locust, or Robinia,
has practically no thorns, and small pods two to
three inches in length.
b. The edge of the leaflets toothed.
Walnuts and Hickories, including Pecan. In the
walnut, black walnut, and white walnut, or butter-
nut, there are usually thirteen to twenty-three leaf-
lets to one leaf and the husk of the nut does not
split open along definite lines; in the hickories,
including the pecan, the husk opens along well-
defined lines and the number of leaflets varies
usually from five to nine, being nine to fifteen only
in the pecan and water hickory (Fig. 97, C and D).
\
Fig. 98. Compound Leaves,
Opposite
A, box elder: fruit of maple; B, white
ash: the fruit persists all through
winter; compound leaves, palmate ;
C, buckeye, or horse-chestnut. (From
Britton and Brown’s “Illustrated
Flora of the United States and
Canada ’’)
256 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
2. Leaves opposite.
a. Ashes. Rough-barked trees, with the leaflets of their
leaves entire or toothed and the singularly shaped
winged fruit in persistent clusters (Fig. 98, B).
b. Box Elder. This tree is really one of the maples,
has a typical maple fruit which clings to the twigs
all through winter, but has a compound leaf, con-
sisting of three to five, toothed or notched leaflets
(Fig. 98, A).
B. The compound leaf palmate, its leaflets arranged like the
fingers of the hand.
Buckeye or Horse-Chestnut, well illustrated by the
common European horse-chestnut, whose large buds
and large, smooth chestnut-brown nut inside of a
prickly bur are familiar to every one (Fig. 108 C).
How TO USE THE Kry
It is early fall; the leaves are still on our broad-leaved
trees. Here is a tree; what may be its name? Let us
get atwig and examine it. It has simple, toothed leaves ;
they are alternate (not in pairs), there is no fruit, the bark
of the tree is dark and rough, the twigs are tough. Let
us glance over our Key.
Evidently it belongs to the broad-leaved trees, and to
the first group under I, A, 1.
Were it beech, chestnut, sycamore, basswood, or birch,
we should find some fruit on or under the tree.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH TREES 257
For poplar the bark is too dark, the twigs too dark and
tough; so it must be either cherry or elm. Let us cut
into the bark and taste its inner part. Evidently it has
no cherry-seed taste, and moreover the bark is not scaly.
Hence we conclude it to be an elm.
It is late in the fall, the leaves are largely shed, but
there is no snow on the ground. Here is a rough-barked
tree, and we would like to know its name.
There are a few small bean pods clinging to some of
its twigs, the tree is not thorny, and on the ground we
find some compound leaves. Looking over our Key, we
note that we have only two kinds of trees with bean-pod-
like fruits, —the catalpa and the locusts.
Having evidently had compound leaves, we decide it
to be a locust, and since the pods are small and the
tree is not beset with large thorns, it must be a black
locust. |
Here is a cone-bearing tree. The needle-shaped leaves
are in bundles, five leaves in one sheath. From our Key
we see that this evergreen is evidently a pine, and that it
belongs to the white pines.
Here is a small evergreen with scalelike leaves; the
bark is “ stringy,” but there is no fruit either on or under
the tree. Let us cut off one of the larger limbs; the
wood is reddish in the inner or heartwood portion. Going
over our Key, we place it at once among the cedars; and,
finding a red heartwood in this small gnarly tree, we
258 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
conclude it to be a red cedar, whose berries have been
eaten by the birds so that we could not find any fruit.
In this way some practice will soon enable us to tell
our common trees with ease, and we shall then be better
prepared to learn how these different trees behave and what
they need. Having gained this enjoyable familiarity with
our friends, we are able to learn for ourselves what is
required to make them produce the largest amount of the
most valuable material in the shortest time and at the
least expense.
INCHES IN
DIAMETER
10
ati!
12
13
14
o
S®ESSSESBSRBNSEREBRESSCRUGS
APPENDIX I
THE DOYLE-SCRIBNER LOG SCALE
12 FEET | 14 FEET | 16 FEET|| INCHES IN | 12 FEET |} 14 FEET | 16 FEET
LONG LONG DIAMETER LONG LONG LONG
32 36 36 768 896 1024
43 49 37 817 953 1089
56 64 38 867 1011 1156
71 81 39 910 1070 1225
88 100 40 972 1134 1296
106 121 41 1027 1198 1869
126 144 42 1083 1264 1444
148 169 43 1141 1331 1521
171 196 44 1200 1400 1600
197 225 45 1261 1471 1681
224 256 46 1323 1544 1764
253 289 47 1387 1618 1849
283 824 48 1452 1694 1936
313 359 49 1519 1772 2025
850 400 50 1587 1850 2116
386 441 51 1657 1933 2209
423 484 52 1728 2016 23804
463 530 53 1801 2101 2401
504 576 54 1875 2187 2500
547 625 55 1951 2276 2601
591 676 56 2028 2366 2704
638 729 57 2107 2458 2809
686 784 58 2187 2551 2916
736 841 59 2269 2647 3025
787 900 60 2352 2744 3136
841 961
ExaAmMP_LeE: If the log is 22 inches in diameter at the smaller end and is 14 feet long,
look for 22 inches under Diameter, and you will see in the column under 14 feet 283,
which is the number of board feet in this log.
If the log is 18 feet long, it contains }# as much as a 12-foot log.
Logs 24 feet and over should be measured every 16 feet, or fraction thereof. This
is not generally done, but neglect to do so causes much inaccuracy.
259
APPENDIX II
TABLE OF CIRCLES
Incues iy | AREA IN |! trowes my | AREAIN || cues ov | Spas
DIAMETER geen DIAMETER | ese DIAMETER | iecle s
|
2 0.022 26 | 3.68 50 13.63
4 0.087 28 4.27 52 14.74
6 0.196 30 4.90 54 15.90
8 0.349 32 | (5.58 56 | 17.10
10 0.545 34 6.30 58 ; 18.34
12 0.785 36 7.06 60 | 19.63
14 1.069 38 7.87 62 20.96
16 1.396 40 8.72 64 22.34
18 Lita ||| 42 9.62 66 23.75
20 2.181 || 44 10.55 68 25.22
22 2.639 || 46 | 11.54 70 26.72
24 3.141 s | ites || me 9 | 286r
260
APPENDIX III
LIST OF THE MORE’ IMPORTANT WOODS AND TREES OF
THE UNITED STATES
{Arranged alphabetically]
A.—CONIFEROUS WOODS
Woods of simple and uniform structure, generally light and soft, but
stiff; abundant in suitable dimensions and forming by far the greatest
part of all the lumber used.
CEDAR. — Light, soft, stiff, not strong, of fine texture; sap and heart
wood distinct, the former lighter, the latter a dull grayish brown, or
red. The wood seasons rapidly, shrinks and checks but little, and is
very durable. Used like soft pine, but owing to its great durability
preferred for shingles, etc. Small sizes used for posts, ties, ete. Cedars
usually occur scattered, but they form, in certain localities, forests of
considerable extent.
a, White cedars. — Heartwood a light grayish brown.
Tue ArRBorR VIT#S AND INCENSE CEDAR
1. Waite cepar (Thuja occidentalis) (arbor vite): Scattered along
streams and lakes, frequently covering extensive swamps; rarely
large enough for lumber, but commonly used for posts, ties, ete.
Maine to Minnesota and northward.
2. CANOE CEDAR (Thuja gigantea) (usually called red cedar in the
West): In Oregon and Washington a very large tree, covering
1 Since almost all kinds of woods are used for fuel and charcoal, and in the construction
of fences, sheds, barns, etc., the enumeration of these uses has been omitted in this list.
261
262
6.
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
extensive areas; in the mountains smaller, skirting the water
courses ; an important lumber tree. Washington to northern
California and eastward to Montana.
3. WHITE CEDAR (Libocedrus decurrens) (incense cedar) : A large tree,
abundantly scattered among pine and fir; wood fine grained.
Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains of Oregon and California.
THe WuHite Cepars Proper
4, WHITE CEDAR (Chamecyparis thyoides) (often called juniper):
Medium-sized tree; wood very light and soft. Along the coast
from Maine to Mississippi.
5. WHITE CEDAR (Chamecyparis lawsoniana) (Port Orford cedar,
Oregon cedar, Lawson’s cypress, ginger pine): A very large tree,
extensively cut for lumber; heavier and stronger than the pre-
ceding. Along the coast line of Oregon.
6. YELLOW or ALASKA CEDAR (Chamecyparis nootkatensis): Medium-
to large-sized tree. Mountains of Washington, coast from Puget
Sound northwards.
Red cedars. — Heartwood red.
1. RED CEDAR (Juniperus virginiana) (Savin juniper): Similar to
white cedar, but of somewhat finer texture. Used in cabinet-
work, in cooperage, for veneers, and especially for lead pencils,
for which purpose alone several million feet are cut each year. A
small- to medium-sized tree scattered through the forests, or, in
the West, sparsely covering extensive areas (cedar brakes). The
red cedar is the most widely distributed conifer of the United
States, occurring from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from
Florida to Minnesota, but attains a suitable size for lumber only
in the Southern, and more especially the Gulf States.
2. REDWOOD (Sequoia sempervirens): Wood in its quality and uses
like white cedar; the narrow sapwood whitish; the heartwood
light red, soon turning to brownish red when exposed. A very
large tree, limited to the coast ranges of California, and forming
considerable forests, which are rapidly being converted into
lumber. ;
APPENDIX. III 263
CYPRESS.
Cypress (Tarodium distichun) (bald cypress; black, white, and red
cypress): Wood in appearance, quality, and uses similar to white
cedar. “Black cypress” and “ white cypress” are dark and light
forms of the same species. The cypress is a large deciduous tree,
occupying much of the swamp and overflow land along the coast
and rivers of the Southern States.
FIR. — This name is frequently applied to wood and to trees which are
not fir; most commonly to spruce, but also, especially in English
markets, to pine. It resembles spruce, but is easily distinguished from
it, as well as from pine and larch, by the absence of resin ducts.
Quality, uses, and habits similar to spruce. The trees furnishing this
wood are generally called balsams.
1. Bausam (Abies balsamea) : A medium-sized tree, scattered throughout
the northern pineries ; cut, in lumber operations whenever of
sufficient size, and sold with pine or spruce. Minnesota to Maine
and northward.
2. BALSAM Or WHITE FIR (Abies grandis and Abies concolor): Medium-
to very large-sized tree, forming an important part of some of the
western mountain forests. The former occurs from Vancouver
to central California and eastward to Montana; the latter from
Oregon to Arizona and eastward to Colorado and New Mexico.
3. MounTAIN BALSAM (Abies amabilis) : Good-sized tree, often forming
extensive mountain forests. Cascade Mountains of Washington
and Oregon.
4. BALSAM or WHITE FIR (Abies nobilis) (sometimes called red fir; not
to be confounded with Douglas fir or red fir): Large to very large
tree; occurs with A. amabilis in the forests on the slope of the
mountains between three thousand and four thousand feet eleva-
tion. Cascade Mountains of Oregon.
5. BALSAM or WHITE FIR (Abies magnifica): Very large tree, in forests
about the base of Mount Shasta. Sierra Nevada Mountains of
California, from Mount Shasta southward.
HEMLOCK. — Light to medium weight, soft, stiff but brittle, commonly
crossgrained, rough, and splintery; sapwood and heartwood not well
264 FIRST BOOK’ OF FORESTRY
defined; the wood of a light reddish gray color, free from rosin ducts,
moderately durable, shrinks and warps considerably, wears rough,
retains nails firmly. Used principally for dimension stuff and timbers.
Hemlocks are medium- to large-sized trees, commonly scattered among
broad-leaved trees and conifers, but often forming forests of almost
pure growth.
1. HEMLOCK (Tsuga canadensis): medium-sized tree; furnishes almost
all the hemlock of the eastern market. Maine to Wisconsin;
also following the Alleghenies southward to Georgia and Alabama.
2. HEMLOCK (Tsuga mertensiana): Large-sized tree; wood claimed to
be heavier and harder than the eastern form and of superior
quality. Washington to California and eastward to Montana.
LARCH or TAMARACK. — Wood similar to hard pine in appearance,
quality, and uses, and, owing to its durability, used in shipbuilding,
and for telegraph poles and railroad ties. Our eastern tamarack is not
fully appreciated; the western form is used extensively as ordinary
lumber. In its structure it resembles spruce. The larches are decidu-
ous trees, occasionally covering considerable areas, but usually scattered
among other conifers.
1. Tamarack (Lariz laricina) (hackmatack): Medium-sized tree,
often covering swamps. Maine to Minnesota, and southward to
Pennsylvania.
2. TaMARACK (Lariz occidentalis) : Large-sized trees, scattered, locally
abundant. Washington and Oregon to Montana.
PINE. — Very variable, very light and soft in “soft” pine, such as white
pine; of medium weight to heavy, and quite hard in “ hard” pine, of
which longleaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stiff,
very strong, of even texture, and more or less resinous. The sapwood
is yellowish white; the heartwood, orange brown. Pine shrinks
moderately, seasons rapidly and without much injury ; it works easily ;
is never too hard to nail (unlike oak or hickory); it is mostly quite
durable and, if well seasoned, is not subject to the attacks of boring
insects. The heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is,
and the more it shrinks and checks. Pine is used more extensively
than any other kind of wood. It is the principal wood in common
APPENDIX III 265
carpentry, as well as in all heavy construction, — bridges, trestles, etc.
It is also used in almost every other wood industry: for spars, masts,
planks, and timbers in shipbuilding, in car and wagon construction,
in cooperage, for crates and boxes, in furniture work, for toys and
patterns, railway ties, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually
large trees with few branches, the straight, cylindrical, useful stem
forming by far the greatest part of the tree; they occur gregariously,
forming vast forests, a fact which greatly facilitates their exploitation.
Of the many special terms applied to pine as lumber, denoting some-
times differences in quality, the following deserve attention :
«“ White pine,” “pumpkin pine,” “ soft pine,” in the eastern markets
refer to the wood of the white pine (Pinus strobus); on the
Pacific coast to that of the sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), and in
the northern Rockies to the white pine (Pinus monticola).
“Yellow pine” is applied in the trade to all the southern lumber
pines; in the Northeast it is also applied to the pitch pine (Pinus
rigida) ; in the West it refers mostly to Pinus ponderosa.
«“ Yellow longleaf pine,” “Georgia pine,” chiefly used in advertise-
ment, refers to longleaf pine (Pinus palustris).
“Hard pine” is a common term in carpentry, and applies to every-
thing except white pine.
“Pitch pine” includes all southern pines and also the true pitch pine
(Pinus rigida), but is mostly applied, especially in foreign markets,
to the wood of the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris).
a. Soft pines.
1. Wut PINE (Pinus strobus): Large- to very large-sized tree ; for
the last fifty years the most important timber tree of the Union,
furnishing the best quality of soft pine. Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Michigan, New England, and along the Alleghenies to Georgia.
2. SUGAR PINE (Pinus lambertiana) : A very large important lumber
tree. Oregon and California.
3. WHITE PINE (Pinus monticola): A large tree, at home in Montana,
Idaho, and the Pacific States.
4. WHITE PINE (Pinus flevilis): A small tree, scattered in the
mountain forests of the eastern Rocky Mountain slopes, Mon-
tana to New Mexico.
266 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
6. Hard pines.
1. LONGLEAF PINE (Pinus palustris) (Georgia pine, yellow pine, long
straw pine, etc.): Large tree; forms extensive forests and fur-
nishes the hardest and strongest pine lumber in the market.
Coast region from North Carolina to Texas.
2. YELLOW PINE (Pinus ponderosa): Medium- to very large-sized
tree, forming extensive forests in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain
regions; furnishes most of the hard pine of the West; sapwood
wide ; wood very variable.
3. LOBLOLLY PINE (Pinus teda) (shortleaf pine, old field pine, rose-
mary pine, sap pine, etc.): Large-sized tree, forms extensive
forests ; wider ringed, coarser, lighter, softer, with more sapwood
than the longleaf pine, but the two often confounded. This is
the common lumber pine from Virginia to South Carolina, and
is found extensively in Arkansas and Texas. Southern States
and Virginia to Texas and Arkansas.
4. Norway PINE (Pinus resinosa) : Large-sized tree, usually scattered
or in small groves, together with white pine; largely sapwood
and hence not durable. Minnesota to Michigan, also New
England to Pennsylvania.
5. SHORTLEAF PINE (Pinus echinata) (North Carolina pine, yellow
pine, etc.): Resembles loblolly pine; often approaches in its
wood the Norway pine. The common lumber pine of Missouri
and Arkansas. North Carolina to Texas and Missouri.
6. CUBAN PINE (Pinus cubensis) (slash pine): Resembles longleaf
pine, but commonly has wider sapwood and coarser grain; does
not enter the markets to any greatextent. Along the coast from
South Carolina to Louisiana.
7. BULL PINE (Pinus jeffreyi) (black pine): Large-sized tree, tree
and wood resembling yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) ; used locally
in California, replacing Pinus ponderosa at high altitudes.
The following are small- to medium-sized pines known generally as
jack pines, not commonly offered as lumber in the market; used locally
for timber, ties, etc. :
8. JACK PINE (Pinus murrayana) (lodge-pole pine, black pine, white
pine, tamarack): Rocky Mountains and Pacific regions.
APPENDIX III 267
9. PitcH PINE (Pinus rigida): Along the coast from New York to
Georgia and along the mountains to Kentucky.
10. ScRUB, JACK, or JERSEY PINE (Pinus virginiana) (scrub pine): As
before.
11. Jack PINE (Pinus divaricata) (scrub pine): Maine, Vermont, and
Michigan to Minnesota.
REDWOOD. (See CEDAR.)
SPRUCE. — Resembles soft pine, is light, soft, stiff, moderately strong, less
resinous than pine; has no distinct heartwood, and is of whitish color.
Used like soft pine, but also employed as resonance wood and preferred
for paper pulp. Spruces, like pines, form extensive forests; they are
more frugal, thrive on thinner soils, and bear more shade, but usually
require a more humid and colder climate.
1. Rep or BLACK SPRUCE (Picea mariana): Medium-sized tree ; forms
extensive forests in northeastern United States and in British
America; occurs scattered or in groves, especially in low lands
throughout the northern pineries. Important lumber tree in
eastern United States. Maine to Minnesota, British America,
and on the Alleghenies to North Carolina.
2. WHITE sPRUCE (Picea canadensis): Generally associated with the
preceding; grows largest in Montana and forms the most impor-
tant tree of the subarctic forest of British America. Northern
United States, from Maine to Minnesota, also from Montana to
Pacific, British America.
3. WHITE SPRUCE (Picea engelmanni) : Medium- to large-sized tree,
forming extensive forests at elevations from five thousand to ten
thousand feet above sea level; resembles the preceding, but occu-
pies a different station. The common spruce of the Rocky Moun-
tains and Cascades.
4. TIDE-LAND sPRUCE (Picea sitchensis): A large-sized tree, common
in the coast-belt forest. Along the seacoast from Alaska to
central California.
RED FIR or DOUGLAS SPRUCE. — Spruce or fir in name, but resembling
hard pine or larch in the appearance, quality, and uses of its wood.
268 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Rep FIR (Pseudotsuga douglasii) (yellow fir, Oregon pine, Douglas
spruce): The most important tree of the western United States ;
grows very large in the Pacific States, to fair size in all parts of
the mountains, in Colorado up to about ten thousand feet above sea
level; forms extensive forests, often of pure growth. Wood very
variable, usually coarse grained and heavy, with very pronounced
summer wood, hard and strong (“red”’ fir), but often fine grained
and lighter (“ yellow” fir). It replaces hard pine and is especially
suited to heavy construction. From the plains to the Pacific Ocean
and from Mexico to British America.
TAMARACK. (See LARCH.)
YEW. — Wood heavy, hard, extremely stiff and strong, of fine texture,
with a pale yellow sapwood, and an orange red heart; seasons well, and is
quite durable. Yew is extensively used for archery, bows, turner’s ware,
etc. The yews form no forests, but occur scattered with other conifers.
Yew (Taxus brevifolia): A small- to medium-sized tree of the Pacific
region.
B. —BROAD-LEAVED WOODS (Harpwoops)
Woods of complex and very variable structure and therefore differing
widely in quality, behavior, and consequently in applicability to the arts.
ASH. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, stiff, quite tough, not durable in con-
tact with soil, straight grained, rough on the split surface, and coarse in
texture. The wood shrinks moderately, seasons with little injury, and
stands well. In carpentry ash is used for finishing lumber, stairways,
panels, etc.; it is used in shipbuilding, in the construction of cars,
wagons, carriages, etc., in the manufacture of farm implements,
machinery, and especially of furniture of all kinds, and also for har-
ness work; for barrels, baskets, oars, tool handles, hoops, clothespins,
and toys. The trees of the several species of ash are rapid growers, of
small to medium height, with stout trunks; they form no forests, but
occur scattered in almost all our broad-leaved forests.
1. WHITE asu (Fraxinus americana): Medium-, sometimes large-sized
tree. Basin of the Ohio, but found from Maine to Minnesota and
Texas,
APPENDIX III 269
2. Rep Asu (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) : Small-sized tree. North Atlantic
States, but extends to the Mississippi.
3. Buack AsuH (Frazinus nigra) (hoop ash, ground ash) : Medium-sized
tree, very common. Maine to Minnesota, and southward to
Virginia and Arkansas.
4. BLure asu (Fraxinus quadrangulata): Small- to medium-sized.
Indiana and Illinois; occurs from Michigan to Minnesota and
southward to Alabama.
5. GREEN ASH (Frazinus lanceolata) : Small-sized tree. New York to
the Rocky Mountains, and southward to Florida and Arizona.
6. OrEGON AsH (Fraxinus oregana): Medium-sized tree. Western
Washington to California.
ASPEN. (See Poplar.)
BASSWOOD.
1. Basswoop (Tilia americana) (lime tree, American linden, lin, bee
tree): Wood light, soft, stiff but not strong, of fine texture, and
white to light brown color. The wood shrinks considerably in
drying, works and stands well; it is used in carpentry, in the
manufacture of furniture and wooden ware, both turned and carved,
in cooperage, for toys, also for paneling of car and carriage bodies.
Medium- to large-sized tree, common in all northern broad-leaved
forests; found throughout the eastern United States.
2. WHITE BASSwoop (Tilia heterophylla): A small-sized tree, most
abundant in the Allegheny region.
BEECH.
Brerecu (Fagus americana): Wood heavy, hard, stiff, strong, of rather
coarse texture, white to light brown, not durable in the ground,
and subject to the inroads of boring insects ; it shrinks and checks
considerably in drying, works well and wears smooth. Used for
furniture, in turnery, for handles, plane stocks, lasts, ete. Abroad
it is very extensively employed by the carpenter, millwright, and
wagon maker, in turnery as well as wood carving. The beech is
a medium-sized tree, common, sometimes forming forest; most
abundant in the Ohio and Mississippi basin, but found from
Maine to Wisconsin and southward to Florida.
270 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
BIRCH. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture; sapwood whitish,
heartwood in shades of brown with red and yellow; very handsome,
with satiny luster, equaling cherry. The wood shrinks considerably in
drying, works and stands well, and takes a good polish, but is not
durable if exposed. Birch is used for finishing lumber in building,
in the manufacture of furniture, in wood turnery for spools, boxes,
wooden shoes, etc., for shoe lasts and pegs, for wagon hubs, ox yokes,
etc., also in wood carving. The birches are medium-sized trees, form
extensive forests northward, and occur scattered in most of the broad-
leaved forests of the eastern United States.
1. CHERRY BIRCH (Betula lenta) (black birch, sweet birch, mahogany
birch): Medium-sized tree; not common. Maine to Michigan
and to Tennessee.
2. YeELLow BrircH (Betula lutea) (gray birch): Medium-sized tree;
the common birch of the market. Maine to Minnesota and south-
ward to Tennessee.
3. Rep sBircH (Betula nigra) (river birch): Small- to medium-sized
tree; very common; lighter and less valuable than the preceding.
New England to Texas and Missouri.
4, WHITE or PAPER BIRCH (Betula papyrifera): Generally a small tree ;
common, forming forests; wood of good quality but lighter. All
along the northern boundary of United States and northward, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific.
BLACK WALNUT. (See WALNUT.)
BLUE BEECH.
BLUE BEECH (Carpinus caroliniana) (hornbeam, water beech, iron-
wood): Wood very heavy, hard, strong, very stiff, of rather fine
texture and white color; not durable in the ground; shrinks and
checks greatly, but works and stands well. Used chiefly in
turnery for tool handles, ete. Abroad much used by millwrights
and wheelwrights. A small tree, largest in the Southwest, but
found in nearly all parts of the eastern United States.
BOIS D’ARC. (See OSAGE ORANGE.)
BUCKEYE — HORSE-CHESTNUT. — Wood light, soft, not strong, often
quite tough, of fine and uniform texture and creamy white color. It
APPENDIX III 271
shrinks considerably, but works and stands well. Used for wooden ware,
artificial limbs, paper pulp, and locally also for building lumber. Small-
sized trees, scattered.
1. Onto BUCKEYE (/Esculus glabra) (fetid buckeye): Alleghenies,
Pennsylvania to Indian Territory.
2. SWEET BUCKEYE (-Zsculus octandra): Alleghenies, Pennsylvania to
Texas.
BUTTERNUT.
Burrernvut (Juglans cinerea) (white walnut): Wood very similar to
black walnut, but of light brown color. Used chiefly for finishing
lumber, cabinetwork, and cooperage. Medium-sized tree, largest
and most common in the Ohio basin; Maine to Minnesota and
southward to Georgia and Alabama.
CATALPA.
CaTALPA (Catalpa speciosa): Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle,
durable, of coarse texture and brown color; used for ties and
posts, but well suited for a great variety of uses. Medium-sized
tree; lower basin of the Ohio River, locallycommon. Extensively
planted, and therefore promising to become of some importance.
CHERRY.
CHERRY (Prunus serotina): Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture ;
sapwood yellowish white, heartwood reddish to brown. The wood
shrinks considerably in drying, works and stands well, takes a
good polish, and is much esteemed for its beauty. Cherry is
chiefly used as a decorative finishing lumber for buildings, cars,
and boats, also for furniture and in turnery. It is becoming too
costly for many purposes for which it is naturally well suited.
The lumber-furnishing cherry of this country, the wild black
cherry (Prunus serotina), is a small- to medium-sized tree, scattered
through many of the broad-leaved woods of the eastern United
States. Other species of this genus as well as the hawthorns
(Crategus) and wild apple (Pyrus) are not commonly offered in
the market. Their wood is of the same character as cherry, often
even finer, but in small dimensions.
aie FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
CHESTNUT.
1. CHEstTNUT (Castanea dentata): Wood light, moderately soft, stiff,
not strong, of coarse texture ; the sapwood light, the heartwood
darker brown. It shrinks and checks considerably in drying, works
easily, stands well, and is very durable. Used in cabinetwork,
cooperage, for railway ties, telegraph poles, and locally in heavy
construction. Medium- to large-sized tree, very common in the
Alleghenies, occurs from Maine to Michigan and southward to
Alabama.
2. CHINQUAPIN (Castanea pumila): A small-sized tree, with wood
slightly heavier but otherwise similar to the preceding; most
common in Arkansas, but with nearly the same range as the
chestnut.
3. CHINQUAPIN (Castanopsis chrysophylla): A medium-sized tree of the
western ranges of California and Oregon.
COFFEE TREE.
COFFEE TREE (Gymnocladus dioica) (coffee nut): Wood heavy, hard,
strong, very stiff, of coarse texture, durable ; the sapwood yellow,
the heartwood reddish brown; shrinks and checks considerably in
drying; works and stands well and takes a good polish. It is
used to a limited extent in cabinetwork. A medium- to large-
sized tree; notcommon. Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Arkansas.
COTTONWOOD. (See PopLar.)
CUCUMBER TREE. (See TULIP.)
ELM. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, very tough; moderately durable in
contact with the soil; commonly crossgrained, difficult to split and
shape, warps and checks considerably in drying, but stands well if
properly handled. The broad sapwood whitish, heart brown, both
with shades of gray and red; on split surface rough; texture coarse
to fine; capable of high polish. Used in the construction of cars,
wagons, etc., in boat and ship building, for agricultural implements and
machinery; in rough cooperage, saddlery and harness work, but par-
ticularly in the manufacture of all kinds of furniture, where the
beautiful figures, especially those of the tangential or bastard section,
are just beginning to be duly appreciated. The elms are medium- to
a
APPENDIX III Zila
large-sized trees, of fairly rapid growth, with stout trunk, form no
forests of pure growth, but are found scattered in all the broad-leaved
woods of our country, sometimes forming a considerable portion of the
arboreal growth.
1. Waite ELM (Ulmus americana) (American elm, waterelm) : Medium-
to large-sized tree, common. Maine to Minnesota and southward
to Florida and Texas.
2. Rock ELM (U/mus racemosa) (cork elm, hickory elm, white elm, cliff
elm): Medium- to large-sized tree. Michigan, Ohio, from Ver-
mont to Iowa and southward to Kentucky.
3. Rep ex~m (Ulmus fulva) (slippery elm, moose elm): Small-sized tree,
found chiefly along water courses. New York to Minnesota and
southward to Florida and Texas.
4. Cepar ELM (Ulmus crassifolia): Small-sized tree, quite common,
Arkansas and Texas.
5. WinGED ELM (Ulmus alata) (wahoo): Small-sized tree, locally quite
common. Arkansas, Missouri, and eastward to Virginia.
GUM. — This general term refers to two kinds of wood usually distinguished
as sweet or red gum, and sour, black, or tupelo gum, the former being
a relative of the witch-hazel, the latter belonging to the dogwood
family.
1. Tureto (Nyssa sylvatica) (sour gum, black gum) : Wood heavy, hard,
strong, tough, of fine texture, frequently crossgrained, of yellowish
or grayish white color, hard to split and work, troublesome in
seasoning, warps and checks considerably, and is not durable if
exposed ; used for wagon hubs, wooden ware, handles, wooden
shoes, etc. Medium- to large-sized trees, with straight, clear
trunks; locally quite abundant, but never forming forests of pure
growth. Maine to Michigan and southward to Florida and
Texas.
2. TurpELo Gum (Nyssa aquatica) (cotton gum): Lower Mississippi
basin, northward to Illinois and eastward to Virginia, otherwise
like preceding species.
3. Sweet GuM (Liquidambar styraciflua) (red gum, liquidambar, bilsted) :
Wood of medium weight, rather soft, quite stiff and strong, tough,
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Ne
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ue
commonly crossgrained, of fine texture ; the broad sapwood whitish,
the heartwood reddish brown; the wood shrinks and warps con-
siderably, but does not check badly, stands well when fully seasoned,
and takes good polish. Used in carpentry, in the manufacture of
furniture, for cut veneer, for wooden plates, plaques, baskets, etc.,
also for wagon hubs, hat blocks, etc. A large-sized tree, very
abundant, often the principal tree in the swampy parts of the
bottoms of the lower Mississippi valley; occurs from New York
to Texas and from Indiana to Florida.
HACKBERRY.
HACKBERRY (Celtis occidentalis) (sugar berry): The handsome wood
heavy, hard, strong, quite tough, of moderately fine texture, and
greenish or yellowish white color ; shrinks moderately, works well,
and takes a good polish. So far but little used in the manufacture
of furniture. Medium- to large-sized tree, locally quite common,
largest in the lower Mississippi valley. Occurs in nearly all parts
of the eastern United States.
HICKORY. — Wood very heavy, hard, and strong, proverbially tough, of
rather coarse texture, smooth and of straight grain. The broad sap-
wood white, the heart reddish nut-brown. It dries slowly, shrinks and
checks considerably ; is not durable in the ground or if exposed, and,
especially the sapwood, is always subject to the inroads of boring insects.
Hickory excels as carriage and wagon stock, but is also extensively used
in the manufacture of implements and machinery, for tool handles,
timber pins, for harness work, and cooperage. The hickories are tall
trees with slender stems, never form forests, occasionally small groves,
but usually occur scattered among other broad-leaved trees in suitable
localities. The following species all contribute more or less to the
hickory of the markets:
1. SHAGBARK HICKORY (Hicoria ovata) (shellbark hickory) : A medium-
to large-sized tree, quite common; the favorite among hickories.
Best developed in the Ohio and Mississippi basins; from Lake
Ontario to Texas and west to Minnesota.
2. Mocker Nut HIcKorRY (Hicoria alba) (black hickory, bull and black
nut, big bud, and white-heart hickory): A medium- to large-sized
APPENDIX ILI 210
tree, with the same range as the foregoing; common, especially in
the South.
3. Pianut nickory (Hicoria glabra) (brown hickory, black hickory,
switch-bud hickory) : Medium- to large-sized tree, abundant. All
eastern United States.
4. BrrTeR NUT HICKORY (Hicoria minima) (swamp hickory) : A medium-
sized tree, favoring wet localities, with the same range as the
preceding.
5. Pecan (Hicoria pecan) (Illinois nut): A large tree, very common
in the fertile bottoms of the western streams. Indiana _ to
Nebraska and southward to Louisiana and Texas.
HOLLY.
Ho.ty (llex opaca): Wood of medium weight, hard, strong, tough, of
fine texture and white color; works and stands well. Used for
cabinetwork and turnery. A small tree. Most abundant in the
lower Mississippi valley Gulf States, but occurring eastward to
Massachusetts and north to Indiana.
HORSE-CHESTNUT. (See BuCKEYE.)
IRONWOOD. (See BLUE BEECH.)
LOCUST. — This name applies to both of the following:
1. Brack Locust (Robinia pseudacacia) (yellow locust): Wood very
heavy, hard, strong, and tough, of coarse texture, very durable in
contact with the soil, shrinks considerably and suffers in season-
ing; the very narrow sapwood yellowish, the heartwood brown,
with shades of red and green. Used for wagon hubs, tree nails
or pins, but especially for ties, posts, ete. Abroad it is much used
for furniture and farm implements and also in turnery. Small-
to medium-sized tree. At home in the Alleghenies; extensively
planted, especially in the West.
2. Honey Locust (Gleditschia triacanthos) (sweet locust, three-thorned
acacia): Wood heavy, hard, strong, tough, of coarse texture, sus-
ceptible of a good polish, the narrow sapwood yellow, the heart-
wood brownish red. So far, but little appreciated except for
fencing and fuel; used to some extent for wagon hubs and in
276 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
rough construction. A medium-sized tree. Found from Pennsyl-
vania to Nebraska and southward to Florida and Texas ; locally
quite abundant.
MAGNOLIA. (See TuLip.)
MAPLE. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, stiff, and tough, of fine texture, fre-
quently wavy grained, this giving rise to “curly ” and “ blister” figures ;
not durable in the ground or otherwise exposed. Maple is creamy
white, with shades of light brown in the heart; shrinks moderately,
seasons, works and stands well, wears smoothly, and takes a fine polish.
Used for ceiling, flooring, paneling, stairway, and other finishing
lumber in house, ship, and car construction; also for the keels of boats
and ships, in the manufacture of implements and machinery, but espe-
cially for furniture, where entire chamber sets of maple rival those of
oak. Maple is also used for shoe lasts and other form blocks, for shoe
pegs, for piano actions, school apparatus, for wood type in show-bill
printing, tool handles, in wood carving, turnery, and scroll work. The
maples are medium-sized trees, of fairly rapid growth ; sometimes form
forests and frequently constitute a large proportion of the arboreal growth.
1. SUGAR MAPLE (Acer saccharum) (hard maple, rock maple): Medium-
to large-sized tree, very common, forms considerable forests.
Maine to Minnesota and southward to northern Florida; most
abundant in the region of the Great Lakes.
2. RED MAPLE (Acer rubrum) (swamp or water maple) : Medium-sized
tree; like the preceding, but scattered along water courses and
other moist localities.
3. SILVER MAPLE (Acer saccharinum) (soft maple, silver maple):
Medium-sized, common; wood lighter, softer, inferior to hard
maple. Valley of the Ohio, but occurs from Maine to Dakota
and southward to Florida.
4. BROAD-LEAVED MAPLE (Acer macrophyllum): Medium-sized tree,
forms considerable forests, and like the preceding has a lighter,
softer, and less valuable wood. Pacific coast.
MULBERRY.
RED MULBERRY (Morus rubra): Wood moderately heavy, hard, strong,
rather tough, of coarse texture, durable; sapwood whitish, heart
APPENDIX LI 277
yellow to orange brown; shrinks and checks considerably in
drying. Used in cooperage and locally in shipbuilding and in
the manufacture of farm implements. A small-sized tree, common
in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, but widely distributed in the
eastern United States.
OAK. — Wood very variable, usually very heavy and hard, very strong and
tough, porous, and of coarse texture; the sapwood whitish, the heart
“oak” brown to reddish brown. It shrinks and checks badly, giving
trouble in seasoning, but stands well, and is little subject to attacks
of insects. Used for many purposes: in shipbuilding, for heavy
construction, in common carpentry, in furniture, car, and wagon work,
cooperage, turnery, and even in wood carving; also in the manufacture
of all kinds of farm implements, wooden mill machinery, for piles and
wharves, railway ties, etc. The oaks are medium- to large-sized trees,
forming the predominant part of a large portion of our broad-leaved
forests, so that these are generally “oak forests,” though they always
contain a considerable proportion of other kinds of trees. The wood
of three well-marked kinds, white, red, and live oak, are distin-
guished and kept separate in the market. Of the two principal kinds
white oak is the stronger, tougher, less porous, and more durable.
Red oak is usually of coarser texture, more porous, often brittle, less
durable, and even more troublesome in seasoning than white oak. In
carpentry and furniture work red oak brings about the same price
at present as white oak. In the forest the red oaks everywhere
accompany the white oaks, and, like the latter, are usually represented
by several species in any given locality. Live oak, once largely
employed in shipbuilding, possesses all the good qualities (except that
of size) of white oak, even to a greater degree. It is one of the
heaviest, hardest, and most durable building timbers of this country;
in structure it resembles the red oaks, but is much less porous.
1. Waite OAK (Quercus alba): Medium- to large-sized tree. Common
throughout the eastern United States.
2. Bur OAK (Quercus macrocarpa) (mossy-cup oak, over-cup oak) :
Locally abundant, common. Bottoms west of Mississippi; range
farther west than preceding.
278
10.
1B ke
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
lf;
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
. SWAMP WHITE OAK (Quercus platanoides): Most abundant in the
Lake States, but with range as in white oak.
. YELLOW OAK (Quercus prinoides) (chestnut oak, chinquapin oak):
Southern Alleghenies and eastward to Massachusetts.
. BAsKET OAK (Quercus michauxii) (cow oak): Locally abundant.
Lower Mississippi and eastward to Delaware.
. Over-cup OAK (Quercus lyrata) (swamp white oak, swam ost
¥ p ;
oak): Rather restricted; ranges as in the preceding.
. Post 0Ak (Quercus minor) (iron oak): Texas to New England and
northward to Michigan.
. Waite OAK (Quercus durandii): Medium- to small-sized tree.
Texas, eastward to Alabama.
. WHITE OAK (Quercus garryana): Medium-sized tree. Washington
to California.
White o0AKk (Quercus lobata): Medium-sized tree; largest oak on
the Pacific coast. California.
Rep OAK (Quercus rubra) (black oak): Medium- to large-sized tree ;
common in all parts of its range. Maine to Minnesota and south-
ward to the Gulf.
Biack OAK (Quercus velutina) (yellow oak): Very common in the
Southern States, but occurring north as far as Minnesota and
eastward to Maine.
SPANISH OAK (Quercus digitata) (red oak): Common in the South
Atlantic and Gulf region, but found from Texas to New York
and northward to Missouri and Kentucky.
SCARLET OAK (Quercus coccinea): Best developed in the lower
basin of the Ohio, but found from Maine to Missouri, and from
Minnesota to Florida.
Pin 0oAK (Quercus palustris) (swamp Spanish oak, water oak):
Common along borders of streams and swamps. Arkansas to
Wisconsin and eastward to the Alleghenies.
WILLow 0Ak (Quercus phellos) (peach oak): New York to Texas
and northward to Kentucky.
WaTeER OAK (Quercus nigra) (duck oak, possum oak, punk oak):
Medium- to large-sized tree, of extremely rapid growth. Eastern
APPENDIX III 279
Gulf States, eastward to Delaware, and northward to Missouri
and Kentucky.
18. Live OAK (Quercus virginiana): Short- but heavy-bodied tree, scat-
tered along the coast from Virginia to Texas.
19. Live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) (maul oak, Valparaiso oak): Medium-
sized tree. California.
OSAGE ORANGE.
OSAGE ORANGE (Toxylon pomiferum) (bois d’arc): Wood very heavy,
exceedingly hard, strong, not tough, of moderately coarse texture,
and very durable ; sapwood yellow, heart brown on the end, yellow
on longitudinal faces, soon turning grayish brown if exposed; it
shrinks considerably in drying, but once dry it stands unusually
well. Formerly much used for wheel stock in the dry regions of
Texas; otherwise employed for posts, railway ties, etc. Seems too
little appreciated ; it is well suited for turned ware and especially
for wood carving. A small-sized tree, of fairly rapid growth.
Scattered through the rich bottoms of Arkansas and Texas.
PERSIMMON.
Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana): Wood very heavy and hard, strong
and tough; resembles hickory, but is of finer texture; the broad
sapwood cream color, the heart black. Used in turnery for shut-
tles, plane stocks, shoe lasts, etc. Small-sized tree. Common
and best developed in the lower Ohio valley, but occurs from New
York to Texas and Missouri.
POPLAR and COTTONWOOD (see also TuLir woop).— Wood light, very
soft, not strong, of fine texture and whitish, grayish to yellowish color,
usually with a satiny luster. The wood shrinks moderately (some
crossgrained forms warp excessively), but checks little ; is easily worked,
but is not durable. Used as building and furniture lumber, in cooper-
age for sugar and flour barrels, for crates and boxes (especially cracker
boxes), for wooden ware and paper pulp.
1. Corronwoop (Populus deltoides) : Large-sized tree; forms consider-
able forests along many of the western streams, and furnishes most
of the cottonwood of the market. New England to the Rocky
Mountains; most abundant in the Mississippi valley.
280 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
2. BALSAM POPLAR (Populus halsamifera) (balm of Gilead): Medium-
to large-sized tree. Common all along the northern boundary of
the United States.
3. BLACK COTTONWOOD (Populus trichocarpa): The largest deciduous
tree of Washington; very common. Northern Rocky Mountains
and Pacific region.
4. Corronwoop (Populus fremontii var. wislizeni) : Medium- to large-
sized tree, common. ‘Texas to California.
5. PopLtar (Populus grandidentata) (large-toothed aspen): Medium-
sized tree, chiefly used for pulp. Maine to Minnesota and south-
ward along the Alleghenies.
6. AsPEN (Populus tremuloides): Small- to medium-sized tree, often form-
ing extensive forests and covering burned areas. Maine to Washing-
ton, south in the western mountains to California and New Mexico.
RED GUM. (See Gum.)
SASSAFRAS.
SassAFRAS (Sassafras sassafras): Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle,
of coarse texture, durable; sapwood yellow, heart orange brown.
Used in cooperage, for skiffs, fencing, etc. Medium-sized tree,
largest in the lower Mississippi valley. From New England to
‘Texas and from Michigan to Florida.
SOUR GUM. (See Guo.)
SWEET GUM. (See Guo.)
SYCAMORE.
1. Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) (buttonwood, buttonball tree, water
beech): Wood moderately heavy, quite hard, stiff, strong, tough,
usually crossgrained, of coarse texture, and white to light brown
color; the wood is hard to split and work, shrinks moderately,
warps and checks considerably, but stands well. Used extensively
for drawers, backs, bottoms, etc., in cabinetwork, for tobacco boxes,
in cooperage, and also for finishing lumber, for which it has too
long been underrated. A large tree, of rapid growth. Common
and largest in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, at home in nearly
all parts of the eastern United States. (The California species).
2. Platanus racemosa, resembles in its wood the eastern form,
APPENDIX III 281
TULIP WOOD.
1. Tuxip TREE (Liriodendron tulipifera) (yellow poplar, whitewood) :
Wood quite variable in weight, usually light, soft, stiff but not
strong, of fine texture, and yellowish color; the wood shrinks
considerably, but seasons without much injury; works and stands
remarkably well. Used for siding, for paneling and finishing
lumber in house, car, and ship building, for sideboards and panels
of wagons and carriages; also in the manufacture of furniture,
implements, and machinery, for pump logs, and almost every
kind of common wooden ware, boxes, shelving, drawers, ete. An
ideal wood for the carver and toy man. A large tree, forming
forests, best developed in the Ohio basin. Occurs from New
England to Missouri and southward to Florida.
2. CUCUMBER TREE (Magnolia acuminata) : A medium-sized tree resem-
bling, and probably confounded with, tulip wood in the markets.
Most common in the southern Alleghenies, but distributed from
New York to Arkansas, southward to Alabama and northward to
Illinois.
TUPELO. (See Guo.)
WALNUT. :
BLACK WALNUT (Juglans nigra): Wood heavy, hard, strong, of coarse
texture; the narrow sapwood whitish, the heartwood chocolate
brown. The wood shrinks moderately in drying, works and
stands well, takes a good polish, is quite handsome, and has
been for a long time the favorite cabinet wood in this country.
Walnut, formerly used even for fencing, has become too costly for
ordinary uses, and is to-day employed largely as a veneer, for
inside finish and cabinetwork; also in turnery, for gunstocks,
ete. Black walnut is a large tree, with stout trunk, of rapid
growth, and was formerly quite abundant, especially in the Ohio
valley. Occurs from New England to Texas and from Michigan
to Florida.
WHITE WALNUT. (See BuTTeRNvT.)
WHITEWOOD. (See Tuvir, and also BAasswoon.)
YELLOW POPLAR. (See TuLir.)
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INDEX
Acid, wood, 142; factory, 142.
Age of trees and how to read it, 8.
Animals, protection against larger
ones, 150; grazing animals, 131,
178; game animals, 180; see
Insects, 115.
Annual or yearly rings in wood, 217.
Artificial method of starting a young
growth by seeding and planting,
76; use of this method in our coun-
try, 76; in Europe, 76; advantages
of method, 77; nursery work,
78; gathering and care of seed,
79; seedlings, 85; planting, 87;
artificial sowing of tree seeds in
the woods, 90 ; starting of willows,
poplars (cottonwoods, etc.), from
cuttings, 92; planting
should be done, 92; method criti-
cised, 93; objections, 93; where
where
it pays and how it pays, 94.
Ash, how to distinguish, 256; the
wood, different kinds and where
they grow, 268.
Aspen, see Poplar, 246, 279.
Balsam, how to distinguish the trees,
244; the wood, 263 ; distribution,
263; different kinds, 263.
28°
Bark beetles, 120.
Basswood, how to distinguish, 246 ;
the wood, different kinds
where they occur, 269.
and
Beech, how to distinguish, 246; its
wood and its uses, 269.
Birch, how to distinguish the tree,
246 ; the wood, the different kinds
and their distribution, 270.
Bird’s-eye structure in wood, 226.
Black walnut, see Walnut, 254, 281.
Blazes on trees, how they heal and
what they tell, 10.
Blue beech, 270.
Bois d’arc, see Osage orange, 279.
Border of the woods, 1.
Broad-leaved trees, see Hardwoods,
246.
Buckeye, in the Key to different
kinds, 256; its wood and occur-
rence, 270.
Burn, a tract of burned-over forest
land, see Fire, 104.
Business of the forest,182 ; simple for
small wood lot, increases in com-
plexity with size, 183; requires
survey, mapping, description ; this
leads to forest management; the
employment of men leads to forest
284
administration, 183; an orderly
business requires forest regula-
tion, 184.
Butternut, in Key, 254; in list of
woods, 271.
Canopy of the woods, 1.
Care and protection of the forest,
97; need for this care, 97 ; thin-
ning and cleaning, 98; see Pro-
tection, 104.
Catalpa, in Key, 254; in list of
woods and trees, 271.
Caterpillars, see Insects, 115.
Cedar, how to distinguish, 244;
wood of, 261; different kinds in
United States, 261.
Cellulose, see Pulp, 142.
Cherry, in Key to trees, 248; in list
of woods, 271.
Chestnut, how to distinguish, 246 ;
the wood, different kinds and
where they grow, 272.
Circles, table of, 260.
Cleaning of trees; how trees clean
themselves of limbs, 16; shade
required; helped by crowding;
usefulness of cleaning, 17.
Climate, as modified by forest, 207 ;
as modifying the trees and for-
ests, see Temperature, 32; and
moisture, 24.
Coffee tree, 272.
Cold, see Temperature, 52.
Conifers, growth in height (leaders),
17; are frugal, 20; in swamps,
28; in cold regions, 34; cover the
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
mountains, 38; not suited to
coppice, 48; yield more log mate-
rial than hardwoods, 64, 171;
yield in cords per acre, 74; conif-
erous seeds, 80; sowing in seed
bed, 82; seedlings, their growth,
85; number of trees per acre in
well-stocked woods, 102; more
prone to fire, 104; logging of
conifers, see Lumbering and Uses
of wood; coniferous lumber, 150;
195;
coniferous forests, 210; how to
distinguish, 240; wood and its
uses, different kinds and their
distributions, 261.
Contents of trees (in lumbering),
165.
Cooperage stock, kinds of timber
used, how gotten out, 149.
Coppice woods, 45; what trees are
suited, 46; yield of woods, 46;
poor stumps, 47; how to cut the
for prairie planting, our
stumps in coppice, 47; tan-bark
coppice, 50; rotation in coppice,
50; standard coppice, 52.
Cord as legal measure, 136.
Cord wood, see Firewood, 136.
Creosote from wood, 144.
Crowding, helps to clean trees of
limbs, 16.
Cruising, in timber, 165.
Curly structure in wood, 226.
Cuttings of willow and poplar, 79.
Cypress, 29; knees, 31; how to dis-
tinguish, 244 ; its wood and where
it grows, 263.
INDEX 285
Diffuse-porous woods, 222.
Dominant trees, 2.
Doyle rule (scale rule), 173; table
of, 259.
Durability of woods, 250.
Elm, how to distinguish, 246; the
wood, the different kinds and
their distribution, 272.
Erosion or washing of the earth and
how it is modified by the vegeta-
ble cover, 203.
Estimating and measuring timber,
164; cruising, 165; contents of
trees, 165; covering the entire
forty, 167; calculations of vol-
ume, 168; arrangement of note-
book, 169; factor of shape (or
taper), 170.
Export timber, 147.
Fir, red fir, how to distinguish,
244; its wood, 267; white fir or
balsam, see Balsam, 244, 263.
Fire in forests, the greatest enemy,
104; large fires in our times and
country, 105; behavior of fires,
106; degree of destruction, 106;
how it starts, 108; a proper camp
fire, 108; how to fight fires, 108 ;
trenching and back fires, 110;
fire lines, 110.
Firewood, 136;
weight, 138.
Forest, as a protective cover, 203 ;
measure, 156;
how the water acts, how it is
stored in the earth, and how it
washes the layer in which it
should be stored, 203; run-off on
surface and underground, 204;
how the forest modifies erosion,
206; effect on climate, 207;
experience abroad and in our
country, 208; weeds and how they
are killed, 4; reserves, 213.
Forestry, general, 41; what it is,
41-45.
Forests of our country, 209; general
description and division, 209;
our hardwood forests, 212; our
eastern belts of conifers, 212;
amounts still left, 213; ownership
of our forests, 215 ; forest reserves,
213; state reserves and parks,
214.
Frost,
against, 112.
Fungi, their usefulness in the woods
injures trees; protection
and their destructiveness, 12;
how the fungus acts, 230.
Game and fish, 180; benefit from,
number should be controlled;
feed for game, care of game,
180.
German forests and forestry, 216.
Grain in wood, 224.
Grazing in woods, 131, 178.
Growth of trees, in height as seen
from leaders, 18; of seedlings and
sprouts, 17.
Gum, how to distinguish, 250; the
wood and its uses; different kinds
and their distribution, 273.
286
Hackberry, 274.
Hardwoods, in ordinary wildwoods,
1; require a loam or clay soil, 18;
require a milder climate, 35; do
not endure high altitudes, 38; in
coppice, 46; in timber forest, 53 ;
yield less log material than coni-
fers, 64; seeds, 79; in nursery, 80;
seedlings, 85; sowing in forest,
92; more resistant to fire, 112;
hardwood lumber, 158; hardwood
forests of the United States, 210;
how to distinguish different
kinds, 246; the wood and its
use, the different kinds and their
distribution, 268.
Heartwood, see Wood, 217.
Heat and cold, see Temperature, 52.
Hemlock, how to distinguish the
tree, 242; its wood, the different
kinds and their distribution, 263.
Hickory, how to distinguish, 254;
the wood, different kinds and
where found, 274.
History, a few notes on the history
of forestry, 214; ancients appre-
ciated forests, 214; old forests in
Switzerland, 215; bad effects of
deforestation in France, 216 ; Teu-
tonic nations early lovers of the
forests, forests of Germany, 216.
Holly, 275.
Ice, injurious to trees, protection
against, 112.
Insects, injurious and helpful to for-
est,115 ; damage in the past, 116;
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
how they accomplish great dam-
age, 117 ; different kinds of injury
by insects, 118; the bark beetle
and his work, 120; how to ward
off and fight the bark beetle, 121 ;
“trap trees,’ 122; moths and their
larve, 124; what caterpillars do,
126;
pillars, 126; enemies of the inju-
protection against cater-
rious insects, 128; the ichneumon
fly and its work, 129 ; diseases help
out in most insect calamities, 129.
Intolerant trees, 4.
Iron and wood compared, 232.
Key to our common trees, 240; how
to use the Key, 256.
Knots, in trees, 9; in timber, struc-
ture of, 226.
Larch or tamarack, how to tell it,
240; different kinds
and where they grow, 264.
Leaders of pine, etc., growth of, 18.
Leaf beetle, see Insects, 119.
Light and shade, 14; too much light
encourages weeds and shrubs, 15 ;
its wood,
struggle for light, 16; a lack of
light stunts but also cleans trees
of limbs, 16.
Limbs, how shed; leading to knot
holes and decay, 9.
List of important woods and trees
in the United States, 261.
Lumber, 150; general term, 150;
sizes and measurement, 150; rift
and bastard, 151-153; grading
INDEX
of lumber, 152; quantities used
in our country, 152; how logged
and lumbered, 153; white-pine
lumber, 154; hard pine, longleaf,
pitch pine, 154;
155; spruce, 155 ;
fir, cypress, 156; hemlock, hard-
woods, 158; advantage to carpen-
ter and consumer of having stock
sizes, 159; carpenter’s lumber, 160.
Lumbering, 133, 166; tools, 137;
skidding, 138; scaling, 139; the
landing, 141; “rolling in,” 143;
lumbering compared with farmer’s
use of woods, 61; lumbering not
forestry, 41; lumbering the big
tree, 157 ; lumbering cypress, 159 ;
cooperative lumbering, 162.
Lumberman, his method compared
with that of farmer, 61.
yellow pine,
redwood, red
Maple, how to distinguish the trees,
254; the wood and its uses, dif-
ferent kinds and where they
occur, 276.
Measuring timber, 164; measuring
diameter and height, 171, 172;
measuring logs (scaling timber),
L72.
Methods of reproduction, coppice
or by sprouts, 45; by selection or
picking over, 58; by starting the
young growth under seed trees,
64; by natural seeding from the
side,71; by artificial seeding and
planting, 76; methods compared,
95; table of comparison, 96.
Mining timber, 147.
Mistletoe, 133.
Moisture, its effect on woods, 24;
' transition from moist to dry dis-
tricts, 24; lack of moisture leads
to simple and stunted forests, 27 ;
flooding may kill
some trees are used to water, 28;
timber, 27;
swamp woods, 28; moist air fa-
vors tree growth, 30.
Moth and caterpillar, see Insects, 115.
Mountains, the forests of high moun-
tains become simpler upwards,
38; conifers prevail at high alti-
tude, 38; extreme height stunts
and finally prevents tree growth,
40.
Mulberry, 276.
Naval stores, industry of, see Resin
and turpentine, 174.
Non-porous woods, 222.
Nursery work, gathering seed, 79 ;
care of seeds, 80; seed beds, 82;
sowing in seed bed, 82; quality of
seeds, 84; yield of plants, 85;
seedlings, 85; protection of, by
screens, etc., 87; planting, 87;
planting tools, 89; on prairies,
89; shipment of plants, 89 ; spring
and fall planting, 90.
Oak, how to distinguish oaks, 248 ;
the wood and its many
the different kinds and their dis-
uses,
9 whed
tribution, 277.
Osage orange, 279.
288
Parks, state parks, 214.
Pasturage in forests, 178; damage
by browsing and_ trampling,
178; where
it should be
where practiced,
advisable, where
forbidden, 179.
Persimmon, 279.
Physical properties of wood, 227.
Pine, white pine, yellow pine, etc.,
as lumber, 154; how to distin-
guish pine, 240; list of different
pines and description of their
wood, 264.
Pith rays in woods, 222.
Plantations of trees on prairies, 195;
much has been accomplished, 197;
kinds raised and_ success, - 196,
197.
Planting, see Nursery work, 87;
tools, 89; on prairies, 89; diffi-
culties, 89; spring and fall plant-
ing, 90.
Poles and piling, 146.
Poplars and cottonwood, in the
Key, 246; in the list of woods
and kinds, 279.
Pores in wood, 219.
Posts, 144.
Prairie plantations, see Plantations,
195.
Protection of forest, 97; against
fire, 104; against storms, frost,
snow, and ice, 112; against
insects, 115; against larger ani-
mals, 130; against grazing ani-
131;
plants, 131.
mals, against injurious
FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Protective forests, 203.
Pulp, wood pulp, how made, 140.
Pulp wood, 140; kinds, sizes, and
qualities, 140.
Red fir, see Fir, 244, 267.
Related topics, or matters akin to
forestry, 205.
Reproduction of the forest, in wild-
woods, 2; in coppice, 45; in
ordinary 58;
under seed trees, 64; by natural
seeding from the side, 71; by
selection woods,
artificial seeding and planting, 76.
Ring-porous woods, 222.
Resin and turpentine, 174; method
of bleeding or tapping, 174;
yield, 176.
Rotation, 50.
Run-off, surface and underground,
204.
Sand dunes, 198; where we have
198;
how reclaimed, 201.
them, what injury, 200;
Saplings, 16.
Sapwood, see Wood, 217.
Sassafras, 280.
Seale insect, 121.
Scaling timber, see Measuring, 172.
Second-growth wood, 138.
Seed beds, see Nursery, 82.
Seeding from the side, method of
reproducing the forest, 71; how
nature has done this in our coun-
try, 71; how the timber should
be cut, 72; width of strips, 73;
INDEX
guarding against damage from
storm, 72; regulation of work
where large tracts are handled,
73; yield that may be expected,
74; what trees can be used, 75;
experience in Europe with this
system, 75; where it may be
used with us, 76.
Seedlings, growth of, 17; in seed
bed, 85.
Seeds of trees, 6; their care, 79;
seed and mast as useful product,
LY.
Selection forest, 58.
Selection method,
method, 60.
Shade,
vents reproduction, 2; excessive
shade kills, 16; helps to clean
trees, 16; tolerance of shade, 4.
Ship timber, 148.
Shrinkage of wood, 228.
Sihlwald, a forest under proper care
for one thousand years, 215.
58; an old
prevents weeds and _ pre-
Site is a combination of soil, mois-
ture, temperature (climate), and
other conditions which affect the
growth of trees, 46.
Slash, a piece of forest land strewn
with the tops, limbs, and other
débris of
more or less burned, 43.
Snow, injury from and protection
against, 112.
Soil, its effect on the woods, 18;
loam and clay soils produce mixed
hardwoods, 11;
lumbering ; usually
sands produce
stands of conifers, 20;
20; what the
forest does for the soil, 23.
pure
* hummock ’’ soil,
Special kinds of forests, 184; the
wood lot, 184; waste lands, 194;
prairie plantations, 195; sand
dunes, 198.
Spiral grain in wood, 225.
Spring wood, 218.
Sprouts from stumps grow faster
than seedlings, 17.
Spruce, how to distinguish, 242 ;
different kinds,
where they grow, 267; as lum-
ber, 155.
Stand of timber, mature stand and
mixed stand, 2; pure stand, 20.
Standard, 52.
Standard coppice, see Coppice, 52.
the wood, the
Storms, injury of, and protection
against, 112.
Strength of wood, 229.
Strip method, see Seeding from the
side, 71.
Sugar bush, 54, 185, 187, 189.
Summer wood, 218.
Suppressed trees, 2.
Swiss forestry, historic note of, 215.
Sycamore, how to distinguish the
trees, 248; the wood and the
distribution of the trees, 280,
Systems of forestry, see Methods ot
reproduction.
Tables, of Doyle rule, 259; of cir-
cles, 260.
Tamarack, see Larch, 240, 264.
290 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY
Tan bark, coppice for, 50; how got
out, 175.
Tar from wood, 177.
Temperature, how heat and cold
affect the woods, 32; cold cli-
mates produce simple woods and
trees of small size, 32; temper-
ate climates, more species, larger
size, 34; hot climates, different
species, great variety, 35; north
or cold side of hill (north expo-
sure) and high altitude act like
cold climates, 36; extreme cold
prevents tree growth, 37.
Thinning, in timber forest, 56;
thinning, in general, 98 ; which to
take out, 99; it costs money to
thin, 100; degree of thinning
decided, 100; about how many
trees to leave, 102 ; different kinds
need different degrees of thinning,
102, |
Timber cruising, 165.
Timber forest, of ordinary hard-
woods, 53; its border, 54; thin-
ning in, 56; method of treating,
58; kinds of trees to use, 59;
difficulties, 59; an old method,
60; system applied in United
States, 60; preferably handled
in an orderly way (regulated),
64.
Tolerant and intolerant trees, 4.
Tough wood, 229.
Trap trees, see Insects, 122.
Trees, how to distinguish the most
common ones, 238; feaves the
principal help, 259; key to com-
mon trees, 240; pine family, pine
and larch, 240; spruce, hemlock,
242; red fir, balsam, cypress,
cedars, and redwood, 244; broad-
leaved trees, beech, chestnut,
birch, poplar, elm, basswood, 246 ;
cherry, sycamore, oak, 248; tulip
or yellow poplar, sweet gum, sas-
safras, magnolia, sour gum, black
gum or tupelo, 250; maple,
catalpa, locust, walnut, hickory,
and pecan, 254; ash, box elder,
buckeye or horse-chestnut, 256 ;
how to use the Key, 256; list of
important trees of United States,
261
Tulip poplar or yellow poplar, 281.
Twisted grain in wood, 225.
Under seed trees, method of start-
ing young growth, 64; different
cuts, 65; when seed trees should
be removed, 66; what trees can
be started in this way, 66 ; where
the method is used, 66; where
it may be used in our country,
66; rotation in this system, 68;
how to pick out the cuttings or
felling area, 68; fail places should
be filled, 70; application to large
tracts, 71.
Use of the forest, 153; to primitive
man, 135; to human _ progress,
133; firewood, 136; tools used
in timber cutting, 137; pulp
wood, 140; acid wood, 142; posts
INDEX 291
(fence posts, etc.), 144; railway
ties, 145; poles and piling, 146;
mining timber, 147; export tim-
ber, 147; lumber, 150; estimat-
ing timber in lumbering, 164;
tan bark, 175; resin and turpen-
tine, 174; seeds and mast, 177;
pasturage, 178; game and _ fish,
180.
Walnut, black walnut and white
walnut, 254, 281.
Wastefulness of
woods, 11.
Waste lands, 193; where we have
nature in wild-
them, 193; how they have been
utilized and made to bear valu-
able crops, 194.
Weight of wood, 227.
Wildwoods, 1.
Wood, a chapter on wood, 217;
structural features, 217; sap and
heart wood, 217; the yearly or
217; spring and
218;
wood, 219; ring-porous, diffuse-
annual ring,
summer wood, pores in
porous, and non-porous woods,
222; pith rays, 222; grain of
wood, 224; straight and spiral
grain, 225
; bird’s-eye and curly
structure, 226;
knots in wood,
226; physical properties of wood,
227; weight of wood, 227; mois-
ture in wood, 227; shrinkage of
wood on drying, 228; checking
during shrinkage, 228; strength
of wood, 229; tough woods, 229 ;
chemical properties, 230; dura-
bility and decay of wood, 230.
Wood acid or wood vinegar, 142.
Wood and iron, a comparison of
the two, 232; wood is a natural
product, 232; wood is cheap and
soft, cleaves, is strong, 233 ; wood
is light, poor conductor of heat
and electricity, 254; wood is inof-
fensive and handsome, 235; wood
can be glued, wood burns and fur-
nishes heat, 236; wood can be
made into pulp and converted
into many useful substances, 237.
Wood lot, or small tracts usually
belonging to farms, 184; what
to raise, 188; a sugar bush, 189;
utilizing the timber, 190; actual
results obtained, 191.
Wood pulp, see Pulp wood, 140.
Yearly or annual ring, 217.
Yellow pine, see Lumber, 155.
Yellow poplar, see Tulip poplar, 250,
281.
Yew, its wood and where found, 268.
Yield or cut per acre that may be
expected in coppice, 46; in pine
timber, if fully stocked, 74; of
log timber in hardwood and coni-
fers, 64.
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