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BULLETIN 82 DECEMBER, 1908

Delaware College

Agricultural

Experiment Station

Report on

Forest Conditions in Delaware

AND

A Forest Policy for the State

BY

W. D.[STERRETT
Forest Assistant, Forest Service

1907

NEWARK, :;

Delaware College
Agricultural Experiment Station.

BOARD OF CONTROL.

THE AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEE.

GEO. G. KERR, Chairman Newark, Del.

DANIEL W. CORBIT Odessa, Del.

SAMUEL H. DERBY Woodside, Del.

SAMUEL H. MESSICK Bridgeville, Del.

MANLOVE HAYES Dover, Del.

STATION STAFF.

HARRY HAYWAED, M. S Director

CLINTON 0. HOUGHTON, B. A Entomologist

CHARLES F. DAWSON, M. D., D. V. S Veterinarian

CHARLES A. McCUE, B. S Horticulturist

MEL T. COOK, Ph. D Plant Pathologist

ARTHUR E. GRANTHAM, B. A., B. S. A .Agronomist

FIRMAN THOMPSON, B. S Chemist

LOTTIE W. BAKER Secretary

PERLE A. DUTTON Farm Superintendent

The Station bulletins are published quarterly, and distributed free
of expense to those who request same.

All communications should be addressed,

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION,

Newark, Delaware.

Practical Forestry is one of the most recent industries to be
brought to the attention of the farmer. Few, however, yet realize the
importance of caring systematically lor'the trees that form the wood
lot on nearly every farm, or of husbanding the timber tracts that it is
the privilege of a few land owners to possess.

It is for the purpose of emphasizing some of the most fundamental

principles that underlie. this increasingly important branch of farm

economy that the Forest 'Service of tne't/nited States Department of

Agriculture was asked to £o:Qperat-e in tlje preparation of this Bulletin.

'•'• '•''.'- ' •' •»•••' - • THE DIRECTOR.

Report on Forest Conditions in Delaware

AND A

Forest Policy for the State

BY W. D. STERRETT
Forest Assistant, Forest Service

INTRODUCTION.

The study of forest conditions in Delaware by the United States
Forest Service, resulting in this report, was brought about by Profes-
sor Hayward, Director of the Delaware Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion. Professor Hayward made application to the Forest Service No-
vember 26, 1906, for a co-operative forest study of the State, the ex-
pense of the work to be born jointly by the Service and the Station. It
was agreed that the work should consist of a careful examination of
existing forest conditions with the purpose of recommending practical
measures for the management of the various classes of woodland, and
of formulating a definite forest policy for the State. The Forest Ser-
vice commenced the work the middle of March, 1907, and the field
data, which form the basis of this report, were collected during the fol-
lowing two months by an officer of the Service.

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS.

The conclusions and recommendations based upon this study may
be summarized as follows :

1. Delaware is a State of farms, and most of the land is too valu-
able for agricultural purposes to be used for growing forests. How-
ever, a small woodlot is a necessary part of every well equipped farm,
no matter how valuable for farming purposes is the land already in
woods.

2. It is advisable in certain parts of Delaware to plant and main-
tain trees to serve as windbreaks and shelter-belts in localities devoid
of extensive wooded areas, where the country is practically all cleared
up and under cultivation.

3. The climate and soils of Delaware are uniformly well adapted
to extremely rapid tree growth.

4. The market for forest products is as favorable as can be found
anywhere in the United States, and is extremely conducive to care and
economy in forest management.

362617

4 BULLETIN No. 82.

5. Timber growing, with careful treatment, is a profitable propo-
sition anywhere in the State on lands not valued at more than $15 per
acre for agriculture.

6. Land well stocked with loblolly pine, one year old, will pay
five per cent compound interest on a valuation of $20 per acre for the
land and seedlings.

7. The woodlots situated on valuable farms should be made to
produce the highest possible amount of wood per acre. In order to
have fully stocked woodlots attention should be given to tree planting,
The woodlots, for the most part, are in bad condition and in much need
of attention in order to make them yield high returns. The present
haphazard method of cutting is poor economy.

8. The large areas of forest land, chiefly in Sussex County, could
be made to produce, through better management, much more timber
than is at present being grown.

9. Practically all land in Delaware is adaptable to farming. But
on cheaper and less desirable classes of land, as found in Sussex
County, it will frequently pay better to grow timber, especially if the
land is under proper forest management. It will often be best to prac-
tice intensive farming on small areas of the most valuable agricultural
land, and allow the rest to come up to forest.

10. Delaware should encourage the rational treatment of its for-
ests by private owners by taking action along the following lines :

a. By enacting adequate fire and trespass laws for the protection
of private forests, and by creating an equitable system of county tax-
ation for forest lands.

&. Provision should be made for lectures on forestry before farm-
ers' institutes and at the State College.

c. Provision should be made for expert examination of private
woodlands and advice as to proper methods of handling them at a
minimum cost to the owners.

d. A nursery should be established and maintained in connec-
tion with the Experiment Station, in order to provide tree seedlings
free of charge to those wishing to plant.

e. Provision should be made for experimental planting and for-
estry work, especially on lands belonging to the State or public institu-
tions, and for publishing the results of forest management in different
parts of the State.

11. There should be created a State Board of Forestry consist-
ing of seven members, including the Governor of the State, the Direc-

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 5

tor of the Experiment Station, the State Horticulturist, and the three
members and Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture; which
Board should serve without compensation, save for actual necessary
expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.

12. A State Forest should be created on the large area of beach
land owned by the State, and placed under the general supervision of
the State Board of Forestry. There is fine opportunity here for plant-
ing which would be a protective measure in the fixation of sand dunes,
and should also prove, in the long run, a good commercial proposition.
This area should form the basis for additional areas being set aside as
State Forests.

13. It is advised that the State buy land, if possible, for forest
reservation purposes at a price not to exceed $10 per acre, and in con-
tiguous holdings, of never less than 100 acres in extent and preferably
500.

14. It is advised that a technically trained forester be appointed,
as an adjunct to the staff at the Experiment Station and the State Col-
lege, to carry out the recommendations given under section 10 ; and to
administer private forests and all State Forests which may be created.

LOCATION AND AREA.

Delaware forms the eastern half of the northern part of the penin-
sula lying between the Chesapeake Bay on the west, and the Delaware
River, Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. It extends
about 100 miles north and south, and varies in width from 9 to 36
miles. It has an approximate area of 1,950 square miles of land sur-
face, or about 1,250,000 acres.

The State is divided into three counties, lying end to end in a row,
New Castle in the north, Kent in the center, and Sussex in the south.
The areas, and population of the counties, according to the 1900 cen-
sus, are as follows :

Area — Acres. County. Population.

277,760 New Castle 109,697

393,600 Kent 32,762

583,040 Sussex 42,27C

1,254,400 Total, 184,735

PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.

Delaware lies for the most part within the physiographic division
known as the Atlantic Coastal Plain, which has an elevation above sea

6 BULLETIN No. 82.

level of less than 100 feet, and has a flat to gently rolling topography.
The extreme northern part of the State lies in the Piedmont Plateau
Region, with an elevation varying between 100 and 438 feet above sea
level, and in general may be understood as that portion north of the
tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Newark to Wilmington and
Philadelphia. In the Coastal Plain the streams are tidal estuaries for
a considerable distance back from their mouths, and flow through a
flat country with a sluggish current, while in the Piedmont section the
streams have considerable current, and flow through deep and narrow
gorges which they have cut for themselves. The accompanying map
indicates how the State is drained by streams flowing eastward into the
Delaware River and Bay, and westward into the Chesapeake Bay,
crossing the eastern shore of Maryland. The Coastal Plain region in
the State was originally very poorly drained and a large part of it
formerly upland swamp which has been gradually drained and con-
verted into fertile agricultural land. The Coastal Plain is character-
ized by several extensive broad level stretches lying at different eleva-
tions above sea. The general elevation of different portions of the
State is indicated on the map. The Piedmont region may be consid-
ered as identical with the portion indicated as Archean formation on
the map, while the remaining part belongs to the Atlantic Coastal
Plain.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

GEOLOGICAL PERIODS AND PHYSIOGRAPHY
OF DELAWARE

P E N N S Y L V A N I A

NEOCENE
3 CRETACEOUS
ARCHEAN

O

feowick Light

8 BULLETIN No. 82^-

A •»

There are three geological epochs represented in the State —
Archean, Cretaceous, and Neocene. (See Map.) In Kent and Sussex
counties the superficial geology is entirely Neocene, while New Castle
County has the Archean formation in its northern part, Cretaceous
in the central portion, and Neocene in the southern. The Archean for-
mation is characterized by the occurrence of gneissic rocks and under-
lying crystalline schists ; the Cretaceous belt has beds of clays, shales,
and marls ; the Neocene formation is made up for the most part of
marls and clays, sands and gravels, and with no underlying or out-
cropping rock.

There is considerable variation in the character of the soil in dif-
ferent parts of the State. In the Piedmont section the soil is residual,
resulting from the weathering and decomposition of the underlying
schists and gneisses, and has been identified by the Bureau of Soils as
belonging to the Cecil series. It varies from a silt loam to a stiff clay,
and is deep to moderate in depth, and uniformly fertile and well-
drained. The soil in the Coastal Plain is a very deep alluvial soil, often
with poor underdrainage. In the Cretaceous belt the soil averages
heavier than in the Neocene formation, and southward it is increas-
ingly sandy. Throughout the whole State the soil is extremely favor-
able to rapid tree-growth.

CLIMATE.

The climate of Delaware is uniformly mild and equable, and suit-
able to a great variety of crops. The following table, taken from re-
ports of the Weather bureau for 1906, shows the normal temperature
and rainfall for northern, central, and southern Delaware.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

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10 BULLETIN No. 82.

The average date of the first killing frost in the fall is October 20,
and of the last in the spring April 17. In general the tidewater por-
tions of the State are more free from severe frosts and have longer
growing seasons than inland portions, owing to the modifying influ-
ence on the climate of proximity to large bodies of water. The climate
of the whole State is particularly well adapted to an extremely rapid
growth of trees, as the growing seasons are uniformly of long duration,
and the atmospheric moisture conditions very favorable.

FOREST STATISTICS.

The census estimates that in 1900 there were 700 square miles of
the State wooded, or 36 per cent of its total area. This is much too
high an estimate, as by far the greater part of the State is cleared and
under cultivation. The census figures for 1900 on areas included in
farms, which constitute 85 per cent of the total area of the State, are
as follows :

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

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12 BULLETIN No. 82.

None of the 70 per cent of improved land is wooded, and not all of
the 30 per cent unimproved can be classed as woodland. The value of
land has greatly advanced since 1900, and now it is nearly double what
it was then. There are considerable areas of cut-over forest land or
slightly improved land in southern Delaware which can be bought for
$5 to $15 an acre, on which timber growing could easily be made to
pay good interest.

The following statistics on the lumber industry in the State are
also taken from the census of 1900 :

Number of mills 76

Total capital invested $354,464

Total value of product 471,482

Total value of rough sawed lumber 395,828

72 per cent from pine and the rest from hardwoods.

Total amount of rough sawed lumber, 35,955 M board feet, 88 per
cent of which is pine and only 12 per cent hardwood, mostly oak.

Figures collected by the Forest Service and the Census Bureau, in
co-operation, show a total cut for Delaware in 1906 of 44,487,000 board
feet. This amount was divided among species as follows :

Board Feet.

Yellow pine 33,990,000

White pine 1,900,000

Oak 4,233,000

Maple 365,000

Cypress 56,000

Yellow poplar 25,000

Red gum 50,000

Chestnut 338,000

Cedar 251,000

Beech 326,000

Ash 3,000

Hickory 116,000

All other hardwoods 2,834,000

In proportion to its size, Delaware in 1900 cut more timber than
either Maryland or New Jersey, and in 1906 it actually cut more than
New Jersey. The timber is very closely utilized, and the average
amount of waste less than in New Jersey or Maryland, due to the fact
that forests everywhere in Delaware are very accessible, and also be-
cause better market conditions prevail than in the two States men-
tioned.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 13

To the above figures on the lumber industry should be added fig-
ures on the consumption of wood in the manufacture of pulp. There
are six pulp mills in the State which, in 1900, consumed 21,320 cords
of wood, mostly tulip poplar, which, calculated by board measure,
would amount to over 10 million feet. Probably about half of this
amount came from outside the State.

UTILIZATION OF FOREST PRODUCTS.

Delaware is a wood-importing, rather than a wood-exporting State,
as it consumes much more lumber than it manufactures. The high
prices for timber products, which have been reached recently, have
brought about clean and economic forest utilization, and there is now
very little waste material left in the woods after lumbering.

The following is a list of uses to which timber products in Dela-
ware are applied :

Saw-timber — very extensive use all over the State. Species used
chiefly oak, poplar, chestnut, and pine.

Cordwood — very extensive all over State. All species used.

Charcoal — slight, only in southeastern part of State ; spruce pine
used.

Railroad ties — extensive all over State ; principally white oak,
chestnut, and red oak used.

Poles — extensive throughout State; chestnut used almost exclu-
sively ; some little cedar and spruce pine, the latter very unsuccessful.

Pulp wood — slight, in northern part of State; poplar and sweet
gum.

Piles — extensive in Sussex County ; mostly pine, and some oak.

Shingles — slight in Sussex County; mostly pine.

Lath — slight in Sussex County ; pine used.

Staves — slight ; pine used.

Heading — extensive in Sussex County in basket factories; pine
and gum mostly used.

Veneer for fruit baskets — very extensive in Sussex County; gum
chiefly used, also maple.

Crating and boxes — very extensive in Sussex County; pine used
mostly, also gum.

Mine props — very extensive in Sussex County ; pine used mostly,
also oak.

Fencing — posts and rails, extensive all over State ; chestnut, oak,
heart pine, and locust used.

14 BULLETIN No. 82.

Ship knees — slight in Sussex County ; white oak used.

Wagon and carriage stock — slight ; only the very best hickory and
white oak used.

Bean poles — very small straight saplings of any species used, es^
pecially dogwood and hickory.

Most of the large trees cut are used for saw-timber, although
much good-sized stuff goes for mine props, railroad ties, piles, and poles.
The lumber manufactured is principally building material of all
kinds, dressed and rough, and is used almost entirely locally. Railroad
and bridge timbers also are largely manufactured.

Tops left after cutting large timber for sawlogs and other pur-
poses are almost always utilized for cord wood, and there is little or no
waste. Cordwood brings a good price everywhere in Delaware, and
the poorest kinds of wood material can be disposed of at a profit.

The prices given below indicate the excellent market for forest
products in the State.

Cordwood brings from 50 cents to $2 a cord on the stump, and
from $3 to $8 delivered, with an average price of $4 a cord.

The prices for railroad ties, delivered, are as follows : White oak
No. 1, 70 cents, and No. 2, 55 cents ; chestnut, and red oak No. 1, 55
cents, and No. 2, 42 cents. On the side branches of the railroad spruce
pine, maple, and beech ties are often taken, and at the same prices as
for red oak.

Old growth white oak stumpage brings $10 to $15 a thousand for
butt and second cuts for carriage stock, and old growth hickory
$20 to $30.

White oak railroad dimension stuff, four inches square and up,
and six feet or more in length, brings $25 a thousand delivered at the
railroad, and red oak $18.

Tulip poplar brings $4.50 a cord peeled and delivered at the rail-
road for pulp wood, and sweet gum $3.50 to $4.

Sweet gum, for basket veneer, brings $9 to $13 a cord delivered at
the factory, and soft maple in many places brings the same price. The
logs or short bolts must be at least 12 inches in diameter at the small
end.

Chestnut telephone and telegraph poles range in price from $1.25
to $10, according to the length, and must be cut, peeled, and delivered.
Poles over forty feet in length and seven inches diameter at the top
end bring $5 and up, while with decreasing length the price is lower.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 15

Pine brings $3 and oak $2.50 a ton, green, for mine props, deliv-
ered on cars. This amounts to about $12 a cord. The props are ship-
ped in long sticks which must be at least 17 feet in length and 8 inches
in diameter at the center.

Spruce pine for charcoal is worth 50 cents to $1 on the stump. It
is cheaper to haul charcoal than cordwood, and so where this pine oc-
curs a long distance from the market, it is cut for charcoal rather than
for cordwood.

The following are the local prices per thousand board feet for pine
boards delivered at the factories, or at railroad shipping points.

Boards f -inch thick —

Scrap boards, 3 to 6 inches wide .$11

6 to 9 " " 13 to 14

9 and over " 15 to 16

Boards 1 inch thick-
Common .... 14

No. 2 18

No. 1 (clear heart) 30

The common and lower grades of pine lumber are used almost en-
tirely in local box and crate factories, while the better grades are often
shipped.

Gum boards bring locally about the same price as pine, while tulip
poplar brings more. Pine, gum, and mixed framing bring $16 a thou-
sand locally at the mills.

The following were the wholesale selling prices per thousand feet
to the retail trade in Philadelphia, on June 1, 1907, for various kinds
of lumber which to some extent are produced in Delaware :

Chestnut, $20 to $50.

Poplar, $22.50 to $56.

White oak, quartered, $34 to $72 and up.

Oak, plain, red and white, $23 to $52.

N. C. pine, rough, $12 to $45.

N. C. pine, dressed, $18.25 to $49.75.

It pays to ship only the very best grades to the city, because of
high freight rates. The rate to Philadelphia from Sussex County is
from $1.50 to $2 a ton on lumber in single car lots, which amounts to
$2.25 to $4 a thousand for pine, and from $3 to $6 a thousand for hard-
wood. Only a very small per cent of the lumber manufactured in the
State is of a sufficiently high grade to make it more profitable to ship
to large city markets than to sell it locally, as the local prices, especially

16 BULLETIN No. 82.

for the common grades, are uniformly good, and the demand is greater
than the supply. Logs and lumber are commencing to be shipped
from Virginia and North Carolina to supply box factories in Dela-
ware.

The freight rates on cordwood from Sussex County to Philadel-
phia range from $1 to $1.50 a ton, which is equivalent to $1.50 to $2.50
a cord for pine, and from $2 to $3.50 a cord for hardwoods. Pine
brings $5 and oak $6 a cord wholesale in Philadelphia, and so it will
usually be more profitable to sell cordwood locally at $4 than to ship
to the city. Freight rates from Kent and New Castle counties to Phila-
delphia are lower than from Sussex, and cordwood and the lower
grades of lumber can more often be profitably shipped to city markets.

THE FORESTS OF DELAWARE.

Forest Regions.

There are three general forest regions distinguishable in Dela-
ware: (1) The Piedmont Plateau hardwood region, the outlines of
which are identical with that portion of the State indicated on the map
as belonging to the Archean geologic formation. About 15 per cent of
the area of this region is wooded, or some 11,000 acres. (2) The
Coastal Plain hardwood region extends south from the Piedmont
region to Felton, in the lower part of Kent County. About 20 per cent
of the area of this region is wooded, or some 95,000 acres. (3) The
Coastal Plain mixed pine and hardwood region comprises the whole of
Sussex and the southern third of Kent County. About 35 per cent of
the area of this region is wooded, or some 245,000 acres.

In the Piedmont region the forests consist almost entirely of wood-
lots less than 50 acres in extent, situated on steep slopes and along
water courses, in places difficult to cultivate. There are two general
types of forest in this region: one occurs along streams and in ravines
where the soil is uniformly moist, well drained and fertile; the other
occurs on slopes, more or less exposed, and with drier and less fertile
soil. The first has tulip poplar as the characteristic tree, and asso-
ciated with it are chestnut, white, pin and red oaks, red maple, white
ash, walnut, sweet and black gums, beech, basswood, and sycamore.
Tree growth in this type is extremely rapid and vigorous. The char-
acteristic tree of the slope type is chestnut with white, red and black
oaks, tulip poplar, hickory, and maple as the most common associates.
On steep and rocky slopes in the northern part of the region a chestnut
oak type sometimes occurs, with rock, or chestnut, oak as the prevailing

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 17

tree and with other oaks, hickory, and chestnut in mixture. Growth
on this latter type is much slower than on the usual slope type, of
which it is a variation.

In the Coastal Plain hardwood region there are a few tracts of
woodland over 100 acres in extent, but the forest occurs usually in
small woodlots of 20 acres or so in area. There are two general forest
types distinguishable in this region : one occurs on low, flat, wet land,
more or less swampy, and the other on better drained land with some
little variation in elevation and topography. Sweet gum is the char-
acteristic tree of the former type which is usually known as "gum
swamp," and red maple, tulip poplar, pin, willow, and cow oaks are
the most common associates, with often some white and red oak, and
chestnut in drier portions of the swamp. White, red and black oaks
are the characteristic trees found on the better drained sites which may
be called the "oak type;" other species occurring on this type include
hickory, chestnut, tulip poplar, sweet and black gum, red maple, and
black jack oak, with sassafras and dogwood as undergrowth. Dogwood
and blue beech are very common as undergrowth in the swamp type.

The mixed pine and hardwood region on the Coastal Plain has
nearly two and a half times the wooded area of the other two forest
regions combined and so, from a forestal standpoint, is the most im-
portant part of the State. The forest area of the region is about half
in large tracts over 100 acres in extent and half in smaller woodlots.
The soil averages much more sandy, and the land is poorer than in the
other regions, and for this reason a smaller per cent of the land is
under cultivation. Originally there was very little pine in the region
and the same types prevailed as in the Coastal hardwood region. Lum-
bering the forests and clearing the land for agriculture have greatly
increased the amount of pine and extended its range much farther
north. There are large areas of ' ' gum swamp, ' ' and also considerable
of the "oak type" in this region, in both of which more or less pine
often occurs in mixture with the hardwoods.

The most common pine type is a pure or nearly pure growth of
loblolly. Then there is loblolly pine mixed in various degrees with
hardwoods, chiefly oak, and with short-leaf and spruce pines. There
are also considerable areas of pure spruce pine in the northern and
western portions of the pine region.
New Castle County

About one-fourth of the county lies in the Piedmont Plateau re-
gion and the rest in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. There are slightly

18 BULLETIN No. 82.

over 40,000 acres of woodland in the county, the largest bodies of which
are on Chestnut and Iron Hills, and in the southwestern corner of the
county below the railroad branch which runs from Townsend, Dela-
ware, to Massey, Maryland. There is also a large area of woodland be-
tween Kirkwood and Glasgow around the sources of Belltown Run.
Each of the above areas forms several hundred acres of continuous for-
est, but outside of them there are no wooded tracts in the county over
100 acres in size, and nearly all the woodlots are less than 20 acres.

The forests of New Castle County are almost exclusively of hard-
woods, with only a very slight mixture of spruce pine in the southeast-
ern part, and with scattering red cedar throughout the county.

In the Piedmont region the wooded areas are located chiefly on
steep hillsides and slopes of streams, which cannot be conveniently cul-
tivated. The prevailing species are chestnut, red and white oak, tulip
poplar, and hickory. In passing from the Piedmont region to the
Coastal Plain there is a decrease in the occurrence of chestnut, tulip
poplar, and hickory, and an increasing amount of sweet gum and soft
maple. The steeper and better drained slopes of the Piedmont region
are adapted to poplar and chestnut, while the more level Coastal Plain
is highly suited to gum and maple.

Kent County

Kent County is about 25 per cent wooded, that is, there are nearly
100,000 acres of woodland. The portion east of the main line of the
Pennsylvania Railroad and north of Murderkill Creek, comprising
slightly over one-third the area of the county, is not more than 15 per
cent forested. The amount of woodland increases westward from the
railroad towards the Maryland line. Mispillion Hundred, in the south-
western corner of Kent, is the most heavily timbered portion of the
county, and is about 40 per cent wooded. In the northern half of the
county the forest is almost exclusively of hardwoods, but in the south-
ern half pine forms an important part of the forest. Throughout the
county, however, hardwoods are decidedly more important than pine,
although the latter is rapidly increasing in importance and amount in
the lower part of the county.

Sussex County

This county has upwards of 35 per cent of its area wooded, that is,
there are considerably over 200,000 acres of woodland. There are many
continuous bodies of woodland over 100 acres in extent, the largest of
which occur in Nanticoke, Georgetown, Dagsborough, and Gumborough

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 19

Hundreds, where there is much very light sandy land, and also con-
siderable undrained swamp land. There are considerable areas, es-
pecially where the land is sandy and poor, which were once cultivated
and subsequently abandoned after the freeing of slaves in the State.
Such areas almost always became seeded up to a thick growth of pure
pine, and these stands have become a great source of timber supply and
are of immense value. They are cut when 25 to 40 years old, and the
land is often again cleared for agriculture. There is now very little
old-field growth of any size which has not been cut over, but many
promising young stands are constantly springing up.

The forests of Sussex are composed, for the most part, of irregular
and uneven-aged stands both of pine and hardwoods. Although the
large areas of abandoned farm land have grown up mostly to regular,
even-aged stands of loblolly, yet these have since been extensively
culled, and, for the most part, existing stands which are uniform in age
and stock, are young and immature. Originally the forests of Sussex
County were almost exclusively of hardwoods, but by culling and clear-
ing them pine has gradually been established in every part of the
county, owing to a superior reproductive power, and it is now a source
of greater money returns than the hardwoods.
Condition of the Forests

There is practically no virgin forest in Delaware. The forests con-
sist, for the most part, of second-growth stands less than sixty years in
age, the original growth having been long since removed, and only oc-
casional decrepit veterans of inferior quality left standing. Forest
growth all over the State, except in portions of the extreme northern
part, is very rapid, and trees reach merchantable size at a comparative-
ly early age. There is very little pine over fifty years in age, and it is
usually cut before it is forty, as it reaches merchantable dimensions for
saw-timber in twenty-five to thirty-five years. In some cases the stands
are even-aged and regular, as where the previous one was clear cut, or
where pine has taken possession of idle farm land. But more often the
forest is irregular, with trees of all ages from young seedlings to scat-
tering deteriorating veterans.

This irregular condition has been brought about by haphazard
culling and lack of attention. Ordinarily, woodlot owners cut when
material for different purposes is needed, with little or no considera-
tion for the future good of the stand, and the trees removed are usually
those most easily available. In lumbering in the past the best material
was usually cut, and trees of poor quality and inferior species were

20 BULLETIN No. 82.

left, which suppressed any valuable second growth which might spring
up. It is impossible to get the best development of trees in irregular
selection forests, as the dominant trees have too much room and de-
velop broad, spreading branches which retard the development of the
smaller trees beneath and cause them to grow crooked. Clean cutting
is becoming more common, however, since a good market for cordwood
has lately developed, so that now where it is done the inferior and de-
fective trees are cut with the straight and sound.

The trees composing the forests of the State are about half sprout
and half seedling in origin. Chestnut and the different species of oak
are usually sprouts from old trees removed; tulip poplar, hickory,
sweet gum and red maple are more often of seedling origin, while the
conifers are from seed.

There have been no extensive forest fires in Delaware, as the
wooded areas are so cut up by cleared agricultural land and roads as
to make large fires impossible. Fires over small areas of woodland oc-
casionally occur, but the damage from this source has been relatively
slight, and has been confined almost entirely to the destruction of un-
dergrowth and reproduction with little injury to standing timber. For-
est owners in the State, as a class, are diligent in keeping fire from
their woods.

There has been no extensive injury to timber by attacks of insects
or from fungous diseases. The forests throughout are uniformly in
a healthy and vigorous condition, although lacking in regularity of
stock. Single trees are often wind thrown or broken, and some damage
is done by the grazing of cattle, but injury from either of these sources
is not extensive.

The reproduction following the removal of old trees is usually ex-
cellent. In the pine region, lumbered and burned over forest land and
idle, cleared land become quickly seeded up to young pine. In the
hardwood region chestnut and oak usually sprout vigorously, especial-
ly after clear cutting, while most of the other hardwood species repro-
duce well from seed. There is often much hardwood reproduction
springing up under cover of old stands, which is destroyed, for the
most part, when the old trees are cut, but it generally sprouts again
and forms part of the new stand. Unfortunately there is often a heavy
undergrowth of worthless shrubs, which interferes greatly with the re-
production of desirable species, and which should be destroyed when it
is desired to establish seedlings of valuable species. As a rule, a fair
amount of natural reproduction can be secured with little or no extra

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 21

trouble, whenever it is desired to remove a mature stand and establish
a new one.

FOREST TREES OF DELAWARE.

North of Dover the trees found in the State are almost exclusively
hardwoods. South of Dover pines commence to form an important
part of the forest, and in Sussex County they are as abundant as the
hardwoods. The following are lists of species indigenous in the State,
separated in groups according to commercial importance, and with re-
marks on occurrence.

22

BULLETIN No. 82.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

23

COMMERCIAL TREES OF INFREQUENT OCCURENCE

Common Name
Butternut
Black walnut
Bitternut hickory
Pignut hickory
Post oak
Chestnut oak
Swamp white oak
Bartram oak
Spanish
Sycamore
Black cherry
Black locust
Sugar maple
White elm
Basswood
Black gum
Black ash
Red ash
White ash
Pitch pine
Shortleaf pine
Red cedar
White cedar
Bald cypress

Common Name
Black willow
Largetooth aspen
Black birch
Red birch
Hornbeam
Blue beech
Barren oak
Black jack oak
Slippery elm
Hackberry
Sassafras
Red mulberry
Sweet magnolia
Papaw
Witch hazel
Serviceberry
Scarlet haw

Botanical Name
Juglans cinerea
Juglans nigra
Hicoria minima
Hicoria glabra
Quercus minor
Quercus prinus
Quercus platanoides
Quercus heterophylla
Quercus digitata
Platinus occidentalis
Prunus serotina
Eobinia pseudacacia
Acer saccharum
Ulnus americana
Tilia americana
Nyssa sylvatica
Fraxinus nigra
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Fraxinus americana
Pinus rigida
Pinus echinata
Juniperus virginiana
CJiamaecyparis thyoides
Taxodium distichum

Occurrence
In Piedmont region
Throughout the State
In Piedmont region
Throughout the State
In Piedmont region

C ( It

Throughout the State

Mostly in Piedmont regioii
Throughout the State
In Piedmont region
Throughout the State

In the Piedmont region

nit 11 it

Mostly in the Piedmont
Mostly in the pine region
Southern half of State
Throughout the State
Extreme southern portion of State

INFERIOR COMMERCIAL TREES

Botanical Name

Salix nigra

Populus grandidentata
Betula lenta
Betula nigra
Ostrya virginiana
Carpinus caroliniana
Quercus pumila
Quercus marilandica
Ulmus pubescens
Celtis occidentalis
Sassafras sassafras
Morus rubra
Magnolia glauca
Asimina triloba
Hamamelis virginiana
Amelanchier canadensis
Crataegus coccinea

Occurrence

Very common in marshes
Rare in the State
Rare
Rare

Occurs in Piedmont region
Frequent

Limited in occurrence

n 11 11

Very frequent
Fairly common

Limited in occurrence

11 if 11

Mostly in the Piedmont

11 (i i {

Limited in occurrence

24 BULLETIN No. 82.

Eedbud Cercis canadensis Not frequent

Coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus Limited in occurrence

Honey locust Gleditsia triacanthos Not frequent

Hoptree Ptelia trifoliata Limited in occurrence

Ailanthus Ailanthus glandulosa Not frequent

Holly Ilexopaca " "

Silver maple Acer saccharinum il li

Boxelder Acer negundo " "

Dogwood Cornus florida Very common

Persimmon Diospyros virginiana Frequent

SHEUBS AND VINES FOUNT* IN THE STATE

Sheepberry Blueberries Wild yam root

Baccharis Sweet elder Climbing hempweed

Smooth alder Arrowwood Mountain laurel

Wild rose Poison ivy Rhododendron

Black chokeberry Bittersweet Benzoin

Sweet pepperbrush Clematis Nannyberry

Azalea Honeysuckle Wax myrtle

Sheep laurel Trumpet creeper Prickly ash

Black huckleberry American ivy Staghorn sumac

IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL TREES

Pine

The four species of pine in Delaware, in order of their importance,

are : loblolly, spruce, shortleaf , and pitch. Loblolly and pitch pines are
not distinguished locally and are called long-chat or foxtail pine. Short-
leaf generally goes by the name of "old growth" pine, but large clear-
boled trees of loblolly go by the same name. Shortleaf and spruce pine
when young are usually not distinguished locally, and both are called
indiscriminately spruce pine or * * short-leaved ' ' pine. In other States
spruce pine is usually called jack or scrub pine.

Loblolly pine is considered at length in another portion of this re-
port. Pitch pine is often hard to distinguish from loblolly; both spe-
cies have needles four to eight inches long and three to four in a sheath,
but pitch pine has a decidedly broad ovoid cone, while the cones of
loblolly are oblong and long. Pitch pine occurs very infrequently in
Delaware and usually as single isolated trees in stands of loblolly ; its
most important occurrence in the State is along the seaboard in the
southwest.

Spruce and shortleaf pines may be distinguished from pitch and
loblolly by the length of their needles, which in the case of both of the
former is only one to three inches; and they also have much smaller

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

25

cones than the latter two. Spruce pine has two needles to a sheath,
while shortleaf has usually three, though sometimes only two ; and the
needles of the latter are more straight and rigid, lack a certain char-
acteristic twist of the former, and on the average are also slightly
longer.

Shortleaf pine is a poor reproducer, so that there is very little sec-
ond growth of the species, and its occurrence as compared with loblolly
or spruce pine is rapidly decreasing. It has about the same rate of,
growth as spruce pine, which is much slower than loblolly and pitch.
Spruce pine is an excellent reproducer, and quickly seeds up vacant
farm land, where seed trees of the species are nearby. There are large
areas of pure spruce pine stands in the southern part of the State,
which have come up on idle farm land. The following table shows the
development of such stands on similar sites in Maryland.

AVERAGE GROWTH OF PURE WELL-STOCKED STANDS OF
SPRUCE PINE ON OLD FIELDS IN MARYLAND.

Total No. Trees

Average Diame-

Average

Age in

Dominant and

No. of Cords

ter Breasthigh

Height of

Years

Suppressed

Per Acre

of Dominant

Dominant

Per Acre

Trees.

Trees.

Inches

Feet

5

0.4

6

10

3,790

2.6*

2.5

17

15

2,510

12.8

3.8

26

20

1,470

20.1

4.8

33

25

885

25.1

5.7

40

30

625

29.9

6.5

46

35

490

34.5

7.1

51

40

420

39.0

7.9

55

45

380

42.9

8.4

59

50

370

46.5

8.9

63

55

9.6

60

10.1

—

*To reduce to cubic feet multiply by 100.

A comparison of the rate of growth of spruce pine, as given in the
above table, with that of lobolly pine, as given on page 55, shows up de-
cidedly in favor of the latter. The conclusion, then, especially since
loblolly is the more valuable timber tree, is that after cutting mature
stands of spruce pine it will be better to encourage loblolly, and even to
sow it, rather than allow spruce pine to reproduce itself naturally. It
will pay, however, to allow immature stands of spruce pine to grow un-

26 BULLETIN No. 82.

til ripe. Wherever scattering loblolly trees occur in spruce pine stands,
they should be left for seeding purposes when the stand is finally cut.

Oak

White and red oak are the two most important of the fourteen
species of oak found in Delaware. Both of them occur in every part of
the State and in all forest types. White oak is extremely slow but very
persistent in its growth, and can endure shade better than other species
of oak. Red oak on the other hand is a very rapid growing species but
is intolerant, not being able to exist long under the shade of other
trees. Both species reproduce well by sprouts, especially the red oak,
and most of the second growth is of sprout origin. As already stated,
the market prices for white oak are higher than for red oak, yet for
commercial timber growing the latter is preferable because it reaches
merchantable size at a much earlier age. In spite of its high value
white oak is too slow growing to make it profitable for forest manage-
ment, and if planting is considered, red or pin oak should be used.
However, there are large quantities of immature white oak throughout
the State which, as a rule, should be allowed to reach merchantable size,
but reproduction of the species should not be especially encouraged.
Through its persistence white oak will always continue an important
tree in the forests of Delaware.

On the "swamp type" cow (or swamp chestnut), pin, and willow
(locally called "peach") oaks take the place, to a great extent, of white
and red oaks. Except for its leaf, cow oak looks like white oak, and
the quality of the wood is the same ; it is more rapid in growth, how-
ever. Pin and peach oak are both very rapid growers but the wood of
the latter is exceedingly brash and inferior, while pin oak produces the
same quality of lumber as red oak. Pin oak is the best species of oak to
encourage in wet situations, and trees interfering with its reproduction
and development should be cut.

Scarlet and black oaks occur more on better drained soils, and in
mixture with white and red oaks. The lumber cut from them goes on
the market as red oak, but neither is as desirable as red oak for com-
mercial timber growing, as the rate of growth is slower and the quality
of the timber not so good.

Chestnut

Next to loblolly pine chestnut is the most profitable species for
forest management in Delaware. It does best on well-drained soils, me-
dium to heavy, and does not flourish in wet swamps, or on light dry

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

27

sandy soils. It is much better adapted to the northern half of the State
than to the pine region, and is even to be preferred to loblolly pine in
this northern section, where, in fact, loblolly does not occur naturally.
Chestnut is the best species to encourage in the farmer's woodlot, as the
wood is excellent for posts and rails, and makes good firewood. When
grown for commercial purposes it brings the most profit in ties and
poles. (See figure 1.) The table below shows the average age, height,
and yield (either in ties or poles) of trees of different diameters of
sprout origin, based on measurements taken in the southern part of the
western peninsula of Maryland.

AGE, HEIGHT AND YIELD OF CHESTNUT SPROUTS OF DIF-
FERENT DIAMETERS*.

Size of Pole Per Tree

ties per

Length of

Diameter at

Diameter

Age

Height

tree.

pole.

the top, out-

breasthigh

Volume

side bark

Inches

Years

Feet

Ties

Feet

Inches

10

33

61

1

11

38

67

2

25

8.1

12

43

72

3

30

8.2

13

48

76

3

35

8.1

14

54

80

4

35

8.7

15

59

83

4

40

8.3

16

65

85

5

40

9.0

17

72

88

5

45

8.5

18

79

90

5

45

9.0

19

89

92

5

50

8.4

20

103

94

5

50

8.8

*Taken from "Chestnut in Southern Maryland," Bulletin No. 53,
Forest Service.

The growth of chestnut seedlings is very much slower than that of
sprouts for the first thirty years or so, after which seedlings grow the
faster ; but seedlings are usually over ninety years old before they at-
tain the same dimensions as sprouts of a like age. Chestnut reproduces
itself by sprouts better than any other species, and most chestnut
trees in Delaware are of sprout origin. It can almost always be satis-
factorily reproduced in this manner, and planting only should be re-
sorted to when it is desired to grow the species in places where pre-
viously it did not exist. In order to get satisfactory sprout reproduc-
tion the mature tree should be cut before its sixtieth year, and the

28

BULLETIN No. 82.

Fig. 1. Group of Chestnut Sprouts, which will make excellent poles.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 29

stand should always be cut clean so that the sprouts will have complete
light for their development.

Tulip Poplar

An important tree occurring throughout the State and in all the
forest types, but more in the northern than in the southern half of the
State is the tulip poplar. It occurs usually singly or in small patches
or groups, and never forms extensive pure stands. It is the most rapid-
growing of the hardwoods, and reproduces itself readily by seed wher-
ever the stand is open, as after clear cutting ; and it also sprouts vigor-
ously from the stump up to the time that the old tree has about reached
its sixtieth year. Trees fifteen inches and up in diameter are extreme-
ly valuable for lumber ; those 10 to 15 inches can be profitably used for
rotary-cut veneer for fruit baskets, and also sawed into box boards;
and those under 10 inches bring $4.50 a cord for pulpwood peeled
and delivered at the railroad. (See figure 2.) Tulip poplar may be
classed with loblolly pine, chestnut, and red oak, as an extremely de-
sirable species for commercial timber growing. It is poor economy to
cut the small poles for pulpwood, except where the stand needs thin-
ning, as it is much more profitable to allow them to grow to veneer or
saw-timber size.

30

BULLETIN No. 82.

S2

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FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

31

Fig. 2. Tulip Poplar Stand of Sprout Origin. Former Stand was cut clean for pulpwood.

32

BULLETIN No. 82.

CONTENTS OF SECOND GROWTH YELLOW POPLAR IN BOARD

FEET BY THE SCRIBNER LOG RULE.

Fairfax County, Virginia.

Diam-

Height of Trees — Feet

Diameter

eter

Stump

Inside

Total

Breast-

50 60 70 80 90 100

Height

Bark

Basis

high

of Top

Inches

Volume — Board Feet

Feet

Inches

Trees

7

7

12

16

1.3

5.9

33

8

11

17

23

29

1.3

5.9

52

9

17

25

32

41

48

1.4

6.0

69

10

25

35

45

56

67

78

1.4

6.1

00

11

36

48

61

74

88

100

1.4

6.2

73

12

50

65

80

94

110

123

1.5

6.3

56

13

66

84

101

117

134

148

1.5

6.4

41

14

106

124

142

160

177

1.6

6.5

24

15

129

150

172

191

212

1.7

6.6

20

16

179

202

225

250

1.7

6.7

25

17

210

236

264

288

1.8

6.8

11

18

274

304

328

1.9

7.0

7

19

318

346

374

2.0

7.1

6

20

395

428

2.1

7.2

477

This table was prepared by W. W. Ashe.

Sweet Gum

This species is found in wet situations all over the State, but oc-
curs most abundantly in the gum swamps of the Coastal Plain region
where it is decidedly a prevailing species. (See figure 3.) Trees un-
der 10 inches in diameter are of little value for anything, not even for
fuel, though lately gum is beginning to be substituted for tulip poplai
for pulpwood. Trees 10 inches and up bring excellent prices in Dela-
ware for veneering purposes, as gum is the chief species used for straw-
berry boxes and peach baskets. The species reproduces itself fairly
well both from seed and by sprouts after clear cutting ; it always de-
mands full sunlight for its best reproduction and development. As a
tree for commercial timber growing it is fair, but not in the same class
with loblolly pine and tulip poplar, and where artificial reproduction
is to be resorted to one of these more valuable species should be used.
However, wherever sweet gum grows naturally as in gum swamps, it is
a profitable species to allow to grow to merchantable size. The follow-
ing table indicates the rate of growth in diameter of dominant sweet

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

33

gum trees, which have enjoyed plenty of growing space during their
entire life.*

Fig. 3.

Old growth Gum Swamp.

Diameter
Breasthigh
inches

Age
in
years

5

14

6

17

7

20

8

23

9

26

10

30

11

34

12

38

13

42

14

46

15

50

16

55

17

60

18

65

19

70

20

75

*Note: Taken from Bulletin 58 of the Forest Service, based on measurements
taken on hardwood bottomland in South Carolina.

34 BULLETIN No. 82.

Mockernut Hickory

This is the most common species of hickory occurring in Delaware,
and is found very sparingly on all types and more frequently in the
northern half of the State. It is not much faster growing than white
oak, but the quality and value of the wood make it a very desirable
tree to have growing in woodlots, to a limited extent. However, it is
not to be recommended as a profitable species for commercial timber-
growing because not sufficiently rapid in growth.

Red Maple

This tree occurs most frequently in moist situations, especially in
gum swamps. A very large per cent, of the mature trees are only good
for firewood, as they are too defective to cut for veneer or flooring, for
which purposes maple is much used when sound. The tree reproduces
very well both from seed and by sprouts, but it is not a desirable tree
to encourage, and should always be eliminated, as far as possible, from
future stands in order to make room for more desirable species.

FOREST MANAGEMENT BY PRIVATE OWNERS.

There are two large problems confronting private owners in Dela-
ware:

(1) Management of woodlots as necessary parts of all well-
equipped farms, and which occupy, for the most part, valuable agri-
cultural land.

(2) Management of timber tracts located on poorer and cheaper
land, where timber-growing as a business will be profitable. These
tracts are confined chiefly to southern Delaware, where there are large
areas of comparatively cheap land. Wherever land can be purchased
in the State for $15 or less per acre, it is safe to say that timber-grow-
ing, under proper forest management, will pay a good rate of interest.
Loblolly pine is undoubtedly the most profitable species to grow, and
other desirable trees are chestnut, tulip poplar, red and pin oaks, and
sweet gum. Forest management for timber tracts should consist in se-
curing a well-stocked stand of desirable species to take the place of the
mature one removed ; the utilization of dying, suppressed, and inferior
trees in immature stands in the form of improvement cuttings; and
the protection of the stand from fire. As a rule, the old stand should
be clear cut when mature, and the succeeding stand should be even-
aged, if possible, because such a stand will show the best development.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 35

The excellent market for timber products makes the care of a forest
and the attention to forest management a sound business proposition.

Management of Woodlcts

General Discussion. — The desirability of every farm having a
woodlot is generally recognized. It is important that every farmer
should regard his woodlot in the nature of a permanent and necessary
investment, and as a result he will usually give it the proper amount
of care and attention. The more valuable the land which the woodlot
occupies, the greater should be the returns in forest products ; and the
more important it is for the owner to keep the woodlot well stocked so
that it will produce the greatest yield on the smallest possible area.

Woodlot management should consist primarily in establishing and
maintaining a fully-stocked stand of desirable species with the least
financial outlay. Secondarily, comes the protection and improvement
of the stand, especially by judicious thinning, until ripe for final cut-
ting.

A forest is established (1) naturally by seed from old treees, or by
sprouts from stumps of cut trees; (2) artificially by sowing or plant-
ing; (3) by a combination of natural and artificial methods. Sowing
or planting necessitates a financial outlay, while natural reproduction
does not. It is advisable, however, to resort to artificial methods where
it- is not possible to procure a good stand by natural means.

Whenever timber is needed from the woodlot it is important that
the cutting be made with reference to its future good. Under proper
forest management all material removed is usually either in the nature
of improvement cuttings, by which the stand is left in better growing
shape ; or final cuttings, where it is the intention to remove the stand
with a view of reproducing it. Haphazard cutting of the best trees
without regard for the condition of those left is only warranted in
cases where a great deal is to be gained financially by such a method.
In almost every case in Delaware, however, it will pay to consider the
future stand and not to sacrifice its good for the sake of immediate re-
turns.

Establishing New Stands. — The importance of establishing fully-
stocked stands of the most desirable species cannot be emphasized too
much. It is good economy that woodlots on valuable farm land be
made to average, if possible, two cords per acre a year in growth, in-
stead of less than one, as is often the case under ordinary methods of
treatment. Most of the woodlots in the State are understocked and in

36 BULLETIN No. 82.

poor growing shape, due to the haphazard cutting of trees of different
kinds, as needed. To have anything like a fully-stocked woodlot it will
be necessary to clean cut a small portion of the present irregular stand
each year instead of making selection cuttings where most convenient ;
only rapidly deteriorating, dying, and dead trees should be removed in
other parts of the woodlot. Much hardwood sprout growth and some
seedlings will naturally spring up after clean cutting. It will be best,
however, always to supplement the natural reproduction with some
sowing or planting of valuable species to fill up gaps and to improve
the subsequent quantity and quality production of the woodlot.

The species to be most favored in establishing new stands especial-
ly where any sowing or planting is to be done are chestnut, red oak,
(pin oak in moist to wet situations) and tulip poplar. It is also well to
have a limited amount of white oak and hickory, because of the fine
quality of their wood, but both are too slow growing to be allowed
much space in the woodlot. Chestnut and oak reproduction will usual-
ly have to be either produced from sprouts, or artificially established,
as natural seedling reproduction from these species is very difficult to
obtain. Tulip poplar can be relied on for natural seedling reproduc-
tion after clean cutting, provided one or more seed -trees are left per
acre ; it also reproduces well by sprouts up to its sixtieth year. Hick-
ory reproduces itself well by natural seeding, and like tulip poplar
sprouts well if cut before its sixtieth year also.

Dogwood, ironwood, and red maple should be eliminated at the
start, as far as possible, or held sufficiently in check so as not to inter-
fere with the growth of valuable species, for as undergrowth they do no
harm.

In some cases where there is no woodlot to the farm, it will be a
wise policy for the owner to establish one by planting or sowing on a
portion of the cleared land. In other cases, where there is a woodlot
already, the soil on a certain cleared area may have become worn out,
and it may be best to plant it to trees and clear up for farm crops a
portion of the woodlot area. Artificially grown stands have certain ad-
vantages over those grown by natural means, because the quantity and
quality yield of forest produce is higher, since the kind of trees
their spacing, and their manner of association can be better regulated,
and the conditions necessary for the stand 's best development thus ob-
tained. The species to be recommended for planting on cultivated
land include those already given — chestnut, red and pin oak, and tulip
poplar — and in addition, hardy catalpa, and black locust. Catalpa

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 37

should only be planted on medium to heavy, well-drained soils in the
northern half of the State, and black locust on sandy to medium soils
with fair drainage.

In parts of Delaware where the country is practically all cleared
up and under cultivation, it will often be advisable to plant trees to
serve as shelterbelts, as well as for timber supply, along roads and
edges of fields; and also to plant windbreaks for houses and stables.
Black locust is a good tree for roadside planting. European larch is a
rapid growing tree, not fastidious in regard to soil, with strong, heavy,
and durable wood, excellent for fuel, fence posts, and ties, and is to be
recommended for shelterbelt and windbreak planting in preference to
Norway spruce or white pine.

38

BULLETIN No. 82.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 39

Care of Stands. — The care of stands once established, and until
ripe for final cutting1, constitutes an important part of woodlot man-
agement. It includes mainly improvement thinnings and protection
from fire. The former can be made to pay for themselves, and in fact
are a source of good net returns, while the latter will never be hard to
accomplish for small forest tracts.

The object of thinning is the utilization of wood and the improve-
ment of the stand, before it is ripe for final cutting, by the removal of
useless material which interferes more or less with the proper develop-
ment of the better trees. In making a thinning, the points to be re-
membered are, to provide a suitable degree of growing space for the
most desirable trees by freeing their crowns from those of less desirable
trees ; at the same time a suitable degree of density must be preserved.
The stand should be kept dense enough to shade the ground fairly well,
and to stimulate height growth and facilitate the natural pruning of
lateral branches, which takes place when the stand is sufficiently dense.

Special Consideration of Loblolly Pine

Importance of Loblolly Pine in Delaware. — Loblolly pine is easily
the most important species for commercial timber-growing in Dela-
ware, and for this reason it is considered at length in this report.
While hardwoods are usually more desirable for farmer 's woodlots, yet
for money returns the growing of loblolly pine is by far the most profit-
able. Well-stocked stands of the tree will yield $100 to $200 an acre,
net returns, when thirty to forty years old, which would amount to
from 4 to 6 per cent compound interest on an original investment of
$20 an acre for the land covered with one-year-old pine ; on a lower
valuation for the land, stocked with pine seedlings, the interest would,
of course, be higher.

Loblolly pine is confined to Sussex County and the southern half
of Kent, and it is in this portion of the State that there are large areas
of land sufficiently low in value to be profitably used for growing tim-
ber.

Silvical Characteristics of Loblolly Pine

Soil and Moisture Requirements. — The most important require-
ment of loblolly pine for its best development and reproduction is a
moist soil. While it will not grow in cypress sloughs where there is
continuous standing water, or very wet swamp conditions, yet it grows
extremely well on small hummocks or isolated land occurring in such
swamps, in spots where the soil is moist but not constantly saturated.

40 BULLETIN No. 82.

As a rule clay soil, which is more moisture retentive than other soils, is
the best for loblolly pine, and sand the least desirable because it lacks
the power of holding moisture ; loam and sandy-loam rank between clay
and sand in their relative desirability. However, loblolly will grow
equally as well on moist sand bordering streams as on good clay soil,
but on dry, sandy ridges it forms very open stands of scrubby and
limby trees.

Form and Development. — In dense stands, loblolly forms a very
long, clean, rather cylindrical bole, and a short, ovoid crown. Greater
clear length is attained when growing in pure even-aged stands than in
uneven-aged stands or in mixture with slower-growing hardwoods. In
early youth it is the most rapid-growing of any species of pine.

On good soil, in pure stands fifteen years old, trees are often to be
found 10 inches in diameter and 40 feet in height ; and in stands forty
years old many trees occur 18 inches in diameter and 80 feet in height.
The table on page 55 shows the average dimensions attained by domi-
nant trees of pure stands at different ages.

Reproduction. — The great reproductive power of loblolly pine is
its most important silvical characteristic, and has enabled it to become
so universally extended throughout Sussex County and to increase in
amount of land occupied after the lumbering and clearing of the origi-
nal forest.

Seed Production and Dissemination

Abundant seed is produced almost every year. The tree flowers in
the latter part of April ; the cones become fully developed a year and a
half later, in October, and the seed falls during the autumn and win-
ter. The cones usually remain on the trees for a year after they have
opened.

Trees growing in isolated positions produce seed from the time
they are five to ten years old. Some seed is produced by dominant trees
growing in very thick young stands, but such stands do not produce
abundant seed until they are about thirty years old. As a rule trees
with well isolated crowns produce abundant crops of seed.

The seed is disseminated principally by wind. A tree with abund-
ant cones will scatter seed plentifully to a distance of twice its own
height, and seed is sometimes blown by the wind to a distance of a
quarter of a mile from the seed tree. The nature of the dissemination
is well illustrated where the seed trees are situated along the edge of un-
used, cleared land. To the leeward of the trees there is usually abun-

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 41

dant reproduction to a distance of 50 to 100 feet ; from 100 to 300 feet
the reproduction is still fairly uniformly distributed, but rather open ;
beyond 300 feet it is very irregular and scattering.

Germination and Seedling Development

The seed germinates with great uniformity, and has as high a ger-
minating per cent, as any species of pine. Seed collected and preserved
under favorable conditions will retain the capacity for germination for
five to ten years; when disseminated naturally, however, they some-
times retain this capacity as long as four years, but usually not longer
than one.

Germination is the starting of vital activity in the seed when it
commences to take up moisture and swell under the influence of suffi-
cient warmth. The encased radical enlarges, bursts through the seed-
covering, and sends down its primary root into the soil. After the de-
scending part has become firmly attached to the soil, by root hairs, or
lateral roots, the growth upward then commences, and with the de-
velopment of the cotyledons and plumule the seedling becomes com-
pletely formed.

In spite of the high germinating poAver of loblolly seed, most of it
never germinates, because it falls on unfavorable situations, and many
young seedlings die because the conditions are adverse to their develop-
ment.

The seed requires a certain degree of warmth and moisture for
germination, while for seedling development sufficient light and suit-
able soil conditions are necessary. These conditions constitute a fa-
vorable seedbed. A discussion of the relative suitability of different
natural situations as seedbeds for loblolly pine is important. Dense,
broken, and open situations will be dealt with separately.

1. In dense forests the conditions may be favorable to germina-
tion, but the lack of light precludes seedling development, and any
seedling, which may have become established, will scarcely survive
more than a year or so.

2. Under the canopy of a broken stand the reproduction is often
excellent. The moisture conditions are especially favorable to germi-
nation, and there is sufficient light for seedling growth. Reproduction
takes place on spots where the bare mineral soil is exposed, or where
the organic soil of entirely decomposed humus is near the surface. A
thick ground cover of undecomposed leaves or duff, however, makes re-
production almost impossible, for the tiny radicle is unable to pierce

42 BULLETIN No. 82.

this layer and derive sustenance from the soil beneath. A ground fire,
which destroys the thick layer of undecomposed litter, is very favor-
able to reproduction, provided that there is plenty of pine seed dis-
seminated over the area after the fire, and before undergrowth and
weeds have a chance to completely seed up the ground.

3. Open situations, whether in the forest or on cleared areas, are
most conducive to pine reproduction, as the seedling here has full en-
joyment of sunlight. Reproduction in the open forest takes place un-
der the same conditions as described for the broken forest, but the in-
creased amount of light makes the seedlings more vigorous. On areas
cleared by lumbering, germination is fair, and the seedlings grow well,
provided there is no dense growth of underbrush and weeds, or a thick
layer of undecomposed litter. Fire after lumbering is very favorable
for reproduction from seed falling after the fire, but kills all the seed
already on the ground. The reproduction from seed dissemination on
idle farm land of all kinds is always good, to which fact the hundreds
of acres of abandoned agricultural land covered with young pine at-
test. Unused, plowed land, with soil directly exposed, is most favor-
able for loblolly reproduction.

The seedlings, once established, show a strong and rapid develop-
ment provided they have abundant light. The roots are well developed
and deep-growing in the first year, and the seedlings are hardy against
climatic factors from the very start.

Enemies. — The thick bark of loblolly pine makes it an exception-
ally good fire resister. Except where the undergrowth is very dense
there is little danger of loblolly thickets being destroyed by fire after
they are about ten years old or 20 feet in height. Loblolly on dry,
sandy ridges suffers much more from ground fires than on moist bot-
tomland. Although at the time of the fire such stands are apparently
not damaged, yet many trees are weakened and later succumb to at-
tacks of insects and fungi. There are never any very extensive forest
fires in Delaware because the country is so much broken up by roads,
streams, and cleared farm lands. It is comparatively easy for the for-
est owner to keep out fire entirely from the young stands which require
protection most.

Dominant trees of loblolly pine, which have never been injured by
fire or broken by the wind, are seldom attacked by fungi or insects, due
to their great vitality and resisting powers. Suppressed trees, how-
ever, and those which have received physical injury become very sus-
ceptible to such attacks. Loblolly is not a long-lived species because as

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

43

soon as the mature tree is weakened by storms, it also becomes a mark
for these attacks. The removal, therefore, of all but the sound and
healthy trees in loblolly stands is always a wise preventive measure
against insect pests and fungous diseases.

Growth and Yield of Pure Stands. — In the management of loblolly
pine it is desirable to secure and maintain even-aged, well stocked
stands, because the quantity and quality yield of such stands will be
the highest. (See figure 4.) The tables below indicate the growth and

Fig. 4. Pure well-stocked stand of Loblolly Pine, which sprung up on old fields.

yield of such stands. The measurements for these tables were taken in
stands established by natural seeding for the most part on abandoned
fields in Worcester County, Maryland. This county adjoins Sussex on
the south, and the tables apply equally well to both. The yield in cubic
feet includes all the trees in the stand, while that for board feet in-
cludes only trees 6 inches and over in diameter at breastheight, or 4J
feet above the ground.

44

BULLETIN No. 82.

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FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

45

LOBLOLLY PINE ON OLD FIELDS IN MARYLAND.

Proportion of Total Cubic Yield in Different Diameter Classes.

Quality 1.

Age
Years

Percentage of Total Yield in Diameter Classes

1 ft-5 in. 6 ft-9 in.
per cent per cent

10 in. and over
per cent

15
20
25
30
35
40

65
32
13
4
1
0

34
53
59

56
47
34

1
15
28
40
52
66

Quality 2.

15
20
25
30
35
40

78
60
39
23
11
5

22
40
51

57
58
50

0
0
10
20
31
45

Forest Management of Loblolly Pine

Scope of Forest Management and its Advisability. — Forest man-
agement deals with the handling of forest land to be held continuously
as such. The land and the growing stock of trees are considered in the
nature of principal, and the annual increment put on by the growing
stock as interest. The wood increment is allowed to accumulate until
the trees composing the growing stock are ripe for the ax. With the
harvesting of the mature timber, the growing of a new stock of small
seedlings is secured by one of two ways: (1) Removal of the ma-
ture trees in such a way as to accomplish the reproduction by natural
seeding. The superior reproductive power of loblolly pine makes it
more adaptable to natural reproduction than other pines, and, in fact,
than the majority of other species. (2) Sowing or planting the area
subsequent to cutting. This involves considerable financial outlay, but
will often te wise in cases where well-stocked stands cannot be secured
by natural reproduction.

In ordinary lumbering the future growing stock is not considered,
and it is entirely a matter of chance as to whether or not a new stand of
any value springs up, and even where this is the case the stand is much
inferior in quality to one grown according to forestry principles.

46 BULLETIN No. 82.

The protection and improvement of stands once established, and
until ripe for final cutting, constitute an important part of forest man-
agement. They include mainly improvement thinnings and protection
from fire. The former can always be made the source of substantial net
returns from loblolly stands in Delaware, in addition to improving the
growing condition of the trees left, while the latter will never be ex-
pensive or hard to accomplish.

Loblolly pine is decidedly the most desirable species in the State
for commercial timber-growing, because its silvical characteristics make
it particularly adaptable to forest management, in conjunction with
the high prices which its lumber demands. It is the most rapid grow-
ing and easiest to reproduce of any species of pine.

Loblolly grown in even-aged, fully stocked stands will undoubted-
ly yield satisfactory returns wherever the initial cost of an acre of land
well stocked with one-year-old seedlings, does not exceed $20. In thirty
years such a stand will yield 18,900 feet of box-board lumber per acre
worth at least $5 a thousand stumpage, at which price the net income
would be:

18900 feet at $5 a thousand $94.50

Less 20 cents per annum for 30 years for an-
nual recurring expenses, including taxes,
calculated at 5 per cent compound interest, 13.30

Net profit $81.20

This profit of eighty-one dollars and twenty cents in thirty years
amounts to 5J per cent compound interest on a land valuation of $20
an acre, the stand having been reproduced naturally and without ex-
pense.

Methods of Treatment. — The chief aim of forest management for
loblolly pine in Delaware should be to grow even-aged, well-stocked
stands which will produce the best quantity and quality yield of tim-
ber. Such stands should not be considered ripe for final cutting until
thirty years old, although trees large enough for box lumber are to be
found in stands fifteen years old, as the table on page 55 indicates. The
only cutting which should be undertaken before the stand is thirty
years old consists of improvement thinnings which remove the dead,
dying, suppressed, and defective trees. The best method of removing
the mature stand so as to secure the best results is to cut to a diameter
limit of 9 inches, when the stand is thirty to thirty-five years old, and
later, in about five or ten years, to clear cut the trees left. ( See figure
5.) The advantages of this method are in the increased growth of the

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

47

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48 BULLETIN No. 82.

trees left after the first cutting, and in the good reproduction secured
during the interval between the two cuttings. The first cutting
amounts to a partial clearance ; it isolates the crowns of the trees left so
that in a couple of years they will seed heavily, and it allows the admit-
tance of sufficient light on the ground to insure reproduction. By the
time the second cutting is made the ground should be well covered with
seedlings which are to form the new stand. It will always be well to
leave one or more old trees to the acre to seed up vacant places which
may exist after the final cutting.

There are often serious impediments to the germination of the seed
and the subsequent growth of the seedlings, such as — (1) too thick a
ground cover of undecomposed forest litter; (2) tops and branches left
after lumbering; (3) undergrowth of hardwood sprouts, shrubs, and
weeds. It is advisable to go to some trouble in overcoming such hind-
rances to reproduction. In lumbering, the trees should be utilized as
far into the tops as possible and the branches lopped off and scattered
so that they will decompose quickly. The more the soil is cut up and
the undecomposed litter distributed in the logging operations, the bet-
ter will the seed germinate ; so the tramping of horses and the scraping
of logs over the ground will certainly encourage reproduction.

The most effective method of improving the seedbed is a judicious
use of fire, which, however, must be very skilfully applied. In some
cases it may be well to confine it to the mere singeing over of the brush
left scattered on the ground, which can be accomplished best in winter,
or when the brush is damp. This partial destruction of the brush
would be a great benefit to reproduction, and also lessen the danger
from fire. Where the undecomposed litter is especially thick, it would
be beneficial to burn over the entire area, after it is cut over, in order
to destroy both brush and litter. Such a fire should only take place in
the fall of the year, and when it is seen that the seed trees are full of
cones which will scatter abundant seed over the area the following win-
ter. Care should be taken to prevent fire from spreading into adjacent
standing timber, and especially into recently reproduced stands; also
the brush should be well scraped from around any seed trees left, to
prevent damage to them. It may be practicable sometimes to run a
plow and turn a furrow to limit the area to be burned over. A ground
fire will temporarily destroy much undergrowth and weeds, which will
be a great advantage.

To reproduce loblolly from uneven, mixed stands of pine and
hardwoods, the latter should be removed first and the sprouts and un-

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 49

dergrowth killed off by fire. Five to ten loblolly seed trees should be
left to the acre.

Where it is desired to reproduce loblolly after lumbering a stand
which has no loblolly in the mixture, it will be necessary to cut the old
stand clean, burn over the area thoroughly, and then sow pine seed. It
might often be an excellent plan* to clean up such forest land and cul-
tivate it without fertilizing for ten to fifteen years, as the new soil
would give good crops for that length of time, and the expense of fer-
tilizing would be saved. When this land is worn out, to grow loblolly
pine upon it will be an easy matter, and to start the pine will require
simply broadcast sowing. In order to economize on seed it will usually
be best to sow in shallow furrows cut 5 or .6 feet apart, or in seed-spots
spaced not more than 6 feet in each direction.

AFFORESTATION OF STATE SAND-BAR LAND

Conditions on the Sand-bar

There is a sand-bar in Delaware consisting of a narrow strip, one
half to one and a half miles wide, and over 20 miles long, extending
along the Atlantic seaboard from Cape Henlopen to Fenwick Light.
Most of this land belongs to the State and the practicability and ad-
visability of-:the State establishing forests upon it will be shown. It is
recommended that this land be set aside by the State as a State Forest.
' For over half its length the bar is bordered on the inside by Re-
hoboth and Sinepuxent Bays, and consists of a narrow spit between
them and the ocean. Portions of it are known to have been overflowed
by immense tides from the ocean to the bay. The bays are very shallow
and are gradually filling up with silt brought down by the inflowing
streams. The spit is made up of three parts —

(1) Twenty per cent of its area consists of low beach land, fring-
ing the ocean, where the sand is more or less shifting, and there is no
vegetation. (See figure 6.) This low beach consists of a line of low,
more or less fixed dunes, sufficient to check the force of ocean winds
and waves. There is only one large dune, at Cape Henlopen, which is
actively shifting inland, and is liable to prove serious unless it can be
fixed. (See figures 7 and 8.)

(2) To the leeward of the dune-ridge of the low beach is an area
of middle beach land comprising about 40 per cent of the area of the

*Note. This plan was suggested by Mr. Messick, of the State Board of Agri-
culture, who wishes to carry it out on some of his own land.

50

BULLETIN No. 82.

spit. The sand is here fixed by strand vegetation which springs up to
the leeward of the dune ridge. Beach grass (Ammophila areanria) is
the important species serving to fix the sand; it springs up in large
clumps from a very vigorous underground rootstock, grows very rapid-
ly in height, and so keeps above the constantly accumulating sand.

(3) To the leeward of the middle beach and extending to the bay
is a more or less marshy area comprising about 40 per cent of the area

Fig. 6. Ordinary low dune, along seacoast.

of the spit. This area is usually covered with a fairly thick growth of
marsh grass, upon which cattle browse, and which is cut for hay.
Spartina patens and Cyperus americaniis, in the more protected places,
form the bulk of the vegetation.

Wherever the sand has become sufficiently fixed by beach and
marsh grasses, two shrubby species make their appearance, wax myrtle
(Myrica cerifera) and baccharis B. glomeruliflora, which make condi-
tions more favorable for seed germination and the development of pine

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 51

trees. Open, scrubby thickets of pine are thus formed by natural seed-
ing in spots on the bar. The trees are kept stunted by severe, salt-
laden east winds which in winter kill all the needles on the exposed side
of the tree. However, where the stand is sufficiently thick, as it is in
the Rehoboth Town Woodlot, only the outer fringe of trees is kept
stunted while inside the stand the trees attain good development. (See
figure 9.)

Fig. 7. Henlopen dune encroaching inland, gradually burying a loblolly pine thicket.

Establishing Forests on the Sand-bar

The desirability of having as much as possible of the area of the
sand-bar in forest is unquestionable. The chief advantages would be
the production of timber on otherwise waste land, the seashore render-
ed more fixed and secure, and the force and sweep of ocean winds les-
sened. As a place for summer resorts, for which the bar is chiefly of
any value, it would be incomparably better if covered with groves of

52 BULLETIN No. 82.

pine. The prevailing opinion of longshoremen is that it would be im-
possible to establish forests on the sand-bar. However, French exper-
ience has demonstrated the feasibility of growing forests anywhere
along the coast immediately back of the dune ridge of the lower beach
area. It will be a difficult undertaking at first, but it can be done. It
will be necessary to experiment with different methods in order to de-
termine the best ways and means of establishing forests.

Remains of a pine forest on Cape Henlopen buried by sand dunes.

Planting can only take place in the area back of the dune ridge
and only where there are sufficient beach or marsh grasses to hold
the sand. (See figure 10.) Loblolly pine will be the most desirable
species. It may be necessary in some instances to provide a nat-
ural growth of shrubs for protection to the young seedlings; myrtle
and baccharis, propagated from cuttings and placed 4 feet apart, will
form large clumps in three to four years, and two-year-old loblolly
seedlings planted to the leeward of such bunches will certainly grow.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE.

53

There are a number of sturdy hardwood species which might be ex-
pected to serve well as windbreaks along the border of pine planta-
tions, such as black willow, red mulberry, black cottonwood, and ailan-
thus. The best form of protection is a high dune ridge to the leeward
of which trees will grow well. These ridges have been built in France,
and have proved extremely successful. The French are the best au-
thorities on this subject, and have written many books upon it, the best

Fig. 9. Loblolly stand, 100 yards from seacoast, on the middle beach of the sand bar.

probably being "Etude sur la cote et dunes du Medoc," by Pierre Buf-
fault*

Draining the marsh portions of the sand-bar would increase its
adaptability for growing loblolly. Some years ago a large amount of
money was spent by the Federal Government in work on constructing
an inland waterway from Lewes to Sinepuxent Bay, but the project

*Note. The best German reference is "Bildung, Entwickelung und Bau der
Dune," by Sokolow.

54

BULLETIN No. 82.

was abandoned before half completed as it was found to be too expen-
sive. What digging was done served to drain a large area of marsh-
land between Ocean View and Bethany Beach, which has since become
seeded up, in part, to some good, young loblolly thickets, while other
portions of it have been put under cultivation. Representative Bur-
ton, of Delaware, is now working on a scheme for the completion of an

!j£L£ .,f

tl

Fig. 10. Middle of sand bar, where sand is well fixed by beach grass. Such land is suitable

for planting.

inland waterway from Lewes into and through Rehoboth Bay, which
is a much smaller project and would not require a large appropriation
by Congress. Such a canal would not only prove of immense value
as an inland highway for ships but would also result in draining large
areas of marshland along the sand-bar.

Afforestation of the sand-bar is an entirely practicable proposi-
tion for the State to undertake. The fact that the completion of the
inland waterway from Lewes to Rehoboth would greatly increase nat-

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 55

ural afforestation on the sand-bar, by draining large areas of marsh-
land furnishes an additional reason for this canal work being done,
either by an appropriation from Congress or the State.

A STATE FOREST POLICY FOR DELAWARE

Recent expert investigation of the problem of our future timber
supply emphasizes the facts that the next generation will be consider-
ably limited in the sources of timber supply ; that there will be an in-
creasing percentage of lumber of poorer quality used ; and that there
will be a steady rise in prices of forest products of all kinds. It is the
duty of both State and Federal Governments to do what they can to
alleviate, as far as possible, the future timber scarcity which, in the
course of time, is bound to come.

There are two general lines of action which the State of Delaware
should pursue, in order to better its future wood supply conditions :

(1) To encourage forestry by private owners.

(2) To create State forests.

(1) Encourage Forestry by Private Owners

The State should take such action as will encourage private own-
ers in the care of their woodlands with a view of greater timber pro-
duction in the State, which would considerably increase the revenue
derived from forest land.

Rational treatment of forests by private owners can be greatly
promoted by means of State action along the following lines :

(a) There should be adequate fire and trespass laws* for the pro-
tection of private forests, and an equitable system of county taxation
for forest lands.

(b) Provision should be made for lectures on forestry before
farmers institutes and at the State college.

(c) Provision should be made for expert examination of wood-
lands of private owners and advice as to the proper methods of treat-
ing them.

(d) A nursery should be established and maintained in connec-
tion with the Experiment Station, in order to provide forest tree seed-
lings free of charge to those wishing to plant.

(e) Provision should be made for experimental planting and for-
estry work to be carried on, especially on lands belonging to the State
or public institutions, and for publishing the results of forest manage-
ment in different parts of the State.

Note. For Delaware statutes relating to forests, see appendix.

56 BULLETIN No. 82.

The promotion of the agricultural interests of private owners by
the State is extremely well carried on by the State Experiment Sta-
tion, and the promotion of forest management could also be made more
or less a branch of the work of the Experiment Station, as is the case in
Ohio.

(2) Create State Forests

Theoretically the State is the ideal owner of forest land, to be
held continuously as such, as it best can afford to practice forestry.
Forest management deals with the growing of a crop which requires
one, two, or more generations to become ripe, and this time element is
the great drawback which tends to deter private owners from properly
handling their woodland, while with the State, which considers the
welfare of the next as well as of the present generation, this factor of
time should have no influence.

It should be the policy of the State of Delaware to acquire all the
land for State forest purposes, which can be procured at a sufficiently
low figure, and in lots sufficiently large for convenience of administra-
tion and management. The price paid should not exceed $10 per acre,
and contiguous holdings of not less than 100 acres and preferably 500
acres in extent should be purchased.

Afforestation of the large area of sand-bar land, owned by the
State in Sussex County, has already been discussed and shown to be
both practicable and advisable. The boundaries or extent of this State
land are not accurately known at present, but are soon to be deter-
mined by survey ; those who are best able to judge estimate that its area
is at least 10,000 acres. Most of this land should be set aside as a State
Forest, since 75 per cent of it can reasonably be expected to support a
good forest growth. If pine forests were established on this sand-bar
they would not only be an important source of timber supply and
revenue to the State in the future, but also a great protective measure
in the fixation of dunes.

State Board of Forestry and a State Forester

There should be created, in Delaware, a State Board of Forestry,
consisting of seven members, including the Governor of the State, the
Director of the Experiment Station, the State Horticulturist, and the
three members and the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture;
this Board to act without compensation, save for actual necessary ex-
penses incurred in the performance of official duties.

FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 57

The duties of this Board should be: to promote the State forest
policy, and modify the one adopted when deemed expedient; and to
encourage rational forest management by private owners. It should
have control of the disbursement of funds appropriated for forestry
purposes, and general administration of State forests which may be
created.

It is recommended that a technically trained forester be appointed,
to serve under the direction of the State Board of Forestry and as an
adjunct to the Experiment Station and the State College. He should
be known as the State Forester, and should receive a salary for his ser-
vices, and be reimbursed for necessary field expenses. His chief duties
would consist in executing the recommendations already given for en-
couraging private forestry, and in managing any State Forests which
may be created.

58

BULLETIN No. 82.

Criminal
trespass on
timber.

Penaly.

Setting fires
near timber.

Penalty.

APPENDIX.

Delaware Statutes Relative to Forests

"Revised Code, Chap. CXXVIIL— Sec. 17. If any
person shall willfully and unlawfully * * * fell, or cut
down, any tree, or sapling of another ; or shall willfully and
unlawfully bark, or skin any tree or sapling of another,
standing or growing in the soil, and attached to the free-
hold, without the consent of the owner of such tree, or sap-
ling, had and obtained ; such person shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding two
hundred dollars, and may also, in the discretion of the
court, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding two months.

Revised Code, Page 946. — Sec. 1. From and after the
passage of this act it shall not be lawful for any person to
set fire to any grass, brush, or other substance, where the
burning thereof will in any manner endanger any timber,
either standing or felled, or other property, without first
giving sufficient notice to the owners and occupiers of such
timber and property, as will enable them to take such neces-
sary steps to guard against such damages as they may deem
proper, of his intention to set fire to such grass, brush, or
other substance, and using all due and necessary precaution
on his part to prevent any damage or loss to the timber or
property of others.

Sec. 2. Any person violating Sec. 1 of this act shall,
upon conviction thereof, before any justice of the peace of
this State, be by said justice fined any sum not exceeding
twenty-five dollars- and costs of prosecution, and besides,
be liable in a suit for damages that may be sustained by
any one on account of his failure to comply with the pro-
visions of this act. ' '

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