(UIjp i. 1. lill IGibrarg 5fortt| (Earoltna ^tate Imueraitg Forestry 3D144 16 FOREST RESOURCES, LIBRARY S00420601 D This book is due on the date indicated below and is subject to an overdue fine as posted at the circulation desk. EXCEPTION: Date due will be earlier if this item is RECALLED. SEP 0 2 TEB 2 5 200.1 ^JUN 02 200 MAY 1 1 2004 NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. J. A. HOLMES, STATE GEOLOGIST, BULLETIN No. 5. TIMBER TREES AND FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. BY GIFFORD PINCHOT AND W. -W. ASHE. WINSTON : M. I. & J. C. Stewart, Public Printers. 1897. « ^en-t-cif^M 'f NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. J. A. HOLMES, STATE GEOLOGIST. BULLETIN No. 6. TIMBER TREES AND FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. GIFFORD PINCHOT W. W. ASHE. WINSTON: 1. 1. & J. C. Stewart, Public Printers. CONTENTS. PAGE. Illustrations 7 Board of Managers 9 Letter of Transmittal U Preface 13 Key for the Determination of Larger Forest Trees 17 Timber Trees of North Carolina 33 Magnolia foetida ; magnolia 33 Magnolia glauca ; white bay 34 Magnolia acuminata; cucumber tree 35 Magnolia macrophylla ; great-leaved magnolia 36 Magnolia tripetala ; umbrella tree 37 Magnolia fraseri ; mountain magnolia 38 Liriodendron tulipifera; yellow poplar 39 Asimina triloba ; papaw 41 Gordonia lasianthus ; loblolly bay 42 Tilia americana ; basswood 43 Tilia pubescens ; southern lin 44 Tilia heterophylla ; lin 45 Ilex opaca; boUy 46 Cyrilla racemiflora ; cyrilla 47 Aesculusoctandra ; buckeye 47 Acer spicatum ; mountain jnaple 48 Acer pennsylvaniium ; striped maple. 49 Acer barbatum ; sugar maple 50 Acer saccharinum ; silver or white maple 51 Acer rubrnm ; le-l maple 53 Acer negundo ; boielder 53 Robinia pseudacacia ; yellow locubt 54 Robinia viccosa; clammy locust 55 Cladrastis lutea ; yellowwood 56 Gleditschia triacanthos ; honey locust 56 Cercis canadensis ; redbud 57 Prunus pennsylvanica ; wild red cherry 58 Prunus serotina; wild black cherry 59 Aiuelanchier cauadensis ; service tree 60 Liquidambar styraciflua ; sweet gum 61 Cornus florida ; dogwood 63 Nyssa sylvatica; black gum 63 Nyssa aquatica ; tupelo gum 65 CONTENTS. PAGE. Oxydendron arboreum ; sourwood 66 Kalmia latifolia ; laurel 67 Rhododendron maximum ; great laurel 68 Diospyros virginiana ; persimmon 68 Mohrodendron carolinum ; snowdrop tree 70 Fraxinus americana; white ash 70 Fraxinus pennsylvanica ; red ash 73 Fraxinus pennsylvanica, var. lanceolata ; green ash 73 Fraxinus caroliniana ; water ash 73 Persea borbonia ; sweet or red bay 74 Sassafras sassafras ; sassafras 75 Ulmus americana ; white elm 76 Ulmus alata ; winged elm 77 Ulmus fulva; slippery elm 78 Morus rubra ; red mulberry 79 Celtis occidentalls ; haeliberry 80 Platanus occidentalis ; sycamore 81 Juglans cinerea ; white walnut 82 Juglans nigra ; black w^alnut 83 Hicoria minima ; bitternut 84 Hicoria aquatica ; water hickory 85 Hicoria ovata ; shag-bark hickory 86 Hicoria alba; white hickory 87 Hicoria glabra ; pignut 88 Quercus alba ; white oak 89 Quercus minor ; post oak 91 Quercus lyrata ; overcup oak 92 Quercus prinus ; chestnut oak 93 Quercus michauxii ; swamp chestnut oak 95 Quercus virginiana ; live oak 96 Quercus rubra; red oak , 97 Quercus texana ; Texas red oak 98 Quercus coccinea ; scarlet oak 99 Quercus velutina ; black oak 101 Quercus catesb^ei ; fork-leaf black jack oak 102 Quercus digitata ; Spanish oak 103 Quercus marilandica ; black-jack oak 104 Quercus nigra; water oak 105 Quercus laurifolia ; laurel oak 106 Quercus brevifolia ; upland willow oak 107 Quercus imbricaria; shingle oak 107 Quercus phellos; willow oak 108 Castanea dentata ; chestnut 109 Fagus ferruginia ; beech Ill Ostrya virginica ; ironwood 112 Carpinus caroliniana ; hornbeam 113 Betula lutea ; yellow birch 113 CONTENTS. 0 PAGE. Betula nigra ; river birch 114 Betulalenta; cherry or sweet birch 115 Salix nigra ; black willow 116 Populus grandidenta ; aspen 117 Populus heterophylla ; cotton wood 118 Populus monilifera; Carolina cottonwood 118 Thuja occidentalis : arbor vitte 119 Cupressus thyoides; white cedar 119 Juniperus virginiana ; red cedar 121 Taxodium distichum ; cypress 122 Pinus strobus ; white pine 123 Pinus tseda; loblolly pine 125 Pinus rigida; pitch pine 126 Pinus serotina ; pond pine 127 Pinus virginiana; scrub pine 128 Pinus pungens ; Table Mountain pine 129 Pinus echinata ; short-leaf pine 130 Pinus palustris ; long-leaf pine 131 Picea nigra; black spruce 138 Tsuga canadensis ; hemlock 134 Tsuga caroliniana ; Carolina hemlock 135 Abies fraseri ; balsam 136 Sabal palmetto ; palmetto 136 Forests of North Carolina 141 Forest divisions 141 The coastal plaiii region 141 The Piedmont plateau region 141 The mountain region 142 Forests of the Coastal Plain Region 143 Maritime Forests 144 Soils of the maritime division 144 Condition of the forests 145 Forests of the Pine Belt 147 Forest trees 147 Distinctive growth 148 Physical characteristics of the pine belt .' 148 Changes in the kind of forest growth 149 Forests of the Pine Belt Uplands 149 Long LEAF Pine Woodland 151 The pine barrens 152 Soils of the pine barrens 152 Conditions of the forests of the pine barrens 153 Possibilities of the pine barrens 155 Level pine-woodland ■ 156 b CONTENTS. PAGE. Supply and utilization of long-leaf pine 158 Treatment required by the long leaf pine forests 15i) Loblolly Pine Woodland 161 Condition of the forests 1153 Merchantable loblolly pine timber 163 Forest industries 164 Forest protection 164 Reproduction of loblolly pine forests 165 Sylvicultural treatment of loblolly pine 165 Transitional Forests 168 Forests of Lowlands of Coastal Plain 169 Oak flats 170 Merchantable timber on oak flats 172 Sylvicultural treatment 173 Gum and cypi'ess swamps 173 Merchantable timber of gum and cypress swamps 174 4 White cedar or juniper swamps 175 Condition of unlumbered swamps 176 Treatment of white cedar swamps 178 The pond pine poeosins 179 Forests of the Piedmont Plateau Region 181 Forests of the Piedmont lowlands 183 Improvement of the forests of the lowlands 185 Forests of the Piedmont uplands 186 Soils of the Piedmont uplands 187 General condition of the forest 187 Eastern pine belt of the Piedmont plateau 188 Forests of the eistern granite areas 189 Treatment required by forests of eastern granite areas 190 Forests of eastern red sandstone belt 191 Improvements of the forests of the sandstone belt 193 Forests of the slate soils 194 Deciduous forests of the Piedmont plateau 196 Forests of the compact red loams or red clays 196 Improvement of the forests 198 Forest of the loose gray.loams 199 Condition of the deciduous forests of the Piedmont plateau 203 Western pine belt of the Piedmont plateau 304 Merchantable timber of western Piedmont pine Vjelt 306 Improvement of forest 207 Forests of Mountain Region 208 Forests of lower mountains 209 Distinctive growth 210 Table mountain pine division 210 ILLUSTRATIONS. • < PAGE. Merchantable timber ot Table mountain pine division 211 Improvement of the forests 212 Short-leaf and pitch pine forests 218 Condition of the pine forests 214 Improvement of the forests 215 White pine forests 215 Condition of the Avhite pine forests 216 Merchantable timber of white pine forests 218 Improvement of the white pine forests 218 Forests of the higher mountains 219 Soils of the higher mountains 220 Forest trees of the higher mountains 220 Condition of the forests 221 Merchantable timber of the higher mountains 222 Forest industries of the mountain regions 222 Forests of the mountain summits 223 ILLUSTRATIONS. Plate I. Forest view looking towards Grrandfather mountain. Frontispiece. II. Liriodendron tulipifera ; yellow poplar 89 III. Tilia heterophylla; lin 45 IV. Acer barbatum ; sugar maple 50 V. Prunus serotina ; group of wild black cherry trees 59 VI. Fraxiiius americana; white ash 71 VII. Quercus alba; white oak 89 VIII. Quercus virginiana; live oak 96 IX. Quercus rubra; red oak 97 X. Quercus nigra; water oak 105 XI. Castanea dentata; chestnut 109 XII. Betula lenta ; cherry birch 116 XIII. Juniperus virginiana ; red cedar 121 XIV. Pinus strobus ; white pine 124 XV. Pinus tfeda; loblolly pine 125 XVI. Pinus serotina; [jond pine 127 XVII. Pinus palustris; long-leaf pine 131 XVIII. Picea nigra; black spruce 138 XIX. Tsuga canadensis; hemlock 134 XX. Sabal palmetto ; palmetto 137 XXI. Dredge cutting logging CH,nal in eastern cypress swamp 178 XXII. Mixed hardwood and pine forest of IMedmont plateau region 192 XXIII. Mixed hardwood forest of mountain region 221 8 * ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Figure 1. Map showing distribution of cucumber tree and magnolia... 33 •2. Map showing distribution of white bay and mountain mag- nolia 34 3. Map showing distribution of umbrella tree and great-leaved magnolia 37 4. Map showing economic distribution of yellow poplar 40 5. Map showing distribution of basswood, lin, and southern lin 43 G. Map showing relative abundance of sugar maple 50 7. Map showing relative abundance of yellow locust 54 8. Map showing economic and botanical distribution of wild black cherry and distribution of wild red cherry 59 9. Map showing relative abundance of sweet gum 62 10. Map showing distribution of black gum and tupelo 64 11. Map showing distribution of persimmon 69 12. Map shoAving distribution of white ash and water ash 71 13. Map showing distribution of American elm 76 14. Map showing distribution of winged elm 78 15. Map showing distribution of black walnut and white walnut 83 16. Map showing distribution of shag-bark hickory and water- bitternut 86 17. Map showing relative abundance of white and pignut hickories 88 18. Map showing relative abundance of white oak 90 19. Map showing distribution of post oak 92 20. Map showing distribution of overcup oak 93 21. Map showing distribution of chestnut oak and swamp chestnut oak 95 22. Map showing distribution of red oak and live oak 97 23. Map showing distribution of turkey oak and Texas red oak 99 24. Map showing relative abundance of scarlet oak 100 25. Map showing distribution of black oak and laurel oak 101 26. Map showing distribution of Spanish oak 103 27. Map showing distribution of water oak 105 28. Map showing distribution of shingle and willow oaks 108 29. Map showing distribution of chestnut and chinquapin 110 30. Map showing distribution of river birch, cherry birch, and yellow birch 115 31. Map showing distribution of pitch pine and white cedar 120 32. Map showing relative abundance of red cedar 121 33. Map showing distribution of white pine and cypress 123 34. Map showing economic distribution of loblolly pine 125 35. Map showing distribution of pond pine, hemlock, and Carolina hemlock 127 36. Map showing distribution of scrub pine and Table moun tain pine 128 37. Map showing economic distribution of short-leaf pine 130 38. Map showing economic distribution of long-leaf pine 132 BOAED OF MANAGERS. Governor D. L. Russell, ex officio Chairman Raleigh. Charles McNamee Biltmore. J. Turner Morehbad Leaksville. J. A. Holmes, State Geologist Chapel Hill LETTER OE TRANSMITTAL. Chapel Hill, N. C, June 19th, 1897. To his Excellency^ Gov. D. L. Russell, Chairman Geological Board,, Raleigh, N. C. Sir : — I beg to submit tor publication as Bulletin 6 of the Geo- logical Survey series, a report on the timber trees of North Car- olina, by Mr. Giiford Pinchot, and a report on the forests and forest conditions in North Carolina, by Mr. W. W. Ashe. Mr. Pinchot has prepared his portion of this bulletin free of charge for services, and I regard his paper as one of the most valuable wiiich has been prepared for the survey. There is already a large demand for copies of this bulletin, even in advance of its being published, and its distribution will serve to answer a number of inquiries from many portions of the country, concerning the timber supplies in North Carolina. With great respect, I beg to remain. Yours obediently, J. A. Holmes, State Geologist. PREFACE. The present Bulletin was planned as a part of the North Caro- lina forest exhibit at Chicago. It was begun before the opening of the World's Fair, but, for reasons which need not be recited her-e, remained unfinished. Since that time it has been continued under stress of other work as opportunity arose, and has reached it present condition only after long delays. It is intended, first, to present a succinct statement of certain salient characteristics of the more important trees of North Caro- lina. The forest flora of no other State is more varied, nor in many v^ays so interesting as this. Partly for this reason, and partly for the uses of this Bulletin in identifying trees through- out the State, a close restriction to those species which are of present value for lumber has not been maintained. The second part of the Bulletin, a short account of the various forest regions of the State, is contributed entirely by Mr. Ashe, whose acquaintance wuth the woodlands of North Carolina is so much more extensive than my own that I have thought it best not to attempt to edit his MS. in any way. In all matters of punctuation, capitalization, and nomenclature, I have preferred to follow the established usage of the Geological Survey throughout, rather than depart from it in a few cases wliere my individual preference might have been difterent. The material contained in the accounts of the, various trees has been gathered chiefly from various publications, assisted by such personal observations as I have been able to make, or as have been contributed by diff'erent observers. I have to express my indebtedness in particular to Prof. Sargent's magnificent "Silva of North America," to Dr. Curtis' "Trees of North Carolina," and to Dr. Chapman's "Fbra of the Southern States." Other authorities have been consulted in the course of preparation, but these are the principal ones. 14 PREFACE. The silvicultural notes, largely tentative in character as they must necessarily be, are intended to refer only to the bearing of each species in North Carolina. Besides Mr. Ashe, to whose notes I am indebted for the descrip- tions of the root systems and for other material, and myself, many others have joined in the work, but it would carry me too far to acknowledge their services in detail. I must ask them to accept this general expression of my sincere appreciation of their assist- ance. GiFFORD PiNCHOT. New York, Nov. 26, 1896. KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. BY WILLIAM WILLARD ASHE. KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE LARGER NPRTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. By W. W. Ashe. The analytical key given below for the detennination of the larger forest trees is based on those characters whi(di are niost accessible and can be obtained throughout the greater part of the growing season. A short explanation of some of the terms used is given, which may be of some service. Opposite leaves are two leaves placed opposite one another, one on either side of the twig. Alternate leaves are leaves not so placed in pairs along the twig. The leaf stem is the stalk on which the leaf stands and by which it is fastened to the twig. A simple leaf is one whose leafstem is attached directly to the twig; 'a. compound leaf, one formed of numerous separate small leaves, or leaflets, which are attached at the end of a common leafstem or along either side of a com- mon leafstem. The leaflets along the leafstem can be arranged opposite each other or alternately. A hud is placed on the twig at the bottom of each leafstem. It is generally a small brown prominence or spur formed of over- lapping scales. Those buds at the end of the twig are larger than those below, and the usual reference is to the end or terminal bud. Buds do not reach their full size and color until about the , middle of July, but they can be clearly seen as soon as the leaves and twig are mature in spring. Most buds are placed on the twig just above where the leafstem joins it ; some buds, however, are concealed in a cup hollowed out of the base of the leafstem. It is important to know where the bud is, as compound leaves are 0 18 KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE determined in this way, tiie small leaflets which make them hav- ing no buds where thej join the leafstem, which otherwise might be taken for the twig. The twig is the growth of the season. Most trees have the buds and the leaves, which grow from the same point, scattered rather regularl}' along the twig, only one or rarely two being at the end of the twig ; the oaks, however, have from three to five such buds and leaves crowded at the end of the twig, besides those on the stem below, and this characteristic grouping of the buds is used to separate these trees from all others. Two of the magnolias have their leaves and buds so grouped, but on account of the large size of the leaves these will not be confused with the oaks. j The figures in parenthasis refer to the page on which a more j lengthy description will be found. I. CONIFERS, TREES WITH LIMBS, CHIEFLY EVERGREEN AND RESIN-BEARING, WITH LEAVES RARELY j\ INCH BROAD. (1) LKAVKS OVER ONE INCH LONG, NEEDLE-LIKE, FROM 2 TO 5 COLLECTED IN A SHORT SHEATH.— P^?^e.y. (a) Leaves 5 together; bark of small limbs whitish or gray. (p. 128.) White Pine. (l>) Leaves o together. Leaves 10 to 15 inches long ; bud at end of the twig covered by many ragged, silvery bracts, (p. 131.) Long-leaf Pine. Leaves G to 10 inches long; bud small and resinous; cone or burr cylindrical, 5 to 6 inches long. ( p. 125.) .'. Loblolly Pine. Leaves 4 to 8 inches long; small bud resi- nous ; cone top-shaped ; trees of eastern swamps, (p 127.) Pond or Savanna Pine. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long; cone top-shaped ; western trees on dry ridges or rarely in deep swamps; buds resinous, (p. 120.) (Northern) Pitch Pine. (c) Leaves 2 together, rarely 3. Leaves about 4 inches long ; cone less than 2 inches long; young twigs covered wuth a whitish or pinkish bloom; buds not resin- ous ; large and common trees, (p. 130.) Short leaf Pine. Leaves about 2 inches long ; cone 2i inches long ; small trees with curving branches, and thin scaly bark on old trunks, (p. 128.). .JERSEY OR SCRUB Pine. Leaves about 2 inches long; cone large with stout hooked prickles on the ends of the scales : a rare tree, occurring chiefly along the Blue Ridge, (p. 129.) Table-mountain Pine. LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. (2) LEAVES FLATTENED, RARELY 1 INCH LONG, SCATTERED SINGLY ALONG THE TWIG ; FRUIT NOT A BERRY. (a) Large and commoa trees of eastern swauips ; not evergreen ; the end of the twig falling off in the autumn. Leaves spreading in two rows, one on either side of the twig. (p. 122.) _ Cypress. Leaves, fi(,ppres?ed to the twig, in many rows on all sides of it ; smaller tree than the above, growing in pine barren ponds Pond Cypress'. (&) Trees of the mountains ; evergreen. Fruit a small burr or cone, about 1 inch long or less. Leaves white beneath, in two rows, one on either side of the twig; growing along mountain streams, (p. 134.) Hemlock. Leaves scattered on all sides of the twig ; scales of the cone larger than the last and spreading ; rare trees, chiefly along the Blue Ridge; (p. 135.) Carolina Hemlock. Fruit a larger, cylindrical cone, 2 to 4 inches long ; trees of high mountains. Leaves green, nearly round, scattered on all sides of the twig. (p. 133.) Black Spruce. Leaves in one row on either side of the twig, white beneath ; trees with white, smooth bark, found on the highest mountains, (p. 136 ) Carolina Fir or Balsam. (3) LEAVES SHORT, SCALE-LIKE, LESS THAN i^-INCH LONG; TWIGS OF THE YEAR GREEN.— Cedar*. Spray, that is a bunch of twigs, flattened ; fruit a (Juniper. small cone ; trees of eastern swamps, (p. 119.) White Cedar or Twigs round: fruit a small, blue berry; (often bearing lars:e, hard, brown excrescences on twigs); dry soil. (p. 121.) Red Cedar. Twigs, as well as the spray (bunch of twigs) flat- tened ; fruit a small cone ; rocky slopes of the Blue Ridge, also extensively cultivated, (p. 119.) Arborvitae. IT. BROAD-LEAF TREES ; TREES WITH LIMBS ; LEAVES FROM i OF AN INCH TO 10 INCHES BROAD, CHIEFLY DECIDUOUS. (1) leaves compound and placed alternately along the twig. (a) Leaflets placed alternately along the common leafstem, 7 to 11 in number; flowers white; fruit a dry pod ; S. W. mountains ; rare. (p. 56) Yellowwood. (b) Stout thorns at the base of each leafstem and each leaflet ; leaflets dotted with translucent dots ; bark warty and thorny ; sandy sea coast ". Prickly Ash-'. iTaxodium disticUuin imbriciria (Xuttall) AsUe, Haiiflbojk of North Carolina, p. 43 (189(i). 2Xanthoxylum carolinlanum. Lam. 20 KEY FOR THE DETEKMIN ATION OF THE (c) Twigs angled, frequently bearing tAvo flat- tened thorns at the base of each leafstem ; leaflets not toothed, opposite on the leafstem, over 11 in number ; liowers white ; fruit a dry pod ; bark furrowed, not thorny, (p. 54.) Yellow Locust. {d) Twigs round, stout ; frequently compound thorns scattered over limbs and trunk ; leaves, frequently twice compound, with rather small, toothed leaflets ; fruit a long, dark brown, pulpy, many-seeded pod. (p. 56.) Honey Locust. (e) Twigs sticky or clammy; fruit a dry pod; Macon county, also cultivated ; a shrub or in cultivation a small tree. (p. 55.) Clammy Locust. (/) Twigs smooth, bearing prominent brown buds ; leaflets sharply toothed, smooth ; flowers white, small, in large clusters ; fruit small, red and berry-like ; bruised bark on twigs bitter and scented like cherry bark ; highest mountains Mountain Ash^. ig) Twigs not thorny or sticky ; usually from 2 to 4 buds above eacli leaf-scar ; sharply toothed leaflets opposite on leafstem, over 3 inches long, 5 to 13 in number ; fruit a nut, with a husk dividing in 4 parts. — Hickories. Leaves and leafstems smooth, not hairy; leaflet 6 to 7 : buds scaly. Leaflets 5, smooth ; no resinous particles on lower surface ; nut not angled, wath a thick shell and thin husk, often pear- shaped ; bark not scaly, (p. 88.) PiGNUT. Leaflets very large, 5 or 7, smooth, but thickly dotted beneath with resinous I^articles; twigs, s-mootli, shining, i^ur pie-brown ; nut angled, whitish or mealy, rather thin shelled ; the husk greenish-brown, rougliened with min- ute prominencies, often splitting to the base; large trees with shaggy or loose (Hickory ^ bark ; common, (p. 88.) Red heart or Smallnut Leaflets 5. smooth ; nut white, small, sharply angled, with thin, white shell- and thick husk, the fruit globular; bark very shaggy ; trees of dry or rocky (Hickory^. ridges Small or Carolina Shagbark Leaflets 5 to 11, downy or hairy beneath ; buds scaly. Leaflets 5 or 7, soft-velvety beneath ; nut with thick husk and thin, white (Hickory. shell; trees with shaggy bark. (p. 86.)....Shag OR Scaly-bark Leaflets 5 to 9, soft downy beneath ; twigs and buds very stout ; nut brown, oblong, thick-shelled ; husk thick ; large trees of low grounds, with shaggy bark; infrequent Large Shagbark Hickory*. iPyrus aniericana, (Marshall) De Candolle. 2Hlcoria odorata, (Marshall) Sarjjent. sRicoria carollnfe-septeutrionalis, Ashe. Notes on the Hickories, Chapel Hill, N. C. (4896.) •iHicoria laciniosa, (Michaux flls) Sargent. LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 21 Leaflets 7 to 11, rough-hairy beneath ; nut thick-shehed, with thick husk; bark of tree rough but not shaggy, (p. 87.) White Hickory. Leaflets scurfy beneatli with silvery particles ; leafsteru and midribs hairy ; nuts thick-shelled, the husk usually adhering to it ; bark very rough ; small trees on sandy soil ; throughout except high mountains Sand HiCKORyi. Leaflets 7 or more, and leafstem, often smooth; nuts thin-shelled and bitter ; husk thin and adhering to the nut ; end buds, long, yellow, without scales (naked). Leaflets 7 to 11, soft-velvety or smooth- ish beneath ; nut large, very thin-shelled and bitter; husk thin. (p. 84.) Bitternut Hickory. Leaflets 9 to 13, smooth ; nut small, very thin-shelled and bitter; confined to the lower Cape Fear section, (p. 85.) Water (bitternut) Hickory. (70 Leaflets smaller, over 11 in number; fruit a nut with a husk or rind which does not split at all on the mature nut ; pith brown, cham- bered.— Walnuts. Leaflets soft-velvety ; fruit nearly round, (p. 83.) Black Walnut. Leaflets clammy or sticky ; fruit oblong, (p. 84.) White Walnut. (2) LEAVES COMPOUND AND PLACED OPPOSITE ON THE TWIG. (a) Leaflets 5 or 7, spreading from the same point at the end of the leaf-stem ; fruit 3 or 3 brown nuts in a yellow or brownish husk. (p. 47.) Buckeye. {b) Twigs and buds green and shining; leaflets 3 or 5, coarsely toothed ; fruit Avith 3 wings, (p. 53.) Boxelder. {(:) Twigs stout and brown ; buds brown and scurify ; fruit with a single wing. — Ashes. (1) The very broad wing entirely surround- ing the seed ; leaflets 5 to 9, green both sides; eastern, (p. 73.) Water Ash (3) Fruit narrowly winged at one end only ; leaflets 7 to 9. Leaves whitened beneath ; twigs either smooth or velvety, (p. 70.) White Ash. Twigs, buds and green lower surface of leaves velvety ; fruit narrowly winged, (p. 72.) Red Ash. Twigs and leaves smooth ; leaves bright green beneath, sharply toothed, (p. 73.). Green Ash. (3) leaves simple and placed opposite ON the twig. (a) Leaves entire, thin, oblong, large, over 3 inches long, downy beneath ; flowers, slender, droop- ing, white; fruit plum-like Fringe Tree-. [h) Leaves evergreen, thick, smooth, pointed, 3 to 5 inches long ; fruit large, 1-seeded ; rich hummocks along the coast ^ /. Dkvilwood or Olive*. 'Hicorla villosa (Sarg.) Ashe. 2Cliionauthus virginica, Liniiaeus. ^Osmauthus americanus, (LiniiEeus) Benthara & Hooker. 22 KEY FOK THE DETERMINATION OF THE (c) Leaves toothed, oblong, small, 2 inches long: buds small and acute, or large, round, and flattened from the top : flowers seeming soli- tary, large and white ; fruit a cluster of red berries; twigs purple or green, (p. 63.) Dogwood. (d) Leaves oblong, 1* to 3 inches long, toothed or entire-margined; buds, long-stalked, rusty- scurfy ; flowers white, small, in flat topped clusters; fruit black or bluish, containing a seed gi'ooved on the side ; small trees or shrubs several kinds of Black Haw^s '. (e) Leaves broader and short, 3 to 5 lobed ; fruit with wings. — Maples. (The three first fre- quently grown as shade trees.) Buds red, blunt ; leaves white beneath, generally with 3 shallow lobes ; very common; wings of fruit f inch long. (p. 52.) Red Maple. Buds red, blunt ; leaves white beneath with 3 to 5 lobes; wings of fruit more than 1 inch long; cultivated, (p. 5L) White Maple. Buds brown, acute ; leaves over 2 inches wide, green or white beneath with 3 lobes, each lobe 3-notched ; large trees with rough, hard, shaggy bark ; fruit U inch in length, (p. 50.) Sugar Maple. Leaves as in the sugar maple, but only half the size ; fruit less than one inch long ; small trees with smooth gray bark, branching near the ground; rocky river banks in the counties drained by the Yadkin and Catawba rivers " White-bark Maples Small trees of the liigh luountains, above 3,000 feet, with striped branches, green twigs and large, smooth, 3-lobed leaves ; long, stalked, purplish buds. (p. 49.).-Striped Maple. Small trees of the highest mountains, over4.000 feet, with purplish twigs and 3-lobed leaves, velvety beneath, (p. 48.) Mountain Maple. (4) LEAVES SIMPLE AND ALTERNATE OR SCATTERED ALONG THE TWIG. (a) Leaves mostly rather large, 3 or more inches long, nearly as broad as long, moi-e or less heart-shaped. (1) Small trees ; leaves smooth and with entire edges; fruit a pod; flowers in early spring, bright red. (p. 57.) Rbdbud. (2) Larger trees, with leaves triangular, smoothisli, finely toothed on the mar- gins ; buds resinous when crushed. — Cotto7iwoods. Trees of eastern swamps ; leaves 1 Species ot VilDurnum. 2 Acer leucoderme, Small. Bui. Tor. Bot. CI., xxli, p. 367. LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. » 23 finely toothed; leafstemflat ; twigs angled, (p. 118.) Cottonwood. Trees of lowgrounds, eastern and middle sections ; leaves finely toothed ; leafstem round. (p.ll8.)-CAROLiNA Cottonwood. Trees on dry slopes of the Blue Ridge ; leaves, about 2 inches long, coarsely toothed; leafstem flat- tened, (p. 117.) Aspen. (3) Mostly trees on the mountains or cool banks; flowers white, in early summer; fruit a small, dry berry ; leaves sharply toothed ; twigs with large buds and inodorous bark. — Lins or Lindens. Leaves thin and nearly smooth, green both sides ; found chiefly around high mountains, (p. 42.) Basswood. Leaves thickish and white beneath, (p. 45.) LiN. Leaves thickish, velvety beneath ; found chiefly on cool hummocks near the coast, (p. 44.) Southern Lin. (4) Small trees of rich woodland ; bark ill- scented when broken ; fruit, ripening in summer, a black, edible berry; often cultivated, (p. 79.) Mulberry. {b) Leaves about as broad as long, 2 to 5 inches long, not heart shaped in outline; buds scat- tered ; large and common trees except last. Leaves large, with a broad notch at the top, lobed on the sides ; large buds flat- (Yellow Poplar. tened; in rich woods and along streams, (p. 39.). .Tulip-tree or Leaves small, deeply 5-lobed : crushed buds resinous scented ; twigs often with corky wings ; fruit a rough ball, about . 1 inch in diameter hanging by a stem 2 to 3 inches long. (p. 61.) Sweet Gum. Leaves 3 to 5-lobed, white beneath with soft wool ; leafstem covering the bud ; trunk of tr^e smooth and whiti^ih above; fruit a rather smooth ball, about 1 inch in diameter, hanging by a slender stem ; mostly along streams, (p. 81.) Sycamore. Leaves with sharp spines along their edges, thick, evergreen, dark green ; trees w^th smooth gray bark. (p. 46.) Holly. (c) Leaves large, 4 to 30 inches long, oblong in outline, not toothed or lobed; flowers large and white. — Magnolias. Leaves thick, evergreen, over 6 inches long, brown-hairy beneath ; Brunswick (Magnolia. county, and frequently cultivated, (p. 33.) Evergreen Leaves smaller, white beneath ; bark white and smooth ; buds silky ; eastern swamps White Bay. Leaves 4 to 6 inches long, greenish beneath ; bark furrowed ; buds siiky- hairv ; mountains Cucumber Tree. 24 . KEY FOB THE DETERMINATION OF THE Leaves large, 10 to 30 inches long ; buds silky; rare; western, (p. 36.) Great-leavbd Magnolia. Leaves 10 to 15 inches long, with a deep notch at the bottom, often collected at the end of the twig ; buds not hairy ; high mountains, (p. 38.) Wahoo or Mountain Magnolia. Leaves 10 to 20 inches long, pointed at each end, collected at the ends of the twigs; along streams, (p. 37.) Umbrella Tree. {d) Leaves longer than broad. 2 to 8 inches long ; twigs mostly brown, with from 2 to 5 buds crowded at the top, other buds scattered below ; fruit an acorn, i. e. a nut with the base enclosed in a scaly cup. — Oaks. (1) Leaves not at all lobed or toothed, except on vierorous shoots, wedge-shaped or tri- angular or long and narrow in outline ; leafstems short.— TFa/;er Oaks and Willow Oaks. "1) Leaves green on both sides. Leaves 4 to 6 inches long, triangular in outline, thick; buds large; twigs thick ; acorn large, ^ inch wide ; small trees; bark rough, black, (p. 103.) Black-jack Oak. Leaves narrowly triangular, 2 to 3 inches long ; twigs slender ; buds small and blunt ; nut small ; trees with smoothish gray bark ; eastern, (p. 105.) Water Oak. Leaves very narrow, pointed ; twigs slender ; in the middle and eastern parts of the State, usually in wet places, (p. 108) Willow Oak. Leaves paler beneath and downy ; banks of streams along the Blue Ridge and to the westward, (p. 107) Shingle Oak. *2) Leaves whitened beneath, 2 to 5 inches long ; extreme east. Leaves very narrow ; acorn small, globose, whitened ; small trees on dry (Willow Oak. sandy soil. (p. 107.) Barren or Upland Leaves broader, evei-green; large trees, on the coast, Avith a long acorn, (p. 96.) Live Oak. (2) Leaves more or less lobed, the divisions tipped with a bristle.— iied Oaks and Slack Oaks. *1) Leaves with a leafstem less than 1 inch long. Leaves broad, 3-lobed at the top. (p. 103.) Black-jack Oak. Leaves narrow, ^ to 1 inch broad, with shallow lobes; on the sea coast, (p. 106.) Laurel Oak. Leaves about 2 inches wide with 3 lobes at the top or shallow lobes on the sides ; mountains Lea's Oak^. Leaves green and smooth on both sides with many long, often curved iQuercus leaua, Nuttall. LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 25 lobes ; acorn large ; cup with coarse, spreading scales ; small trees with (jack OR Sand Oak. rough, gray bark; on pine barrens, (p. 102.)--Fork-leap Black- ^3) Leaves with a long and slender leaf- stem, 1 to 3 inches long, green beneath. Leaves over twice as long as broad, the lobes acute; rare ; middle section Bartram'S Oak^. Leaves broader, generally not twice as long as broad with many lobes on each side ; large trees. 'i) With deep and rounded hollows be- tween the lobes of the leaves ; large trees. Light gray bark on limbs ; nut half covered by the cup ; common on dry, stiff or gravelly soils ; twigs brownish, (p. 99.).. Scarlet Oak. With dark gray bark on branches ; only base of nut covered by the cup ; rare ; along streams of the middle counties ; twigs steel-gray. (p. 98.). .Texas Red Oak. 'i) With shallower, acute hollows between the lobes of the leaf. Leaves downy beneath ; cup cover- ing half of the large nut ; bark rough and black, (p. 101.) Black Oak. Leaves smooth beneath ; cup very shallow ; bark striped, dark, and light gray ; western, (p. 97.) (Northern) Red Oak. *3) Leaves whitened beneath ; leafstem slender ; nut small, globular, (p. 103.) Spanish Oak. (3) Leaves more or less lobed or toothed, the divisions rounded and not bristle- tipped ; leafstems less than 1 inch long ; bark gray, furrowed or shaggy.— W^/itte Oaks and Chestnut Oaks. Leaves deeply 5 to 9-lobed ; nut nearly covered by the cup ; in the eastern swamps, (p. 92.) Overcup Oak. Leaves deeply 5 to 7-lobed ; cup one-half the length of the acorn ; small trees, common on dry soil. (p. 91) Post Oak. Leaves 7 to 9-lobed ; cup of acorn shallow ; large trees ; light gray bark; common, (p. 89.) White Oak. Leaves thick with many, rounded, shallow lobes ; bark deeply fur- rowed ; dry soil ; western ; acorn very large, (p. 93.) RocK Chestnut Oak. Leaves thin, velvety beneath, with many rounded, shallow lobes ; bark shaggy ; swamps and river banks eastward, (p. 95.) Swamp Chestnut Oak. .) Basswood bears seed very abundantly every 2 or 3 years. The young growth is eagerly devoured by cattle. Specimens over 2 44 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. feet in diameter are usually hollow at the butt and not uncommonly through the entire stem. Stumps of trees which have been cut or blown down sprout vigorously. Windfalls are frequent. The large thick roundish leaves are sharp-toothed, narrow- pointed at the apex, and unevenly heart-shaped at the base. The •clusters of small white flowers are borne on an olDlong, leaf-like bract, and the fruit is egg shaped, about i inch in length and cov- ered with short gray wool. The dark red winter-buds are stout, egg-shaped, and pointed. The root system is a network of strong lateral roots. The wood is soft, straight-grained, not durable; light brown in color ; the thick sapwood hardly distinguishable. It is largely used for lumber, and, under the name of whitewood, in the manufact- ure of woodenware and furniture, for carriage-making, and for the inner soles of shoes. It is extensively used for paper pulp, and occasionally the inner bark is made into coarse cordage and matting. In this State it is not sawed into lumber to any considerable extent, but large numbers of trees are cut in the winter that cattle may feed upon the buds and twigs. It is much prized by apiarists because the clearest honey and whitest comb are made from its flowers. Tilia pubescens, Alton. (southern LIN. LINDEN.) A slender tree, with a large oval crown, slender gray branches, and rough dark bark, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 2 feet. It has been found as far north as Long Island, and it grows in cool, moist situations on the coast of ISTorth and South Carolina and Oeorgia, in northern Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. It is not a •common tree. In North Carolina, where it reaches a height of 50 to 60 feet, it occurs on deep, sandy, fertile soil, usually on the margins of swamps or streams, in the coastal plain region. (Fig. 5, p. 43.) In the Piedmont plateau region it occurs rarely, if at all. A large proportion of the seed, which is borne frequently and in abundance, is unproductive, and seedlings are uncommon. It sprouts very freely from the stump. N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. BULLETIN 6. PLATE III. LIN OR BASSWOOD LIN. LINDEN. 45 The leaves are covered beneath with a thin, rusty down. The flowers are smaller than in the preceding species, and the dry glo- bose fruit is small, pubescent, and nsnally one-seeded. The winter- buds, which are covered with a short, fine pubescence, are of a dark reddish-brown color. The Southern lin has numerous usually deeply seated lateral roots. The wood is similar to that of Tilia americana, of which this tree has been considered a variety. Tilia heterophylla, Ventenat. (lin. linden.) A tree, with slender branches forming a pyramidal head, and furrowed bark broken into short thin light brown scales, occa- sionally reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate- ni.) jrrowing in moist soil, often over limestone rock, it occurs from Pennsylvania southward along the Appalachians to northern Ala- bama and central Florida, and westward to middle Tennessee, Kentucky, and southern Indiana and Illinois; and reaches its best development on the mountain slopes of eastern Tennessee. It is not common. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 40 feet and an average diameter of 12 to 18 inches, it is most common in the mountains, (fig. 5, p. 43), and occurs sparingly in the Piedmont plateau and coastal plain. It is much more abundant in North Carolina than Tilia americana, and bears seed "more frequently and generally in greater quantity. It is readily propagated by shoots. Unless protected the low growth is almost immediately eaten by cattle. The linden borer, Saperda vestita. Say, bores into the sapwood of the standing tree. The leaves are generally larger than those of Tilia americana, and are covered on the lower side with a silvery white down. The flowers appear earlier in the spring, and the round fruit, f inch in diameter, is covered with short gray down. The egg- shaped winter-buds are bright red, covered with a whitish bloom. 46 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The wood is soft, li.o;lit, straight-grained, not durable; light brown in color; the thin sapwood hardlj' distinguishable. Com- mercially it is not distinguished from the wood of Tilia americana. Ilex opaca, Aiton. (holly.) A small tree, with short, slender branches, which form a pyra- midal liead, and roughened light gray bark, reaching a height of 50 and a diameter of 4 feet. At the north it grows in dry gravelly soil ; at the south, in rich, moist situations. It occurs from Massachusetts to Florida ; in the valley of the Mississippi from southern Indiana to the gulf of Mexico; and through Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana to eastern Texas. It is common south of the Hudson in fertile bottom lands, except in the Appalachian region and just west of it, where it is exceedingly rare; and reaches its best development in southern Arkansas and eastern Texas. In this State, where it grows to an average height of 30 feet, and an average diameter of 12 inches, it is common except in the mountains. Specimens growing in the coast region are much larger than those found further inland. Fertile trees generally bear seed every 3'ear, although not with uniform abundance, and young growth is common in open spots. Old trees do not sprout from the stump as readily as young ones. The oval evergreen leaves are thick, leathery and armed w'ith spiny teeth. The flowers are small but conspicuous from their number. Tlie round fruit is about i inch in diameter, dull red or rarely yellow in color, and remains on the tree during the winter. The winter-buds are short, blunt or pointed, the narrow-pointed scales slightly hairy on the margins. The holly has a tap-root and numerous lateral roots. The wood is light, tough, not strong, very close-grained ; nearly white in color ; the thick sapwood somewhat lighter. It is easily worked, takes a beautiful polish and is much used for cabinet- making, interior finish, and turning. IRONWOOD, BUCKEYE. 47 The merchantable holly has been largely cut in the northeast- ern counties; trees large enough for commercial use still remain, however, scattered through counties on the coast. Cyrilla racemiflora, Linnaeus. (iRONWOOD. LEATHER WOOD. BOXWOOD.) A slender tree, with numerous wide-spreading branches, and bright red-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 35 feet and a diameter of 14 inches ; or often a broad bush. It occurs in various situations from North Carolina southward near the coast to middle Florida, and westward to eastern Texas, reaching its best development on the coast of the gulf of Mexico. In this State it is found usually along streams and swamps fi'om Hertford county southward, its western limits passing through Halifax, Wake, and Anson counties. It usually produces seed very abundantly every second year, and young trees and seedlings are common on the borders of swamps and pine barren ponds. Trees are frequently hollow through the entire stem, even when quite young, generally as the result of a broken branch. The small thick oblong leaves are partly evergreen in the extreme eastern part of the State. The numerous whitish flowers appear in slender racemes in the early part of summer, and the very small fruit is broadly egg-shaped. The narrow-pointed winter- buds are covered with chestnut-brown scales. The roots are lateral and superficial. The wood is heavy, hard, weak, close-grained ; light brown in color; the sapwood a little lighter; and is not used in North Carolina. Aesculus octandra, Marshall. (BUCKEYE. SWEET BUCKEYE.) A large straight tree, with small, rather pendulous branches 48 TIMBER tKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. and dark brown seal}' bark, reaching a height of 90 and a diam- eter of 4 feet, or towards its southern or southwestern limit reduced to a low shrub. It grows in deep fertile soil from Pennsylvania southward along the Alleghanies to northern Georgia and Alabama, and westward to southern Iowa and Indian Territory and western Texas, reach- ing its greatest development in the Alleghany mountains of Ten- nessee and North Carolina. In this State it occurs as a tree in the mountains, and in the Piedmont plateau, where it is reduced to a mere shrub. Trees growing in the open produce seed nearly every year; forest trees less frequently. Seedlings are common except in deep shade, especially in the Piedmont plateau. Young trees grow rapidly if sufficiently exposed to the light. The buckeye stem-borers, Steganoptycha claypoleana, Fernald, and Proteoteras fesculana, Riley, penetrate the leaf-stems and twigs. Trees over 2 feet in diameter, particularly in very damp situations, are apt to be hollow or affected with dry rot. The leaves are composed of 5 to 7 elliptical, pointed, sharply toothed leaflets. The yellowish flowers appear late in spring in large erect clusters, and the fruit is 2 or 3 inches long, with the reddish-brown seeds Ij to 2 inches broad. The winter-buds are large and scaly. The wood is light, soft, compact, and difticult to split; creamy- white in color; the sapwood hardly distinguishable. Although one of the commonest trees in the high mountains, it has but few uses; the softness of the wood and the fact that it decays rapidly when exposed to the weather or in contact with the soil, excludes it from construction. It is sometimes used with linden for ceil- ing and other interior work. Acer spicatum, Lamarck. (mountain maple, swamp dogwood.) A small bushy tree, with slender upright branches and reddish- brown bark, reaching a height of 30 feet and a diameter of 8. inches. STRIPED MAPLE. 49 It occurs in the shade of other trees, from the valley of the St. Lawrence westward to northern Minnesota and the Saskatchewan region, and southward to northern Georgia; reaching its best development in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. In this State, where it is usually a shrub 6 to 10 feet high, it is confined to cold, damp places in the high mountains. It bears seed about every third year ; seedlings are not common ; but yonng sprouts are very abundant around old trees, which latter are usually hollow. The leaves are 3 or rarely 5-lobed, coarsely toothed and downy beneath. The greenish-yellow flowers are in erect, slender clus- ters. The fruit is bright red in July, turning brown late in the autumn, and is rather more than an inch across. The winter-buds are sharply pointed. The root system is superficial. The wood is light, soft, close-grained, compact; light brown in color ; the sapwood being much lighter. The mountain maple does not grow large enough for commercial use. Acer pennsylvanicum, Linnaeus. (striped maple. swamp pOGWOOD. DEERWOOD.) A small tree, with slender, upright branches, and roughened reddish-brown bark. It reaches a height of -10 feet and a diameter of 10 inches, but is often mucli smaller, and shabby in habit. It occurs from the valley of the Saguenay river westward to northeastern Minnesota, and southward to northern Georgia. It is common in the northern A':lantic states, but reaches its best development in the mountains of Tennessee and the Carolinas. In this State it is confined to the coldest and dampest parts of the high mountains. Seed is produced annually or once in two years. Small trees are very sensitive to fire, but when burned sprout readily from the stump. The leaves are large, 3-lobed at the end, and sharply toothed. They are much eaten by cattle. The greenish flowers occur in loose, drooping racemes, and the winged fruit is smooth, I inch in length. The bright red winter-buds are stalked. The wood is light, soft, and close-grained ; light brown in color ; 4 50 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. the thick sapwoodof 30 to 40 layers of annual growth, still lighter. It is not used in Xorth Carolina. Acer barbatum, Michaux.* (sugar maple, sugar-tree, rock maple.) A large tree of great commercial value, with a broad round top when old, and light gray-brown deeply furrowed bark, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate lY.) It grows in rich woods, often forming extensive forests, and is most abundant in the mountains. It occurs from southern New- foundland to the Lake of the Woods, southward to northern Ala- bama and western Florida, and westward to Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas and Texas ; reaciiing its best development in the region of the great lakes. 1 Area Li which the SUGAR MAPLE is found j only locally. It occurs throughout this State, growing to an average height of from 50 to 80 feet and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, but is most com- mon in the mountains. It is a small tree in the Piedmont plateau and reduced to a mere shrub in the coastal plain region, where it is confined to borders of streams and swamps. (Fig. 6.) The sugar maple bears seed about every third or fourth year. Seedlings are very abundant in the woods, and bear dense shade remarkably well; they spring up quickly in thinned woods, also, and where lumbering has been in progress. *Acer saccharinum, Wagn. N.'C. GEOI^OGICAI, SURVEY. BULI.ETIN 6.'' fPLATE SUGAR MAPLE SILVER MAPLE. 51 Glycobiiis speciosiis, Say, a borer destroys the trees by girdling thera or penetrating the wood, and young specimens are killed by a timber beetle, Cortliyhis punctatissimns, Zimm., which enters and mines the stem at or near the surface of the ground. The leaves are 3 to 5-lobed, with rounded notches, heart-shaped at the base, smooth above, and glaucous beneath The greenish- yellow flowers occur in umbel-like clusters, appearing with the leaves in the spring. The winged fruit is an inch in length. The purple winter-buds are pointed, i inch in length. The sugar maple has a tap-root and numerous strong lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, tough, and takes a good polish. The heartwood is light brown ; the thin sapwood, of 30 or 40 layers of annual growth, somewhat lighter. It is more valuable than the wood of any other American maple, and is largely used as fuel, for interior finish, furniture, and turnery, in ship-building, for the handles of tools, saddle-trees, shoe-lasts, shoe-pegs. Curled and bird's-eye maple are highly prized for cabinet work. Maple sugar is produced chiefly from tiiis tree, and its ashes make a valuable fertilizer. Acer saccharinum, Linnaeus.* (silver maple, maple, soft maple.) A large tree, with upright main branches and pendulous branchlets, and reddish-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 4 feet. It grows in rich soil, and is most common west of the x\lleghany mountains. It occurs from New Brunswick to Ontario, southward to western Florida, westward to eastern Dakota, eastern Nebraska, the valley of the Blue river, Kansas and the Indian Territory, reaching its best development in the basin of the lower Ohio river. In this State, where it is not very common, it occurs in the upper part of the Piedmont plateau and in the mountains along streams and in cool situations, and attains a height of 30 to 50 and a diameter of 1 to 2 feet. *Acer dasycarpuni, Ehrh. 52 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. Youno; o-rowtli is frequent on moist land, where the forest cover is light, and in old fields. It produces seed at irregular intervals, and for the most part, not abundantly. Trees under a foot in diameter sprout freely from the stump. A'ery large specimens are apt to be hollow. The deeply cut 5 lobed leaves are pale green above and silvery white beneath. The crowded clusters of greenish-yellow flowers appear before the leaves in early spring, and the pale chestnut- brown winged fruit is protninently netted-veined, and from 1^ to 3 inches in length. The short thick winter-buds are covered with bright red scales. The silver maple has a small tap-root and numerous strong lateral roots. The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, compact, easily worked, and rather brittle ; faintly tinged with brown, with thick sapwood composed of 40 to 50 layers of annual growth. It is sometimes used for cheap furniture and flooring. Maple sugar is occasion- ally made from this tree. Acer rubrum, Linnseus. (red maple, swamp maple, maple.) A slender tree, with upright branches and dark gray flaky bark, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 4j feet. It grows in low, moist situations, from Quebec and the Lake of the Woods southward to the Indian river, Florida, and west to the eastern parts of Dakota, Nebraska, Indian Territory, and Texas; and reaches its best development on the lower Ohio and its trib- utaries. In this State it occurs in swamps and low grounds, from the coast to the mountains, but is most abundant in the coastal plain. There is a large production of seed about every second year; young trees are always common in damp woods and along streams. Old trees sprout from the stump less rapidly than younger ones. The leaves are smaller and not so deeply cleft as those of the silver maple. The flowers, which appear early in spring, are bright scarlet or, less commonly, dull yellowish-red. The winged fruit is scarlet, dark red or brown, i to 1 inch in length ; it ripens BOXELDER. 53 early in summer and sprouts immediately on falling to the ground. The short winter-buds are blunt and covered with thick dark red scales. The red maple has numerous strong lateral roots. The wood is very heavy, close-grained, easily worked, and not very strong. It is light brown in color; the thick sapwood, some- what lighter. But little has been cut in North Carolina. It is employed mainly for interior iinish, furniture, gunstocks and similar uses. Maple sugar is occasionally made from this species, the sap being mixed with that of the sugar maple; and there does not appear to be any marked difference between the sap from the two species, except that that from the red maple contains a smaller per cent, of sugar. Acer negundo, Linnfeus.* (boxelder. ashleaf maple.) A tree, with a short trunk, and light gray or brown, deeply furrowed bark, reaching a height of 70 and a diameter of -i feet. It ranges from Vermont to Florida; extending northwest and west to Lake Winnipeg, and the eastern slopes of the Rocky moun- tains ; and southward to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It grows on the banks of streams and lakes and the borders of swamps, reaching its best development in the valleys of the tributaries of the lower Ohio river. In good soil it grows rapidly. In North Carolina it is rare in the coastal plain region, but common in the Piedmont plateau and west to the mountains, attaining an average height of 15 to 25 feet. The leaves are composed of from 3 to 5 or rarely, sparingly toothed leaflets. The yellowish-green flowers occur in drooping clusters, usually appearing before the leaves ; the sterile and fer- tile flowers on separate trees. The winged fruit is 1 j to nearly 2 inches long, with the thin netted-veined wings diverging at a very sharp angle. The winter-buds are covered with pale down ; the lateral buds blunt, the terminal bud acute. The light, soft, weak, close-grained wood is creamy-white, with a thick and hardly distinguishable sapwood. It is sometimes used for interior finish, * Negundo acei'oides, Moencli. 54 TIMBER TREES OF XORTH CAROLINA. cheap furniture, woodenware, cooperage and paper pulp. Maple sugar is occasionally made from this species. Robinia pseudacacia, Linnaeus. (locust, black locust, yellow locust.) A slender tree, with erect brittle branches forming an oblong head, and deeply furrowed dark brown bark. It reaches a height of 80 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs from Pennsylvania to Georgia along the Appalachian mountains, growing with hickory, black walnut, ash, white oak, and the chestnut ; and reaches its best development on the western slopes of the mountains in West Yirginia. It has been natural- ized in most of the states east of the Rocky mountains. MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA COAST AL_PLAIN _REG_ON ^^^ | LEGEND i Area in which the YELLOW LOCUST is in- 3 digenous (Robinia pseudacacia, Z.) ^Area in which the YELLOW LOCUST has 3 been extensively naturalized. In this State it occurs on the lower ridges of the mountains, and probably for some distance east of the Blue Ridge. (Fig. 7.) Forest trees bear seed only once in three or four years. In the open the production of seed is more frequent and seedlings, which are short-lived in the shade, more common. The locust is readily propagated by root suckers, and trees as large as one foot in diameter sprout from the stump. The growth is rapid in youth; in mature trees much slower. When cut in the forest, it is usually succeeded by oaks and chestnut. Old trees are apt to be hollow at the butt, and frequently in the upper part of the stem, from the entrance of water where the brittle limbs have been broken off. CLAMMY LOCUST. 55 A borer, Cyllene robinias, Forster, destroys the value of large trees or kills them entirely, and bark beetles often kill the young plants. The timber is also attacked by the larvae of Xylesthia clemensella, Chamb. The leaves consist of from 7 to 19 thin ovate leaflets. The white flowers appear in April in large drooping clusters, and the bright red-brown fruit is a stout pod 3 to 4 inches long. The minute naked winter-buds are inconspicuous. The locust has numerous superficial lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, close-grained, and very durable in contact with the soil ; brown or light green in color; the very thin sapwood, of 2 to 3 layers of annual growth, pale yellow. It is extensively used in ship building and for treenails, construction, posts, and other purposes where durability in contact with the ground is desired. It is excellent fuel, and is altogether one of the most valuable timbers of the American forest. The bark of the root is tonic, purgative, and emetic. Large quantities of locust have been cut in Jackson, Macon, Swain, and Rutherford counties. Robinia viscosa, Ventenat. (clammy locust.) A small tree, with slender spreading branches and smooth dark brown bark, reaching a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 12 inches. It occurs in the high mountains of the Carolinas, and has be- come extensively naturalized east of the Mississippi. In tliis State it is found on Buzzard ridge in Macon county, growing as a shrub only a few feet higli. It has not been seen growing wild in any other locality since the time of Michaux. The twigs and leaf-stalks are covered with a sticky substance. The rose-colored flowers are in short rather compact clusters and the fruit is a. pod 2 to 3h inches in length. The minute winter- buds are covered up in the scars of the leaves of the previous season. 56 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The wood is lieavj, hard, close-grained, and brown in color; the thin sapwood light yellow. Cladrastis lutea, Koch. (yellow wood, virgilia. chittam.) A tree, with branching trunk, wide-spread pendulous branches, and smooth silvery gray or light brown bark, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs in central Kentucky, central Tennessee, on the moun- tains of eastern Tennessee and in North Carolina, and is one of the rarest and most local trees of eastern North America. It grows generally in rich soil, and reaches its best development near Nashville, Tenn. In this State, where it is found in Swain, Clay, Macon, and Cherokee counties, it has an average diameter of 18 inches and a height of about 40 feet. Large numbers of pods are borne about every second year, but they coTJtain many abortive seeds. Seedlings are common near old trees, when cattle are excluded. Numerous sprouts come up around old trees and about live stumj>s. In Clay county a large part of the foliage of yellow wood is often destroyed in the early fall by the leaf miner insect. Tiie leaves are composed of 7 to 11 broadly oval entire leaflets placed alternaj;ely along the leaf stalks. The white flowers are borne in long terminal drooping racemes. The fruit is a pod Ij to 4 inches in length. The lustrous brown downy winter-buds are in fours, superposed, and crowded together to form a cone. The superficial lateral roots are long and very tough. The wood is heavy, very hard, strong and close-grained ; bright clear yellow in color; the thin sapwood almost white. It takes a good polish, is used for fuel and gunstocks, and yields a clear yellow dye. Gleditschia triacanthos, Linnpeus. (honev locust.) A large tree, with slender spreading branches and dark rough deeply fissured bark,reaching a height of 140 and a diameter of 6 feet. REDBUD. JUDAS TREE. 57 It occurs from Peiiiisjlvania westward to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territor}", southward to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, reaching its best deveh:)pment in southern Indiana and Illinois. It has been naturalized east of the Alle- ghany mountains, growing iti moist fertile soil, or less commonly on dry gravelly hills. The honey locust is scarcely known as a forest tree in North Corolina. Specimens of it, however, are found comm.only on farms and along fences in the Piedii.ont plateau, and sparingly in the other sections. It bears some seed every year and a large amount every third year. Seedlings, which are frequently found on dry ground under old trees, grow very rapidly. Sprouts are common about young specimens and appear quickly around the stumps of felled trees. The leaves consist of numerous small, oblong, rr^motely toothed leaflets, and are sometimes doubly pinnate. The inconspicuous greenish flowers are in small spikes, and the fruit is a dark brown pod, often 10 to 18 inches in length. The minute winter-buds occur three or tour together. ^^ery sharp and rigid three-iorked or simple spines, 3 to 4 inches long, and bright chestnut-brown in color, are very plentiful on some individuals and nearly or quite wanting in others. The honey locust Iihs long superficial roots. The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, and very durable in contact with the ground ; red or bright red brown in color; the sapwood, of 1(» to 12 layers of annual growth, thin and pale. It is largely used for fencing, for the hubs of wheels, and somewhat in construction. Cercis canadensis, Linnaeus. (REDBUD. JUDAS TREE.) A small tree, with a short trunk, bright red-brown furrowed bark, and smooth light brown or gray branches, reaching a height of 50 feet and a diameter of 12 inches. It is found from New Jersey to Florida, Alabama and Missis- sippi, Indian Territory, Louisiana and Texas, growitig on the bor- 58 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLIXA. ders of swamps and in rich bottom lands; and it reaches its best development in southern Arkansas, Indian Territory, and eastern Texas. In North Carolina, where it attains a height of 15 to 25 feet, it occurs in the coastal plain and Piedmont plateau regions. The dark green glossy leaves are broadly ovate, pointed at the apex, and truncate or heart-shaped at the base. The conspicuous bright purplish-red flowers are in clusters along the branches, and appear before or with the leaves in early spring. The fruit is an oblong compressed many-seeded pod, from 2j to 3j inches long. The winter-buds are blunt and chestnut-brown in color. The wood is rather coarse-grained, heavy, hard, and not very strong. Its color is a rich dark brown, tinged with red ; the thin sapwood lighter. Prunus pennsylvanica, Linnteus. (wild red cherry. fire cherry. BIRD CHERRY. PERUVIAN.) A small tree, with slender branches, a narrow head and smooth reddish-brown, or in old trees, dark red-brown scaly bark. It reaches a height of 30 to 40 feet and a diameter of 12 to IS inches ; but at its northern and western limits it is a low shrub. It occurs from Newfoundland to British Columbia, south through the northern states to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa, on the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains in Col- orado, and along the Alleghany mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee; and reaches its best development on moist, rather rich soil, in the Big Smoky mountains of Tennessee. It often takes possession of ground which has been cleared by Are. In North Carolina it is confined to damp situations on the slopes of high mountains, above an elevation of 3,500 feet. (Fig 8, p. 59) It bears seed in great abundance, and usually every year. After spruce or Carolina balsam, or sometimes beech and maple forests, have been burned, a growth of fire cherry often springs up, but it is apt to be replaced by the original growth in about forty years, which is the average length of life for this tree. The oblong, sharply pointed leaves are finely toothed, shining N, C. GEOLOGICAL SIRVEY. BULLETIN 6. PLATE V. A GROUP OF WILD CHERRY TREES WILD BLACK CHERRY. 59 green and smooth on both sides. The white flowers appear late in the spring in numerous clusters, and the fruit is small, round and bright red. The light, soft, close-grained compact wood is light brown in color ; the sapwood a clear yellow. Prunus serotina, Ehrhardt. (wild black cherry.) A tree of the first commercial importance, with small horizontal branches and dark red-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 5 feet. (Plate Y.) It occurs from Nova Scotia to Tampa Bay in Florida, and west- ward to the Missouri river in Dakota, eastern Nebraska and Kan- sas, Indian Territory and Texas, and is found also in southern New Mexico and Arizona, and in parts of Mexico, Central and South America. It rtaches its best devolopment on the high slopes of the Alleghany mountains. It was once common in all the Appa- lachian region, growing with the white oak, the white ash, the green ash, the sugar maple, the yellow buckeye, the hickories and the black birch. MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA LEGEND Area in which the WILD BLACK CHERRY' I I occurs as a small tree of httle commercial p=] importance (Prunus serotina, Ehrh) ^^ Area in which the WILD BLACK CHERRY PffljH occurs as a large tree of the first economic BffiH importance. rTTj:^ Distribution of the WILD RED CHERRY (Prunus pennsylvanica, L.) In this State, where it attains an average height of 60 to 80 and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it occurs through all parts of the State, but is less common in the coastal plain, where the soil and climate are not so favorable to its growth. It reaches its best dimensions> on the rich cool slopes of the mountains. (Fig. 8.) •60 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. Forest trees bear fruit abnndantl}' about every third or fourth year; trees growing in the open more frequently. Seedlings are and in the mountains up to an elevation of 3,000 feet, along dry ridges with red and white oaks and chestnut. In the eastern sections, with the sweet gum and water ash, it forms a large part of the growth of the deeper swamps, and there reaches its largest size within the State. (Fig. 10.) It produces seed plentifully once in two or three years, and young seedlings appear in moist open woods and on cypress. lands after lumbering. Large trees are apt to be hollow at the butt and frequently through the whole stem. The black gum sprouts readily from the stump. The rather thick shining leaves are oblong, pointed and usually entire. The greenish flowers, which appear after the leaves in spring, are inconspicuous, and the bluish-black oval fruit is about J-inch long. The dark brown conical buds are slightly thicker than the smooth flexible t\vigs. The black gum has deeply seated lateral and numerous superficial roots. TUPELO GUM. 65 The wood is heavy, strong, soft, very tough, and hard to split and work, inclined to check, and not durable in contact with the soil ; light yellow or nearly white in color ; the thick sapwood lighter, often hardly distinguishable. It is used for the hubs of wheels, rollers in glass factories, ox yokes, and piles. Very little has been cut in tliis State for lumber. In the last few years, however, it has been coining into use as a cheap mate- rial for boxes and trucking barrels. Nyssa aquatica, Marshall. (TUPELO GUM.) A large tree, with dark brown, deeply furrowed, or, in old speci- mens, scaly, smoothish bark, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs from southern Virginia to Georgia, through the Gulf states to Texas, and through Arkansas and southern Missouri to Illinois ; reaching its best development in the cypress swamps of western Louisiana and southeastern Texas. In this State it is confined to the deep swamps of the coastal plain, where it grows with cypress, water ash and black gum, attaining a height of 80 and a diameter of 4 feet above the trumpet-shaped base. (Fig. 10, p. 64.) Seed years are frequent. Young trees are common along moistj deep swamps, in open woods, and in spots where the cypress has been removed. The large swollen butt, 8 to 15 feet in diameter, is usually hollow, and there is frequently also a hollow in the top of the stem, where a branch has been broken ofi". The middle of the trunk is nearly always sound. The leaves are larger than in the preceding species, dark green and smooth above and somewhat dowmy below. The yellowish- green flowers appear in March and April. The oblong fruit is dark purple and an inch or more in length. The smooth light brown terminal buds are nearly round, the lateral buds minute. The twigs are slightly angular, light brown and smooth, and much thicker than those of the black gum. There are numerous lateral and superficial roots. 66 TIMBER TREES OF Is^ORTH CAROLINA. The wood is light, soft, not strong, close-grained, compact, uuwedgeable, and light brown or nearly white in color. It is nsed for turning, woodenware, broonihandles, and wooden shoes. The roots are sometimes used as a substitute for cork for net floats. The wood has only a few local uses in North Carolina. Oxydendron arboreum, De Candolle. (SOURWOOD. SORREL TREE.) A small tree, with pendulous branches and deeply furrowed gray-brown bark, reaching a height of 60 feet and a diameter of 20 inches. It grows usually in rather dry soil, and occurs from western Pennsylvania along the Alleghany mountains to western Florida and Mobile bay, westward to middle Tennessee, and through the northern portions of the Gulf states to western Louisiana. It attains its best development in eastern Tennessee. In North Carolina, where it reaches a height of 50 to 60 feet and a diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it is rare (and usually a shrub) in the coastal plain, not uncommon in the Piedmont plateau, and most abundant in the lower parts of the mountains. It reaches its largest size on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge. The sourwood bears seed prolifically and for the most part every year. Young seedlings are usually very abundant, espe- cially in rather dry woods wliich have been thinned. Sprouts grow readily from the stump, but do not attain a very large size. Trees over 10 inches in diameter are usually hollow. The small rounded fruit is in large loose clusters. The oblong pointed leaves are acid, whence the name. The flowers and fruit occur in loose drooping panicles, 7 to 8 inches long. The red win- ter-buds are very small, and the flexible twigs are mahogany-red in color. The sourwood has numerous lateral roots. This tree is especially prized on account of the delicious transparent honey made from the flowers. The wood is heavy, hard, very close-grained, compact, brown in color; the sapwood somewhat lighter. It takes a beautiful LAUREL. IVY. 67 polish, and is used for the handles of tools, bearings of machin- ery, etc. Kalmia latifolia, Linn?eus. (laurel, ivy. wicky.) A small evergreen tree, with short crooked branches, and dark reddish-brown furrowed bark, the narrow ridges separating into long scales. It reaches a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 20 inches. It occurs in rich woodlands from New Brunswick and Lake Erie to western Florida, and through the Gulf states to western Louisiana and the valley of the Red river, Arkansas ; reaching its best development in the southern Alleghany mountains, where it often forms dense impenetrable thickets. In this State, where it grows to an average height of 10 to 15 feet, it is most abundant in the mountains, but occurs in the Pied- mont plateau, and extends into the coastal plain region. The laurel bears seed every year, and for the most part in abundance. Young seedlings, in all stages of growth, are com- mon in moist open places in the mountain region, and above 3,000 feet on rather dry soil. The fires which are frequent on these dry ridges are very destructive to both young and old plants, but the laurel sprouts so freely from the stump that it often takes exclu- sive possession of areas subject to repeated fires. The evergreen leaves are thick, smooth, entire, acute at the apex and contracted at the base. The white or pink flowers are produced in conspicuous clusters at the ends of the branches, and the rounded fruit set with sticky hairs is ripe in September. The winter-buds are small, oblong, and greenish. The roots consist of many large knots and burls, from which strong lateral roots diverge. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, close-grained, and com- pact, brown in color ; the sapwood somewhat lighter, and the broad medullary rays darker. It takes a good polish, and is used for the handles of tools, in turnery, and for fuel. The leaves, from which an ointment is made, are supposed to be poisonous to cattle. The root-burls, sometimes called ivy grubs, are used in 68 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLI>^A. turnery. Large quantities are taken out at Cranberry, Elk Park, and many other places in the mountain counties. Rhododendron maximum, Lianeeus. (rhododendron, laurel.) A small tree,, with spreading top and grayish-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 40 feet and a diameter rarely exceeding twelve inches; or more frequently a tall straggling shrub. It occurs from Nova Scotia and Lake Erie south through Kew England, New York, and along the Alleghanies to northern Georgia ; reaching its best development on the steep rocky banks of streams in the southern Alleghany mountains. It is never found on limestone soils. In North Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 8 to 12 feet, it is very common in the mountains, often forming impenetrable thickets, and occurs in ravines in the Piedmont counties as far east as Surry and Gaston. Khododendron usually produces seed every year, and young seedlings are common in moist open spots. Numerous sprouts appear around old trunks and around the stumps after cutting. Several stems generally grow from the same burly roots. The thick leathery evergreen leaves are acute at the apex and narrowed toward the base. The flowers are pale rose-color or white, dotted with yellowish-green spots, and are produced in large compact clusters at the ends of the branchlets. The dark red-brown fruit is a dry capsule, half an inch long, and encloses many seeds. The buds are large, scaly and conical. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, close-grained, com- pact, light clear brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is occasionally employed in turnery, for tool handles, etc. A decoc- tion of the leaves is used for rheumatism, sciatica, etc. Diospyros virginiana, Linnyeus. (persimmon.) A small tree, with slender branches forming a rounded top and rough, dark brown, gray or black bark, reaching a height of 115 and a diameter of 2 feet. PERSIMMON. 69 It occurs commonly in old fields from southern Connecticut to southern Ohio and southeastern Iowa, south to Bay Biscayne, Florida, southern Alabama and Mississippi, and west to southern Missouri^ Arkansas, eastern Kansas and Indian Territory, and the valley of the Colorado river, Texas ; and reaches its best development in the lower Ohio basin. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 40 feet and an average diameter of 18 to 20 inches, it is found throughout, except in Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, and Yancey counties and in the higher mountains. (Fig. 11.) MAP OF NORTH CAKOLINA LEGEND Distribution of the PERSIMMON (Diospyros virginiana, L.) Fertile trees bear fruit in abundance annually or every second year. Seedlings are common near the old trees in damp soil, and in old fields when protected from fire. Young plants are short- lived in deep shade. The rather thick smooth shining leaves are oval, dark green above, pale and often downy below. The yellowish flowers are small and inconspicuous, the male and female usually produced on separate trees. The edible fruit is rounded, about one inch in diameter, and orange-red when ripe. The winter-buds are small, egg-shaped and pointed. The persimmon has thick fleshy black stoloniferous roots ; it has a taproot as well as numerous long lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, very close-grained, compact ; the heart wood, seen only in very old specimens, dark brown to nearly black in color ; the thick sapwood lighter brown with dark spots. It takes a good polish, and is used for shoe-lasts, plane 70 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. stocks, shuttles, large screws, mallets and the shafts of wagons. A decoction for diarrhoea, hemorrhage, etc., is made from the fruit, from which persimmon beer is also produced. Large quantities have been cut in North Carolina near the rail- roads. Mohrodendron carolinum, Britton.* (snowdrop tree, silverbell tree.) A tree of medium or small size, with reddish-brown, broadly ridged bark, and bright biown smooth branches striped with pale shallow longitudinal iissures, sometimes reaching a height of 90 and a diameter of 3 feet. It occurs commonly in rich soil along streams from the moun- tains of West Virginia to southern Illinois, southward to middle Florida, central Alabama and Mississippi, andgthrough Arkansas to western Louisiana and eastern Texas; reaching its best devel- opment in the southern Alleghany mountains. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 15 to 25 feet, it is found in the Piedmiont plateau as far east as Surry and Mecklenburg, and thence westward it is not uncommon, especially along the upper portions of the water courses. The silverbell tree produces seed every two or three years and young plants are common in damp shady woods. Specimens over one foot in diameter are apt to be hollow. The thin leaves are finely serrate, light green above, pale, and slightly downy below. The flowers, which appear with the leaves in spring, are white, bell-shaped, and are borne by slender drooping stems. The large dry fruit, about 1? inches long, has four wings and contains a bony nut. The hairy winter- buds are small, obtuse, and dark red or light brown. The wood is light, soft, close-grained, compact, light brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It has no uses in North Carolina. Fraxinus americana, Liniuisus. (white ash.) A large tree of the first commercial value, with stout, upright *Halesia tetraptera, Linnaeus. X. r GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BT'LLETIN fi. PLATE VI. f f**'!' ' ' w/ W \ ' " ■ -^%^^r^'\Ov^^-': / Cs^^yi^v ^^ V "y^ K^ \ ep"^^ ^Mgdj ^syy^fi N ' ^\\r\ wf\~~ ^^BBm wm^ ^^. X \W ^ -Xx "-^Kp^ ".75 mmm :iS* m ■ 1 ,£* £^ -If WHITE ASH WHITE ASH. 71 or spreading branches and grayish furrowed bark, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 6 feet. (Plate VI.) It grows in low, ratlier moist soil, from Nova Scotia to northern Minnesota, southward to northern Florida, central Alabama and Mississippi, and west to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Terri- tory, and eastern Texas ; reaching its best development in the basin of the Ohio river. In North Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 50 to 80 and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it occurs throughout the State. (Fig. 12.) MAP OF NORTH CAItOLrNA LKGENB Distribution of the WHrPE ASH (Fi-axinus -americana, L.) Western limits of the WATER ASH (Fraxinus caroliniana, Mill.) The white ash produces seed abundantly about every 3 or 4 years, though individual trees along streams, or when isolated, bear more frequently. The young seedlings, which are not com- mon, stand shade well, and are usually found in moist situations, often at a considerable distance from the parent tree. Large trees are usually sound, but somstimes have large heart-cracks. In the mountains a mixed growth of oaks, lin, and buckeye replace the white ash after lumbering. The timber is attacked while still standing, especially when growing in swamps, by Fatua denudata, Harris, the ash sesia. *The leaves are composed of 5 to 9, usually 7, stalked leaflets. The inconspicuous flowers appear before the leaves in spring, the male and female on separate trees, and the narrow-winged fruit is U to 2 inches long. The rust-colored winter-buds are covered 72 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. with short hairs. The ash has numerous deep-seated lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, tough, becom- ing brittle with age ; the heartwood brown ; the sapwood nearly white. It is extensively used tor agricultural implements, wagon- making, handles, oars, cabinet and interior work, and by ship- wrights, turners, and coopers. Large quantities have been sawed in the mountains of this State, chiefly for lumber and furniture. Asheville, Dillsboro, and Elk Park are important centres for the manufacture of ash lum- ber. In 1892 about 8,000,000 feet was sawed in the mountain counties and shipped mainly to Cincinnati and Philadelphia. About as much more was manufactured during the same year in other parts of the State. A large amount of white ash is still standing in the mountain region and in some of the river swamps of the eastern counties. Fraxinus pennsyvanica, Marshall. (red ash. ash.) A tree of medium size, with stout, upright branches and slightly furrowed dark gray or deep |brown bark, reaching a height of 60 feet and a diameter of 20 inches. It occurs in rich moist ground from New Brunswick to south- ern Ontario and northern Minnesota, and southward to northern Florida and central Alabama; attaining its best development in the northern Atlantic states. It is rare west of the Alleghany mountains. In this State, where it grows to a height of 50 to 60 feet, it is confined to the Piedmont plateau. The red ash produces seed about as often as the white ash, but seedlings are less common and confined principally to the neighborhood of water courses. Numerous sprouts spring up after cutting, but do not develop into large trees. Birch, white oak and red maple usually form the growth after lumbering. The leaflets are 7 to 9 in number, obscurely toothed, narrowed at the apex into long, slender points, lustrous on the upper sur- GREEN ASH. WATER ASH. 73 face, and downy beneath ; the leafstalks also covered with a silky down. The male and female flowers appear on separate trees late in spring, and the narrow-winged fruit is like that of the white ash, except that the end of the wing is usually more rounded. The dark, russet-brown rounded winter-bud is downy. The red ash has numerous lateral and superficial roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, close-grained and com- pact, rich brown in color ; the sapwood light brown streaked with yellow. It is used for paper pulp and for the same purposes as that of the white ash, to which it is inferior. Praxinus pennsylvanica var. lanceolata, Sirgent. (green ash. ash.) A tree of medium size, with slender, spreading branches and gray or dark brown l)ark, rarely exceeding 60 feet in height and 24 inches in diameter. It occurs in low, rather moist soil, from Yermont to northern Florida, westward to the valley of tiie Saskatchewan river and the Rocky mountains of Montana, thfi Wasatch mountains of Utah and the eastern and northern ranges of Arizona. It is most abundant in the Mississippi basin. It is not a common tree in North Carolina, and is confined to the upper part of the coastal plain and to the Piedmont plateau, where it reaches a height of 60 and a diameter of 2 feet. The leaflets are smooth and bright green on both sides, and narrower, shorter, and often more sharply toothed than those of the red ash. In the West the species and variety are connected by many intermediate forms. East of the Mississippi river the trees are quite distinct. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, rather coarse-grained; brown in color; the thick sapwood lighter. It is inferior in quality to the wood of the white ash, but in this State is not dis- tinguished from it commercially. Fraxinus carolLniana, Miller. (water ash.) A small tree, "with slender branches which form a narrow top, 74 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. and liglit gray furrowed bark, reaching a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 12 inches. It occurs in deep river swamps from southeastern Virginia near the coast to Florida, w^estward through the Gulf states to the valley of the Sabine river, Texas, and southwestern Arkansas. It is also found in Cuba. In North Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 40 feet, it is confined to the deep swamps of the coastal plain region. (Fig. 12, p. 71.) It bears seed abundantly every year or two. Trees in deep swamps have swollen butts which are usually hollow, but as a general rule the upper part of the stem is sound. The leaves are composed of from 5 to 7 largre, long-stalked leaf- lets. The male and female flowers appear in February and March upon separate trees. In the fruit the wings extend to the bottom of the seed, and are sometimes three in number. The winter-buds are chestnut-brown in color. The water ash has numerous deeply seated lateral roots. The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, close-grained, and compact ; the heartwood nearly white, sometimes tinged with yel- low ; the sapwood lighter. It is of less vahie than that of many of the other ashes. In the eastern section of North Carolina it is largely manufac- tured into lumber. The best logs are usually sawed into furni- ture squares. Persea borbonia, Spiengel. (red bay. sweet bay.) An evergreen tree, with dark brown-green branches and deeply furrowed reddish bark, reaching a height of 70 and a diameter of 3 feet. It occurs in low rich soil from southern Delaware south to Bay Biscayne and Cape Romano, Florida, and through the Gnlf states to southern Arkansas and the valley of the Brazos river, Texas, near the coast. SASSAFRAS. 75 In this State it is a small tree or shnib, and occnrs in the coastal plain region. Old trees over 8 inches in diameter are frequently hollow. The oblong entire evergreen leaves are 2 to 3 inches long and, like the twigs, have an aromatic odor when bruised. The flowers are small and in close panicles, and the fruit is an ovate 1-seeded deep blue drupe. The small dark brown winter-buds and dark twigs are downy. The red bay has a lateral root system. The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, brittle, very close-grained, and compact; bright red in color; the sapwood much lighter. It takes a beautiful polish, and was formerly somewhat used in ship- building, interior finish and cabinet work. Sassafras sassafras, Karsten. (SASSAFBAS.) A large tree, with green or yellowish-green branchlets and fur- rowed gray bark. It sometimes reaches a height of 90 and a diam- eter of 7 feet, but is reduced to a shrub at its northern limit. It occurs from eastern Massachusetts and southwestern Ver- mont, west through southern Ontario and central Michigan, to southeastern Iowa, eastern Kansas, and Indian Territory, and south to middle Florida and the valley of the Brazos river, Texas ; reaching its best development in southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory. In this State, where it rarely exceeds 40 to 50 feet in height, it is most common in the coastal plain and Piedmont plateau regions, and rare on the higher slopes of the mountains. Seed is produced at frequent intervals, and young seedlings are common in old fields when protected from fire. Sprouts spring readily from the stumps of young trees and from the spreading roots, and in many cases become large trees. The leaves are very variable, being ovate and entire, or 2 to 3-Jobed. The greenish-yellow clustered flowers appear in early spring, the sterile and fertile on separate trees, and the oval fruit is blue in color, with a thick reddish stem. The egg-shaped win- ter-buds are large. 76 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The wood is light, soft, weak, brittle and coarse-grained, very durable in contact with the soil, and apt to check in drying. It is slightly aromatic. The heartwood is dull orange-brown in color; the tl'iin sapwood light yellow. It is used in boat building, fenc- ing, cooperage, and for ox yokes. An aromatic stimulant is derived from the bark of the r<»ot. Ulmus americana, Linnaeus. (AMERICAN ELM.) A large tree, with short spreading or long pendulous branches and scaly dark brown trunk, reaching a height of 120 and a diam- eter of 11 feet. It occurs in rich moist soil from southern Newfonndland to the northern shores of Lake Superior and the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains, south to Florida, and west to Dakota, central Nebraska, Indian Territory, and Texas ; reaching its best develop- ment in the northeastern United States. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 60 to 70 and diameter of 4 to 5 feet, it occurs abundantly in most of the swamps LEGEND j Distribution of the AMERICAN ELM j (Ulmus americana. Z..) of the coastal plain and extends westward as far as Guilford and Mecklenburg counties. (Fig. 13.) It is smaller and much less common toward its western limit. WINGED ELM. 7T Seed is borne o;enerally every year in abundance, and younj:^ plants are common in damp open places. The Americar) elm does not sprout readily from the stump. A larva of a longicorn beetle, Saperda tridentata, Oliver, loosens the inner bark and channels the surface of the wood so as fre- quently to kill the tree. The American elm also suffers severely from canker-worms, Paleacrita vernata. Peck, and Eugonia sub- signaria, Huebner, and the imported elm-leaf beetle, Galeruca scanthomelasna, Schrank, all of which feed upon and destroy the foliage. The leaves are usually smaller and less rough than those of the slippery elm. The small greenish-brown flowers are in numerous lateral clusters and appear early in spring. The flattened oval winged fruit is hairy on the margin, and ripens and falls before the leaves appear. The buds are smooth, rather small and acnte. The American elm has long, well developed lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, rather coarse-grained, compact, and difficult to split ; the heartwood light brown ; the sapwood lighter. It is used for wheel stocks, saddle-trees, flooring,, and cooperage, find is exported for boat a'nd ship-building. In North Carolina the wood of this tree is not much used, and very little of it has ever been cut. Ulmus alata, Michaux. (winged elm. wahoo. cork elm. southern elm.) A small tree, with slender branches and close finely ridged light brown bark, reaching a height of 50 and a diameter of 2- feet. It occurs on dry gravelly or often on moist soil from southern Virginia, through the middle districts to western Florida, south- ern Indiana and Illinois, south to the Gulf coast, and southwest through southern Missouri, Arkansas, and the eastern portion of Indian Territory and Texas ; reaching its best development in southern Missouri and Arkansas. 78 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. In this State, wliere it reaches an average height uf 30 to 45 feet, it grows along swamps and streams, and is nowhere uncommon ■except on the mountains. (Fig. 14.) The winged elm bears seed abundant!}^ at intervals of 2 or 3 years, and young plants are frequent along streams or swamp land. The leaves are smaller than those of the American elm and the brown twigs more slender. The small clustered flowers are on slender foot-stalks, and the oval winged fruit is deeply notched, and hairy on the margin. There are numerous long superficial lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, very close-grained, com- pact, unwedgeable; brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It is used for hubs, blocks, and tool handles. Ulmus fulva, Michaux. (slippery elm.) A tree, with deeply furrowed dark brown bark and dark gray- brown branches which form a broom-shaped crown, reaching a height of 135 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs in rich soil from the valley of the lower St. Lawrence river to northern Dakota, and south to northern Florida, central Alabama and Mississippi, and the valley of the San Antonio river, Texas. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 50 KED MULBERRY. 79 feet and a diameter of 12 to 18 inches, it is most plentiful in the Piedmont plateau, less so among the mountains, and is found occasionally in the coastal plain region. The slippery elm produces seed at rather irregular intervals of 2 to 4 3'ears, and for the most part not abundantly. Young seed- lings are rare except in damp, somewhat shaded places near the parent tree. The thick ovate oblong coarsely toothed leaves are very rough on the upper surface and downy beneath. The flowers occur in lateral clusters on short foot-stalks, and the flat-winged fruit is round, but not fringed. The rounded reddish-brown winter-buds are hairy. The slippery elm has numerous deeply seated lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, very close-grained, compact, and durable in contact with the soil. The heartwood is dark brown or red ; the sapwocd lighter. It is used for wheel-stock, fencing, railroad ties, sills, and in shipbuilding. The muci- laginous inner bark is medicinal. Morus rubra, Linn;\2us. (red mulberry.) A tree, with dark brown, much-broken bark and smooth gray branches, reaching a height of 65 and a diameter of 7 feet. It is found generally in rich soil from western Massachusetts and Long Island, N. Y., througli southern Ontario, central Micliigan, and the Black Hills of Dakota, eastern Nebraska and Kansas, south to southern Florida, and the valley of the Colorado river, Texas; reaching its best development in the basins of the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In this State, where it grows to an average height of 30 to 50 and an average diameter of 1 to 2 feet, it is found throi>ghout, being most abundaiit on the Piedmont plateau and very rare in the mountain region. 80 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The red imilben-y bears large quantities of seed every year or every other year, and seedlings are found on moist soil tiirongh the forests of the Piedmont plateau region. Numerous sprouts come up after cutting. The broad, heart-shaped, pointed leaves are rough above and downy below. The flowers are inconspicuous, and the deep red or purple fruit is sweet and edible, with an agreeable, slightly acid taste. Tlie winter-buds are large, reddish, smooth and conical. The wood is light, soft, not strong, rather tough, coarse-grained, compact, very durable in contact with the ?oil, light orange- yellow in color; the sapwood lighter. It takes a good polish, and is largely used for fencing, cooperage, snaths, and, at the South, for ship and boatbuilding. The leaves have been used for feeding silkworms, but are not well adapted for that purpose. Celtis occidentalis, Linniieiis. (hackberry.) A large tree, with bark often much roughened by small ridges, and flexuous, smooth, brown branches. It reaches a height of 130 and a diameter of 5 feet, or sometimes is reduced to a low shrub. It occurs in rich bottoms or on dry hillsides from the valley of the St. Lawrence river west to eastern Dakota, south through the Atlantic region to southern Florida, and to Texas ; being most abundant and reaching its best development in the basin of the Mississippi river. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 50 to 70 feet and a diameter of 18 to 20 inches, it is found throughout, except in the high mountain counties, as Ashe, AVatauga, Mitchell, and l*ancey, and attains its greatest size and abundance in the alluvial swamps of the coastal plain. It bears seed plentifully and as a rule every year. Seedlings are common near old trees and along river bottoms. The leaves are ovate, toothed, taper-pointed, and smooth at maturity. The greenish flowers are inconspicuous, and the HACKBERRY. SYCAMORE. 81 rounded, purplish-red fruit, from i to 3 inch in diameter, is sweet and edible. The wood is heavy, rather soft, nut strong-, coarse-grained, com- pact, clear light yellow in color; the sapwood, lighter. It takes a good polish, and is largely used for fencing, and occasionally in the manufacture of cheap furniture. PJatanus occiden talis, Linna?us. (sycamore, bfttoxwood.) A large tree, with deep brown smooth bark, scaling olf in thin, brittle plates, leaving the tree a mottled polished white, or with bark uniform and rough. It reaches a height of 130 and a diam- eter of nearly 1-1 feet. It occurs in rich moist soil, generally near streams, from south- ern Maine and the northern shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie west to eastern Nebraska and Kansas, south to northern Florida, central Alabama, Mississippi, and southern Texas ; reaching its best tlevelopment in the bottom lands of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It is a very common tree. In this State, where it reaches a height of 90 and a diameter of 5 or 6 feet, it occurs throughout, growing to its best size along the alluvial swamps of the Piedmont plateau. It is least abundant on the coastal plain. The sycamore bears fruit in abundance and usually every year, and seedlings are common along streanis. Old trees are gener- ally hollow at the butt. It sprouts very freely from the stump, and is easily propagated from cuttings. The growth is very rapid. The large broad leaves are angularly lobed and toothed, downy when young, and sn)ooth at maturity. The male and female flowers occur in separate small spherical heads with slender stems. The fruit is a globular head one inch in diameter, hanging on the tree through the winter. The short, broad, pyramidal buds are formed beneath the swollen base of the leafstalks. The sycamore has numerous long running roots. The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, very close-grained, com- () ■82 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. |)act, difficult to split and work; brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It decays rapidly in contact with tlie soil or on exposure, and warps and cracks badly in drying. It is used for ox yokes, butchers' blocks, for interior finish, and in the manufacture of fur- nitnre, and very largely for tobacco boxes. . Juglans cinerea, Linner-pointed, sharply toothed, and downy on the lower surface. The sterile flowers are in large green cat- kins, the fertile flowers small and inconspicuous.' The brown fruit is 2 to 3 inches long, very sticky, and coii tains an edible nut. The naked winter-l)uds are liglit l)rown, blunt, and (covered with soft down ; the terminal buds large and conspicuous, the lateral buds much smaller, two or three together above each leaf- scar. There are numerous strong supertlcial lateral roots, while the taproot in specimens over 10 inches in diameter is )>oorly developed. The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, compact, and easily worked ; light brown in color; the sapwood, lighter. It BLACK WALNUT. 83 takes a beautiful polish, receives paint well, and is used for interior finish, cabinet work, panels of carriages, and occasionally for the lower framework of buildings. The inner ])ark yields a yellow dye, and is employed as a mild cathartic. Jug-lans nigra, Linnaeus. (black walnut.) A large tree, of the first commercial value, with a small oval crown and rough very dark brown bark, reaching a height of 150 and a diameter of 1() feet or more. It occurs from western Massachusetts to eastern Nebraska and Kansas, and south to northern Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and the valley of the San Antonio river in Texas ; reaching its best development in the rich bottom lands of southwestern Arkansas and Indian Territory, and on the western slopes of the southern Allegluniy mountains. MAP OF NORTH CAKOLINA COASTAL PLAIN MGION | In this State, where it grows to an average height of 4 St. John's river and Tampa bay, Florida, and the vallev of the P)razos river, Texas ; reachino; its i>0 TIMBKK TRKES OF NoKTH CAROLINA. best (levelopiiient on the sl()i)e> of the Anc.ii-hiinv mountains, and ill the vulley of tht^ Ohio rivor and its trihu taries. It is a com- mon tree in a considerahle portion of the central and eastern states. MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA LEGEND j Area in which the WHITE OAK is one ot the dominant trees (Quercus alba, Z.) I;-:::: Area in which the WHITE OAK occurs but l-"-'-'""-"-'-l . rarely. j: In Nortli Carolina, where it attains an average height of 7<> to 80 and an average diameter of -t to 5 feet, it occurs throughout, and is common ever^'where except in the northeastern part of the State and on the sandy soils of the southeastern section. It is most plentiful on the Piedmont plateau. (Fig. 18.) Large quantities of seed are produced about once in three years. The acorns germinate in all kinds of soil and frequently seed up old fields. Young seedlings are common in all situations, and bear well either the deep shade of the old tree or full expos- ure to the sun. Young white oaks are apt to form a large part of the new growth after the removal of the yellow poplar, short- leaf pine or the white oak. itself. In many parts of the original forest, on poor soil, white oalc is the predominant tree, and it generally forms a large part of seijond growth of mixed hard- woods. Small trees sprout freely and vigorously from the stump. Individuals over 3 inches in diameter are not easily killed by fire. Large trees are rarely hollow. Though a large number of insects live on the white oak, it is not seriously injured by borers or insects which attack the. leaves or twigs. A weavil frequently destroys the acorns. The leaves are acute at the base, with 7 to 9 blunt, rounded, usually entire lobes. The male flowers are in long slender thicjids. POST OAK. 91 the female very minute. The acorns, nsnally in pairs, liave rounded' saucer-shaped, rough, warty cups, and brown, sweet, edible nuts. The small blunt winter-buds are smooth, as are the light brown, or gray slender twigs. The white oak has a taproot and numer- ous deeply seated lateral roots. The wood is strong, very heavy, hard, tough, .close-grained, liable to check, and very durable in contact WMth the soil ; brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is used for shipbuilding, con- struction, cooperage, carriages, agricultu;-al implements, railway ties, fencing, interior finish, cabinet-making, baskets, fuel, etc It is altogether one of the most important timl)ers of the United States. In North Carolina it is largely used for fuel, clapboards, fenc- ing, ties, and staves. It has been manufactured into lumber for local uses only. Large (jaaiitities of merchantable timber still stand in the mountain counties and in many of the counties of the Piedmont plateau. The bark is used extensively for tanning,, but is less highly valued than that of the chestnut oak. Quercus minor, Sargent. (post oak.) A tree, with rough hard gray bark, and numerous spreading branches, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 5 feet : or on the Florida coast reduced to a low shrub. It occurs generally in poor soil from Massachusetts south to northern Florida, and west through southern Ontario and Michi- gan to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and into central Texas, and is very common in the Gulf states west of the Mississippi. In this State, where it grows to a height of 50 and a diameter of -t feet, it occurs in greatest numbers and attai;'.s its largest size in the Piedmont counties. Here it forms with the white oak a large part of the second-growth in the forest and in old fields. It is not common in the transmontane counties. In tlie eastern section it frequently forms, on the margins of swamps, a lower story beneath the willow and water oaks. (Fisf. 19, p. 92.) The post oak bears fruit abundantly e/ery 2 or 8 years, and 1^2 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. young plants are common in thinned and second-o;ro\vth woods, bearing well both deep shade and strong light. It does not LEGEND Distribution of the POST OAK (Quercus minor, Sarg.) sprout as freely as white oak. Although in favorable situations the growth is rapid, in general it grows more slowly than the white oak. "The leaves are stiff, leathery, rough above, whitish and downy below, and divided into 5 to 7 roundish divergent lobes, the npper lobe large and often double. The acorns, borne on short foot-stalks, are small and sweet, and seated in deep, grayish, smooth-scaled cups. The winter-buds are small, rounded, smooth, and dark brownish-red. The wood is heavy, hard, close-grained, compact, checks badly in drying, and is very durable in contact with the soil; dark or light brown in color; the sapvvood lighter. It is used for construc- tion, cooperage, sliipbuilding, fencing, railroad ties, fuel, and occasionally for carriage stock. Large quantities have been cut in the Piedmont section for staves, and it is extensively used throughout the middle and eastern counties for posts, ties, etc. Quercus lyrata, Walter. (OVERCUP OAK. SWAMP POST OAK.) A large tree, with rough flaky gray bark, and smooth gray small often pendulous branches, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 3 feet. It occurs in wet soil, from Maryland southward near the coast. ROCK CHESTNUT OAK. 93 to western Florida, westward through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, to the valley of the Trinity river, Texas, and through Arkansas and southeastern Missouri to middle Tennessee, south- ern Indiana, and Illinois ; reaching its best development in the valley of the Red river and adjacent portions of Arkansas and Texas. It is rare in the Atlantic states. In i*s^orth Carolina it occurs on the oak iiats of the coastal plain,, and. in the alluvial swamps of the rivers as far inland as Anson, Orange, and Xash (bounties. (Fig. 20.) The overcup oak hears acorns plentifnlly at intervals of 3 or -i years, but young seedlings are infrequent. The fruit is devoured by swine, and the young plants are destroyed by browsing cattle. MAP OF NORTH CAKOLINA LEGEND Distribution of the OVERCUP OAK ' (Quercus lyrata, IVa/i.) The leaves are oblong, crowded at the ends of the branchlets, and 7 to 9-lobed, the divisions acute or blunt, entire or somewhat toothed. The large subglobose acorn is nearly covered bv the scaly, thin, rugged, fringed cup. The light chestnut-brown winter- buds are small and egg-shaped. The overcup oak has a tap-root and many rather deeply seated lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tougli, close-grained, and inclined to check, and very durable in contact with the soil; rich dark brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It is used for the same purposes as that of the white oak. Very little of this timber has ever been cut. Quercus prinus, Linnaeus. (rock chestnut oak. chestnut oak. buck oak.) A large tree, with deeply furrowed dark gray bark, and a '94 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. broadly oval crown, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs from southern Maine to the shores of Lake Champlain, •Quinte bay, Ontario, and the valley of the Genesee river, New York, south to Delaware, and through the Appalachian mountain region to northern Alabama, extending westward to central Ken- tucky and Tennessee. In North Carolina it is found on dry soil and on the tops of ridges westward from Franklin and Montgomery counties. It reaches its best development oi; the slopes of the lower mountains at an elevation of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, where with other oaks and the chestnut it constitutes a large part of the forest. Above 4,000 feet it grows on the driest and rockiest ridges, often forming extensive groves of pure forest. In the Piedmont plateau region a smaller form is found, which seldom reaches a diameter of one foot. (Fig. 21, p. 95.) The rock chestnut oak bears acorns very plentifully nearly every year, or in the deep woods every second year. Young trees in all stages of growth are common in open woods on dry rocky mount- ains or in abandoned fields. In Lincoln and Union counties the chestnut oak forms a considerable part of the regrowth after the removal of mixed hardwoods and the short-leaf pine. Only the ■smaller trees sprout from the stump. Many of the large speci- mens growing upon dry soil are hollow at the butt as a result of frequent fires. Borers often penetrate the lower parts of the stems of small trees which occur on dry ground, but trees in damp situations are nearly always sound. The leaves are upon short stems, usually broadest toward the extremity, and with 6 to 13 large rounded teeth on each side. Tiie acorns are large and oval, with thick, warty cups. The lai'ge blunt winter-buds and the twigs are smooth. The numerous, branching roots penetrate deeply into the soil. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, rather tough, close-grained, durable in contact with the soil, and inclined to check in drying; dark brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It is largely used for fencing, railroad ties, and fuel. The bark is rich in tannin. SWAMP CHESTNUT OAK. 95 A larpje anionnt of bark is peeled in Buncombe, Burke, McDow- ell, and Wilkes counties to supply local tanneries, and much timber 3ias been cut in Lincoln county for charcoal. Large quantities of chestnut oak still remain, however, in all the western counties. Quercus michauxii, Nuttall. (basket OAK. cow OAK. SWAMP WHITE OA K. SW AMP CHESTNUT OAK.) A large tree, of great economic value, with gray rather scaly bark and stout branches, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 7 feet. It occurs from Delaware, south through the lower and middle districts to northern Florida, thence through the Gulf states to the valley of the Trinity river, Texas, and through Arkansas to southeastern Missouri, to central Tennessee and Kentucky, and the valley of the lower Wabash river; reaciiing its best develop- ment on the rich bottom lands in southeastern Arkansas and Louisiana. It is common in the Gulf states. MAP NORTH C OF AKOLIN V MOUNTAIN PIEDMONT SCALE C ( •fffr?"';^ Fio 21 jPife ILr-- I, ^^^ ^ =5r;4= ^:^-^^- ^ / PLAIN REGION ^;^(- LEGEND I Economic distribution of the ROCK CHEST- I NUT OAK (Quercus prinus, L.) I Distribution of the BASKET or SWAMP- I CHESTNUT OAK (Quercus michauxii, A'k//.) In this State (fig. 21.) it is found in swamps of the coastal plain and Piedmont plateau regions, and on the bottom lands of the Cape Fear and Neuse rivers, attains a height of 100 and a diame- ter of 6 feet. Abundant production of seed occurs at intervals of 2 to 3 years. Seedlings are common in wet open spots on damp hill sides in the 96 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. Piedmont plateau region. Sprouts ^row readily from the stump, but seldom reach a large size. The leaves are rather rigid, downv beneath, and with large reg- ular, rounded teeth. The large sweet edible acorns are set in shallow cups which are roughened with acute coarse scales. The brown winter-buds are large, smooth, and pointed. There are many deep lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, tough, close-grained, compact, easily split, and very durable in contact with the soil ; light brown in color ; thesapwood darker. It is used for agricult- ural implements, cooperage, wheel stock, baskets, fencing, fuel, and construction. In the eastern counties a small quantity of the timber has been cat for local uses. Quercus virginiana. Miller.* (live oak.) A large evergreen tree, with dark, deeplj^ furrowed bark and gray branches, a short body and a flat or spreading top, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 7 feet ; in the interior of Texas often reduced to a shrub. (Plate VIII.) It is found near the coast from Virginia to southern Florida and along the Gulf coast to Mexico, extending through western Texas and the valley of the Ked river, the Apache and the Gaud- alupe mountains, and into Mexico, at elevations of six to eight thousand feet, and in the island of Costa Kica ; reaching its best development in the south Atlantic states. In North Carolina it occurs near the coast on deep sandy soil with the water and willow oaks, American olive, and southern lin. North of Cape Hatteras it is a rare tree but south of that point it becomes more abundant until, at the mouth of the Cape Fear river, it forms with the palmetto a considerable part of the maritime forest of Smith's island. (Fig. 22, p. 97.) The growth, particularly in youth, is very vigorous. Young seedlings are common near old trees. Small trees sprout readily from the stump. The evergreen leaves are thick, leathery, oblong and obtuse, *Quercus virens, Alton. o _: o 2 if. C. GEOLOGICAL SrRVEY. BTTT,T,F.TIN f). PLATE IX. RED OAK 97 smootli above, and hairy beneath. The fruit, wliich is borne upon a lon^ stem, is an oblong, dark brown, or black acorn set in a top-shaped, downy cup. The roots are spreading and rather deeply seated, and can bear sea water, at least if covered only during high tide. The wood is very heavy, hard, strong, tough, close grained, compact ; it takes a beautiful polish, but is dithcult to work : light brown or yellow in color; the sapwood nearly white. It is used for shipbuilding, and the bark is occasionally employed for tan- ning. It is not abundant enough in North Carolina to be of com- mercial importance. Quercus rubra, Linna-us (ked oak.) A large tree, with dark brown furrowed bark, nearly black on large trunks, and rather smooth branches which form a large oval or round head, reaching a height of 150 and a diameter of 7 feet. (Plate IX.) It occurs from Nova Scotia, southern New Brunswick, and eastern Minnesota, western Iowa, eastern Kansas and Indian Territory soutii to northern Fh)rida, southern Alabama and Mississippi, and western Texas, reaching its best development north of the Ohio river. A common tree. In the coastal plain region of North Carolina it is rare ; somewhat more common in the Piedmont plateau on shady hillsides and 98 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. moist land ; and most abundant in the mountains where it is frequently 130 feet high and 6 or 7 feet in diameter. (Fig. 22.) At high elevations it is often found M'ith the chestnut oak on dry ridges, and there attains an average height of 60 to 70 feet. In the Piedmont plateau it is often confounded with the black oak. It bears acorns plentifully about every second year, though two jieed years in succession are not unusual. Young seedlings are common in the woods and endure heavy shade well, but need a light cover for rapid growth. Young trees are very sensitive to lire. Only small specimens sprout well from the stump. After lumbering the regrowth usually consists of the same species mixed M'ith chestnut oak, scarlet oak, wliite oak, and chestnut. The thin, glossy leaves are oblong, wedge-siiaped at the base, and usually dilated toward the end, with 5 or 6 lobes on each side separated by rounded, rather shallow notches. The thick, oblong, broad-based acorn is dark brown and seated in a shallow small- scaled cup which is either short-stalked or sessile. The ovate pointed winter-buds are dark brown and smooth. The tap-root develops early in life, and after the plant is well started a system of large lateral roots is formed. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, and inclined to check: light brown or red in color; the sapwood somewhat darker. It is used for (•lapl)oards, cooperage, interior finish, and the manufacture of fuiiiitui-e. The l)ark is occasionally used for tanning. Large quantities have been cut in North Caroliuri for local use, but a great amount is still standing in the western ^counties. Quercns texana, Buckley. (TEXAS RED OAK. SWAMP RED OAK.) A large tree, with a narrow pyramidal crown, shallow-furrowed striped gray and'black or mottled bark, and smooth gray l)ranches, reaching a height of nearly 200 feet and a diameter of 4 to S feet. It occurs from Iowa south to Texas and east to the eastern part of Virginia and central Georgia; reaching its greatest devel- opment on the alluvial lands of the lower Mississippi river. It irrows to a greater height than any other American oak. SCARI,ET OAK. SPOTTED OAK. SPAXISH OAK. 99 In North Carolina, where it attains an average height of 50 to 70 feet, it is locally found from Lincoln county eastward to Person county, growing on the rich, moist loams of river swamps or on \OKlH C VKOLI'VV /^m LEGEND RfFFj Distribution of the TUPJvEY or FORK- ^g LEAVED BLACK-JACK OAK (Querciis catesbaei, Michx.) ^VM Known distribution of the TEXAS RED OAK (Quercus texana, j9«f;^) damp hillsides, associated with the yellow oak, swamp white oak, red and willow oaks, and elms. (Fig. 23.) Throughont North Carolina it reproduces itself slowly, and young seedlings are rarely found in the forest, although it flowers regularlj' and matures fruit every two or three years. The small thin light green leaves, deeply lobed on the sides, are smooth on botli surfaces, except for large tufts of brownish hairs beneath in the axils of the primary veins. The leaf-stem is nearly as long as the leaf. The oblong or cylindrous acorn is borne in a shallow cup, which like the acorn, is generally smooth. The long acute sharply angled winter-buds are smooth, as are the steel-gray twigs. The strong lateral roots lie near the surface. The wood, heavier and stronger than that of the northern red oak, is coarse-grained and porous, reddish-brown in color; the thick sapwood light brown. It is superior in working qualities to that of tiie northern red oak or any other of the American red and l)lack oaks. In North Carolina, on account of the infrefiuent occurrence of the tree, the wood is put to no specific uses. Quercus coccinea, Muenchhauseu. (scarlet C)AK. spotted OAK. SPANISH OAK. RED OAK). A slender tree, with a short trunk, smooth dark gray or black 100 TIMBER TREES OF ^'ORTH CAROLINA. linelj ridged bark, and smooth gray branches which form an oval top, reaching a height of 175 and a diameter of 1 feet. It occurs from Maine to Ontario, Minnesota, and Nebraska, and sou«:h to Xorth Carolina; reaching its best development in the lower Ohio basin. It is usually confounded with the black oak. In North Carolina, where it attains a height of 80 and a diam- eter of 3i feet, it occurs sparingly in the coastal plain on sandy loam, bat is more common in the Piedmont plateau on gravelly loam growing with the post oak, white oak, and short-leaf pine. In the mountains, at an elevation of 2,500 to 3,500 feet, it is one of the commonest trees. (Fig- 24-.) The scarlet oak bears acorns plentifully every 2 or 3 years, and young plants are common through the woods in many of the west- ern counties. Only young trees sprout readily from the stump. Trees over 3 feet in diameter are usually hollow or red-liearted, dry rot causing the defect. The thin smooth leaves are on long slender stems and deeply cut into long lobes by broad round notches. They turn to a brill- iant scarlet in the autumn. The small oval acorns are strongly pointed and half-imbedded in a deep coarsely-scaled cup. The slender, slightly angled winter-buds are pointed, and, like the slender twigs, smooth and reddish. The root system of older trees is distinctly lateral, many of the roots being superficial, or frequently exposed. BLACK OAK. 101 The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and close-grained ; the lieart- wood light brown or red ; tlie sapwood rather darker. The lum- ber, if used at all, is confounded with that of the red oak. The bark is sometimes used in tanning, but is inferior to that of the black oak. It is rare!}' used in this State except for coarse staves and shakes, and for fuel. Quercus velutina, Lamarck." (BLACK OAK.) A large tree, with rough or deeply furrowed nearly black bark, grayish branches, a long clear trunk, and an oval crown, reaching a height of 160 and a diameter of 0 feet. ]t is very common on dry or gravelly uplands from Maine to MiiHiesota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territorj', and south to western Florida, and easterti Texas. It reaches its best development in the valley of the lower Ohio river. In Xortli Carolina (fig. 25), wliere it attaiiis an average height of so to 90 and an average diameter of •! to .") feet, it is most abun- dant in the upper i)art, and occurs very sparingly, if at all, in the lower. MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA COAbTAL PLAIN REGION LEGEND Area in which the BLACK OAK is one of the dominant trees (Quercus velutina, Lam.') Area in which the BLACK OAK is a sub- ordinate tree. Distribution of the LAUREL OAK (Quercus laurifolia, Mic/ix.') n It bears fruit abundantly at intervals of 2 or 8 years, and seed- Jings are common under the light shade of the parent tree. Black oak forms a large part of the second growth mixed hard- *Quei-cus tiiictorla, Bartrani. 1(»2 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. wood forests in the middle and the lower part of the Piedmont plateau. Large trees are often hollow or red-hearted. The forest tent caterpillar, Cl^isiocampa disstria, Hiiebner, is often destructive to the foliage, and much injury is also caused, especially to young trees, by the oak pruner, Elaphidion villosum, Fabricius. The leaves are inversely egg-shaped, thicker and less deei)ly cut than those of the scarlet oak, and usually darker in color and less polished. The small acorn, nearly half enclosed in a thick scaly cup, contains a yellowisli and very hitter' kei-nel. The buds are thick, pyramidal, and downy. There are many deeply penetrating lateral as well as superficial running roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, not tough, coarse-grained, lia- ble to check in drying ; bright brown tinged with red in color; the sapwood much lighter. It is used for cooperage, construction, etc. The bark is largely used for tanning. Quercitron, a valua- ble yellow dye, is derived from the inner l);n-k, which has astrin- gent medicinal properties. It has been cut extensively throughout the Piedmont [dateau for building material and cooperage, and locally the l)ark has been employed to a considerable extent in tanning. Quercus catesbaei, Michaux. (fork-leaved BLACK-.IACK OAK. SAND HLACK-.JACK OAK. SCRUB OAK. TURKEY OAK.) A small tree, with oval crown, numerous irregular droujnng branches, and deeply farrowed black bark, reaching a height ot about 50 and a diameter of 2 feet. It occurs iipon barren sandy hills and ridges fron] (Tutes county, N. C, to central Florida, and along the coast to eastern Louisiana. In this State (lig. 23, p. 09) it is common south of the Neuse river in the pine barrens, where it lias a height of about 2U feet and a diameter of S inches. Fork-leaved black-jack oak, generally bears fruit annually, and seedlings are very abundant on dry sandy soil. Its growth is rapid, but in North Carolina the tree seldom lives longer than 40 SPANISH OAK. 103 vears. It grows frequently with the long-leaf pine, and often replaces it after lumbering. The rather leathery, ])roa(;lly oval leaves are deeply lobed. The large ovoid acorn is half enclosed in a short-stalked, thick, top- shaped cnp. The winter buds are large, conical and covered with brownish down. The root system consists of deep lateral roots. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, compact, and light brown in color ; the sapwood somewhat lighter. It is largely used for fuel. The ash is rich in alkali and the bark in tannin. Quercus digitata, Sudworth.* (SPANISH OAK. KKD OAK.) A tree, with a large spreading top, nearly black rougli bark, and smooth dark gray branches, reaching a lieiglit of 100 and a diameter of 6 feet. It occurs from southern New Jersey south to middle Florida, through the Gulf states to the Brazos river, Texas, and through Arkansas and southeastern Missouri to central Tennessee and Kentucky, southern Illinois and Indiana ; reaching its best devel- opment in the South Atlantic and Gulf states. In North Carolina where it attains ati average height of 7(,> to so and a diameter of 3 to 4 feet, growing on dry heavy soils, it is very common throughout, (iig. 26,) although rather less so toward the imumtains. MAP OF >ORrH CAKOLINl LEGEND Distribution of the SPANISH OAK (Quercus digitata, Sjid.) Acorns are borne in abundance every o or 4 years, ami young * (^luercus cuneata, Wany;enlieiiii and (). falcata Micliaux. lO-i TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. seedlings are plentiful in rather dry open woods. On the dry, rocky uplands of the counties in the middle part of the State, a considerable part of the second growth is composed of this species. Trees over 3 feet in diameter are generally not sound at the heart. Coppice shoots are very abundant around the stumps of smaller trees. This tree is sensitive to late frosts. The leaves are divided into 3 to 5 prolonged, mostly narrow, bristle-tipped lobes, and are downy on the lower surface. The short-stemmed fruit consists of a small globose acorn half enclosed in a somewhat top-shaped cup. The light brown winter-buds are covered with a light reddish down. The Spanish oak has, in addition to many deeply penetrating lateral roots, numerous long superficial running roots. The wood is heavy, very hard, strong, not durable, coarse- grained, and checks badly in drying; light red in color ; the sap- wood lighter. It is used for cooperage, construction, and very largely for fuel. The bark is rich in tannin. A large amount of Spanish oak timber is still standing in the Piedmont plateau region, where it is one of the most common trees. Quercus marilandica, Muenehhausen.* (black-jack oak.) A small tree, with rough black bark, and drooping irregular branches, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of '2 feet. It occurs from Long Island, New York, to Wisconsin, southern Miniicsota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and south to Florida and Texas; reaching its l)est development in southern Arkansas, and eastern Texas. In North Carolina, where it has an average height of not more than 25 feet, it is found upon barren clay or loam soils, gravelly for the most ])art. It occurs in all sections, but is rare in the more elevati'd mountain counties. It bears fruit plentifully about every other year; and seedlings are abnndaiit near the parent trees and in second growth woods. The large thick wedge-shaped leaves are smooth on the upper and covered with a rusty pubescence on the lower surface. The *Querciis niijra, Liniueus. C GEOLOGICAI. STRVEY BI'LLKTIN fi, PLATE X. WATER OAK WATER OAK. 105 small globular aconi is half enclosed in a top-shaped, coarse- scaled cup. The conical, hright brown winter-buds are covered, like the angular twigs, with a light gray down. The buds are frequently injured by late frosts. The black-jack oak has a lateral root system. The wood is heavy, hard, and strong, and checks l)adly in dry- ing; dark red-brown in color; the sapwood much lighter. It is little used except for fuel; Quercus nigra, LinnfPus.* (WATER OAK.) A small tree, with a large spreading top, dark rough bark at the base of the stem and smoother gray bark al)Ove, reaching a height of 80 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate X.) It occurs from Delaware through the coast and middle districts to Florida and Texas, and westward to Missouri and Indian Ter- ritory ; reaching its best development in the maritime pine belt of the eastern Gulf states. A common tree. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 40 to 50 feet and an average diameter of 12 to 20 inches, it is abundant on moist soil, usually bordering swamps and streams, in the coastal plain region and some parts of the Piedmont plateau region. (Fig. 27.) MAP OF >ORTH CAKOLIN^. LEGEND Distribution of the WATER OAK (Quercus nigra, L.) It is one of the commonest trees on the oak Hats about the swamps of the coastal plain. *Quercus aquatica,- Walter. 106 TlitBER TKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The larger, crown-forining limbs are often broken, and the stent is very frequently hollow or red-hearted. The trntik is apt to be covjred with adventitious shoots. Even large trees send up numerous sprouts from the stump. The growth is generally rapid. The leaves are generally deciduous, although, on the coast,, many remain green during the winter, especially on vigorous shoots. They are thick, smooth, narrowed at the base, and rounded, or 3-lobed and I)ristle tipped at the extremity. The small globular-ovoid acorn is ser in a very shallow cup. The winter- buds are small and conical, upon slender flexible polished brown twigs. The lateral sui)erlicial roots are large and well developed. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, and compact; rather light brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It is used only as fuel. Quercus laurifolia, Michaux. (laurel oak. water oak. willow oak. i'In oak. turkey oak.) A tree, with dark brown minutely roughened bark, and smoother and lighter 1)ranchcs which tbrm an oval crown, reach- ing a height of 100 and a diameter of -1 feet. It occurs from North Carolina southward near the coast to Mosquito Inlet and Cape Romano, Florida, and along the Gulf coast to Mobile l)ay ; reaching its he^t development on the Flor- ida ('oast. A very common tree. In North Carolina, where it grows to a height of 60 to TU and a diameter of :^ feet, it is found on sandy loam in the coastal |)lain region on oak flats bordering swam])s, and in the Piedmont ]>lar- eau usually on damp S(jils along streams. (Fig. 25, p. 10 1.) It bears fruit plentifully once in 8 or 4 years, and in the coastal plain, in moist open woods, seedlings are abundant. The leaves are thick, smooth, and rounded at each end. The small globose or sliglitly oval dark l)i'own acorns are set in some- what pointed very short stemmed cups. The twigs are smooth, slender, and dark brown, th^ buds pointed and lighter colored. The numerous lateral roots generally do not penetrate very dee]dy into the soil. UPLAND WILLOW OAK. TUKKEY OAK. BLUE .JACK. 107 The wood is heavy, very strong;, hard, coarse-grained, and inclined to check in drying ; dark brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is sometimes, althongh rarely, nsed for clapboards and coarse staves. ^ Quercus brevifolia Sargent."- (upland willow oak". TURKEY OAK. liLUE .TACK.) A small tree, with large oval crown, rongh .dark gray bark, and slender drooping branches, reaching a height of .5<» feet and a diameter of 18 tu 2<» inches. It occurs on sandy l)arrens and dry ridges from North Carolina near the coast to Cape Malabar and Pease creek, Florida, and westward along the Gulf coast to eastern Texas. In this State, where it has an average height of 30 feet and a diameter of 10 inches, it is found in the pine barrens of the coastal plain region. Immediately along the coast it sometimes reaches a larger size. It bears fruit abundantly and at frei^uent intervals, and seed- lings and young trees are common on the dry pine barrens. The oblong entire leaves are bristle-tipped and covered with a white down on the lower surface. About one-third of the small globose hoary acorn is covered by a stemless shallow cup. The winter-buds are small and oval. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and compact ; light brown in color; the sapwood darker. It is used only for fuel. The bark yields a tine yellow dye. Quercus imbricaria. Michanx. (shingle oak.) A slender tree, with dark gray, rough or rather smooth bark, and smooth, light gray branches which form a large spreading top, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs from Pennsylvania westward to western Missouri and northeastern Kansas, and south to northern Georgia and Alabama, *(,)uercus eiiierea, Mk-haux. 108 TIMBER TBEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. middle Tennessee, and northern Arkansas ; reaching its best devel- opment in the basin of the Ohio river. In this State, where it attains an average height of 40 to 50 feet and an average diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it is confined to the mountains and western part of the Piedmont plateau, where it is usually found along streams on alluvial loams. (Fig. 28.) MAP OF NORTH CAKOLIN V LEGEND Distribution of the SHINGLE OAK (Quercus imbricaria, Michx.) Distribution of the WILLOW OAK (Quercus phellos, L.) Seed years are frequent and young seedlings are common, near the parent tree, on moist valley lands in the mountains. The oblong lance-shaped leaves are entire, pale downy below, and tipped with an abrupt sharp point. The acorn is nearly globular and about one-third to one-half enclosed by a cup which is covered with broad whitish closely appressed scales. The brown winter-buds are acute and small-scaled. The M'ood is heavy, hard, rather coarse-grained, and checks badly in drying; light brown in color ; the sapwood much lighter. It is occasionally used for clapboards and shingles, and in con- struction. Quercus phellos, Linuajus. (willow oak.) A tree, with large spreading crown, rough dark brown bark, and smooth branches, reaching a height of 80 and a diameter of 4 feet. It occurs from Staten Island, Xew York, south near the coast to N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN H. PLATE Xl CHESTNUT CHESTNUT. 109 northeastern Florida, tlirougli the Gnlf states to eastern Texas, and through Arkansas to southeastern Missouri, Tennessee, and southern Kentucky. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 50 to 60 and an average diameter of 2 feet, it occurs in large numbers in the coastal plain region and, scatteringly, in the Piedmont plateau region, in moist situations. (Fig. 28, p. 108). The willow oak forms a considerable portion of the second growth hardwood forests on the moist sandy loams of the coastal plain region and young trees are common along the streams of the Piedmont plateau. Young trees sprout vigorously from the stump. The leaves are narrow, lance-shaped, pointed at each end, thick, entire or nearly so, and downy when young. The acorns are small, globose, and set in a shallow flattened cup. The buds are small, pointed, smooth, and light brown ; the twigs slender. The willow oak has numerous spreading lateral roots. The wood is heavy, strong, not hard, rather close-grained, com- pact ; light brown in color tinged with red ; the sapwood a lighter red. It it somewhat used for the felloes of wheels, clapboards, and in construction. Castanea dentata, Boi-khausen. (chestnut.) A very common large and valuable tree, with deeply furrowed dark gray bark, and sm6oth light gray branches which form a large spreading crown, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 13 feet. (Plate XL) It occurs from southern Maine, southern Ontario, and southern Michigan, southward to Delaware and middle Tennessee, and along the Appalachian mountains to northern Alabama, reaching its best development on the western slopes of the southern Alleg- hanies. In North Carolina, where it is confined to the mountain region (fig. 29), it reaches an average height of 50 to 70 and an average diameter of 5 feet, but in favorable locations it sometimes attains the largest dimensions given above. 110 TIMBEK TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. Abundant production of seed occurs about every other year. Young plants are plentiful in moderately open woods and in old fields. The young trees are decidedly light-demanding and die MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA LEGEND Distribution of the CHESTNUT (Castanea tlentata, Borkh.\ Distribution of the CHINQUAPIN (Castanea pumila, Mill.) quickly in deep shade. Specimens over 5 feet in diameter are generally unsound. After lumbering a growth of the same species, together with oaks, (generally the white, scarlet and black oak) springs up. The chestnut enters largely into the composition of most second growth hardwood forests in the extreme western counties. It sprouts very freely from the stump and the shoots often grow to be large trees. The stumps retain their power of sprouting for many years. The trunk is sometimes attacked by the chestnut borer, Arliopalus fulminaus, Fabricius, and the nuts by the chestnut weevil, Balaninus caryatrypes, Boheman. The thin oblong leaves are straight-veined and serrate with coarse sharp teeth. The yellowish-green sterile flowers are in large spreading bunches of catkins, appearing in the middle of the summer ; the fertile flowers are inconspicuous. The fruit consists of 2 or 3 flattened dark brown shining edible nuts enclosed in a light brown prickly bur. The winter-buds are small and ovate. A tap root is early developed. Later, strong deeply seated lateral roots are formed. The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, easily split, very durable in contact with the soil, and liable to check and warp in drying; brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It is used for cabinet-making, interior finish, railway ties, fencing, and BEECfl. Ill posts, and is well adapted for charcoal. An extract from the leaves is used medicinally. The chestnnt is very common in the mountain counties of North Carolina at an elevation of 2,5(»0 to 4,5 SUKVEY, Kl'I,I.KTIN (i I'l.ATE XV A GROUP OF LOBLOLLY PINES LOBLOLLY PINE. NOKTH CAROLINA PIN2. 125 useful timbers of the United States. Its threatened exhaustion is therefore a serious matter. Pinus tseda, Linnteus. (loblolly pine, old field pine, short-leaf pine, swamp pine, slash pine. rosemary pine. north carolina pine.) A lar^e and valuable tree, with a long clear stem, a large ovoid crown, and reddish-brown bark divided into flat rectangular plates, reaching a height of 150 and a diameter of 5 feet. (Plate XV.) It occurs from Delaware to Florida and Texas, generally near the coast, and north to the valley of the Arkansas river; reaching its best development in eastern North Carolina. MAP OF >ORTH C VKOLINA jiBMS^^ "f^^^^'^-'- LEGEND I Areas containinsc merchantable timber of I the LOBLOLLY PINE (Pinus taeda, L.) I Areas from which the merchantable timber I of LOBLOLLY PINE has been largely removed. In this State (fig. 34), where it attains an average height of 50 to 70, and an average diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it is found on a great variety of soils and situations from the sea level to an elevation of J, 000 feet. The original growth is on moist deep soil, but the second growth has sprung up largely in old fields, often replacing the long-leaf pine on the moister loamy lands. It bears seed generally every year, and abundantly once in 2 or 3 years, but much of the seed is imperfect. Seedlings are very common on rather moist soil in abandoned fields. The rate of growth, under sufficient light, is very rapid. The slender light green leaves are usually in threes, with 126 * TIMfJER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. rather long close sheaths. The cones are ovate-ol)lon2: and 3 to 4 inches long ; the scales terminate in short rigid spines. This species has a tap-root and many strong deeply penetrating lateral roots. The wood is light, not strong, brittle, very coarse-grained and not durable ; light brown in color, the very thick sapwood orange or often nearly white. It is used for lumber and fuel. Turpentine is sometimes obtained from this tree. Pinus rig-ida, Miller. (pitch pine, black pine.) A tree, with an oblong crown, spreading branches, a cylindri- cal, and often crooked stem, and rather flaky dark reddish-brown bark, reaching a height of SO and a diameter of 3 feet. It occurs from New Brunswick to the northern shores of Lake Ontario, south through the Atlantic states to northern Georgia, and westward to West Virginia and Kentucky. A very common tree. In this State, where it reaches an average height of .50 to 70 feet and an average diameter of 18 to 24 inches, it is found in the western part of the Piedmont plateau region and in the moun- tain connties south of the French Broad river. (Fig. 31, p. 120.) It grows on dry, often sandy or gravelly ridges, mixed with the short-leaf and scrub pines. It produces seed often and in abundance, and the seedlings, which require a good deal of light, are common in dry open situ- ations, and in old fields. Young trees sprout from the stump to some extent, but the sprouts are short-lived. The resistance of the pitch pine to fire is exceptionally great. The rigid flattened leaves are usually in threes, from short sheaths, and 3 to 5 inches long. The cones are ovate and from 2 to nearly 4 inches long, the scales armed with a short recurved spine. The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, and coarse-grained ; light brown or red in color; the thick sapwood yellow or often X. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. BULLETIN b. PLATE XYI. POND OR SAVANNAH PINE POND PINE. SAVANNA PINE. 12i nearly white. It is used for fuel, charcoal, and coarse lumber, It has been sparinscly cut for luuil)er in North Carolina. Pinus serotina. Michaux. (pond PINE. SAVANNA PINE. SWAMP PINE. POCOSIN PINE.) A small tree, with a short cylindrical trunk, numerous short branches, and smooth dark brown bark broken into rectangular plates, reaching a lieiglit of SO and a diameter of 3 feet. (Plate XXL) It occurs on low peaty or wet sandy soils of the worst quality, from North Carolina to Florida, near the coast. In this State, where it reaches an average height of 40 to 50 feet, it is common in the small swamps of the coastal plain, and is occasionally found in the Piedmont plateau region. (Fig. 35.) It bears seed frequently, and yi»ang growth is common on wet soil near old trees and mixed with the second growth of loblolly pine. A great deal of the seed will not germinate. It is more sensitive to lire than tlie loblolly pine. Old specimens are often hollow or red-hearted. The leaves are in threes, 5 to 8 inches long, somewhat shorter and from shorter sheaths than those of the loblolly pine. The cones frequently remain on the tree several years before dropping their seed. They are round ovate, 2 to 3 inches long, with scales rounded at the apex and have a small weak prickle. 128 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The wood is heavy, soft, not stronir, brittle, coarse-grained ; dark orange in color; the thi(;k sapwood pale yellow. In some sections of the State the pond pine is manufactured into lumber with the loblolly, from which it is not distinguished commercially. Pinus virginiana, Miller.* (jersey pine, cedar pine, spruce pine, scrub pine.) A slender tree, with a short stem, very numerous limbs which form an open oval or conical crown, and red-brown frequently scaly bark, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 3 feet. It occurs from New York, generally near the coast, to Georgia, and westward to Kentucky, and Indiana ; reaching its best devel- opment west of the Appalachian mountains. In this State, where it grows to a height of 20 to 40 feet and a diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it occurs sparingly in the Piedmont plateau on gravelly ridges with the short-leaf pine, and along the foot and on the spurs of the Blue Ridge much more abundantly, mixed with the white and pitch pines, or sometimes forming small patches of pure foi est. It is also found west of the Blue Ridge. (Fig. 36.) Seed is produced plentifully once in 2 or 3 years, and seedlings are very common, particularly in old lields, together with those *Pmus inops, Alton. TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE. 129 of tlie short-leaf pine. The rate of growth is very rapid, but the tree is short-lived. The leaves are short, 2^ to 8 inches long, rigid, in short sheaths, and usually in twos. The cones are light brown, solitary, curved, and oblong-conical, the scales armed with a rigid prickle. The root system is inclined to be somewhat heart-shaped, with a well developed tap-root. The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, close-grained and durable ; light orange in color ; the thick sapwood nearly white. It is used for fuel, water pipes, and pump logs. In North Caro- lina it is used in the manufacture of charcoal, and to some extent for fencing. Pinus pungens, Michaux. (table mountain PINE.) A tree, with rough reddish-brown bark and a large spreading crown, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 3j feet. It occurs along the Alleghany mountains from Pennsylvania to Tennessee, where it reaches its best development. A common tree, sometimes forming pure forest. In North Carolina it attains an average height of 30 to 50 feet, and an average diameter of 12 to 20 inches, and is found only along the Blue Eidge and the ranges immediately eastward on the driest, most barren ridges, usuallj^ associated with the pitch pine, and the chestnut and scarlet oaks. It is most abundant in the southeastern parts of Macon and Jackson counties. (Fig. 36, p. 128.) It bears seed abundantly ; seedlings are common in open woods near the old trees, and in abandoned fields. The leaves are 2 to 2h inches long, stout, and generally in twos. The light yellow very compact cone, 3 inches long and 2 inches broad at the base, has very broad strong sharp spines, 1-6 inch long, bent toward the top of the cone. The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, coarse-grained ; light brown in color; the thick sapwood nearly wjiite. It is used for charcoal and to some extent in construction. 9 13(1 TIMBER TREEB OF NORTH CAROLINA. Pinus echinata, Millei-.* (short-leaf pine, yellow pine, spruce pine, rosemary pine. HEART pine.) A tree of coniHiercial importance, with a loiiii; clear stem, a broad oval ciown, and hrownisli-red hark l)roken into rectangular plates, reaching- a height of 1(M> and a diameter of -ii feet. It occurs from New York to Florida and Texas, through Arkan- sas to Indian Territory, Kansas, and Missouri, and in Illinois; reaching its best development in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. In North Carolina, where it grows to a height of 70 to 90 feet and a diameter of 2 to Sk feet, it is found throughout, and enters into the composition of most upland forests. It appears less com- monly in the coastal j^lain region, being especially rare south of the Neiise river. (Fig. 37.) Areas containing merchantable milling tim- ber of the SHORT-LEAF PINE (Pinus echinata, Mi'U.) Areas from which the milling timber of SHORT-LEAP PINE has been largely removed. The short-leaf pine produces some seed annually, and bears abun- dantly about once in three years. Seedlings are common on well- drained soil, occupying abandoned fields and often growing in mix- ture with the loblolly pine. The rate of growth in youth is very ra]>id. On high exposed situations it is sometimes thrown by the \v i n (1 . The dark green slender leaves are usually in twos, from a long sheatli, and 3 to 5 inches long. The cone, smaller than that of the other North Carolina pines, and armed with slender short *Pinus mitis, Micliaux. N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. BULLETIN fi.TPLATE XVII. A GROUP OF LONG-LEAF PINES LONG-LEAF PINE, 131 spines, is rarely 2 inches lon^'. It has a strong tap-root and sev- eral lateral roots. The wood varies greatlj in quality and in the amount of sap- wood. It is heavy, hard, strong, and generally coarse-grained ; orange in color ; the sapwood nearly white. It is ninch used for lumber, for which purpose it is only inferior to that of the long- leaf pine. In the middle sections near the railroad it has heen largely removed. Large quantities still remain, however, in Stanly, Cabarrus, Randolph. Caswell, Davidson, Surry, Wilkes, Alexan- der, Iredell, Yadkin, Cleveland, Rutherford, and Caldwell coun- ties. The amount sawed in this State in ISd-i pro])ably was be- tween .50,000,000 and 60,000,000 feet, board measure, the larger part of which was for local use. On account of its tendency to spring up in old fields and open woods, and rhe excellent (quality of its timber, the short-leaf pine is probably destined to assume very extensive economic importance in the future. Pinus palustris, Miller. (long-leaf pine.) A tree of the first commercial value, with a long slender trunk free from branches, a small round bead, and thin l)right red- brown tliin-scaled bark, reachii'g a height of 95 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate XVII.) It occurs from Virginia to Florida and Texas, rarely beyond 150 miles from the coast, and reaches its best development in northeastern Texas on the gravelly uplands of the valleys of the Sabine and Trinity rivers. In North Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 70 feet and an average diameter of 15 to 20 inches, it is found (fig. 3S) in pure forest from the Neuse river southward, occupying all the Highest and driest sandy lands from the coast to within a few miles of Troy, in Montgomery county, and Rockingham, in Rich- mond county. Only along its western limits does it occur associated to any extent with other trees. Thelong-leaf pine formerly extended in an almost unbroken forest to Virginia, but it has been either 132 TIMBER TREKS OF NORTH CAROLINA. entirely cut out or so much thinned that it is of little commercial value north of the Neuse liver. The loblolly pine has for the most part taken its place, except on very dry and sterile soils. COASTAL PLAIN REGION _ NORTH CAKOLINA LEGEND Areas containing merchantable mDling tim- ber of LONG-LEAF PINE (Pinus palustris, Mill.) Areas from ■which the milling timber of LONG-LEAP PINE has been largely removed. I.B.Til.yo.;Co,.!LV. The long-leaf pine bears seed very abundantly only at long and irregular intervals. A fair production of seed occurs about once in 5 years, while in the intermediate years the yield is small and localized. After a seed year the young plants are very alnin- dant throughout the woods, but are killed in large numbers either by forest fires, by the dense shade, or by swine rooting them up to devour the sweet tender roots. Young trees are very sensitive to fire. After the first four or five years trees in the open grow very rapidly until about 15 years old, particularly in height, after which time the growtli is slow. AYhen the long-leaf pine is cut or burned, and prevented from reproducing itself on account of fires and swine, the loblolly pine often follows on damp soils, and scrub oak or fork-leaved black-jack oak on high dry sandy lands. The timber loss by'fire on long-leaf pine lands in 1893 amounted to not less than $100,000. At rare intervals extensive tracts are destroyed by bark beetles. Scattered trees are injured in locali- ties where the dead tops have been left in the woods after lum- bering. Beetles attack trees which have been injured by turpen- tine operations, which often so weaken them that many are thrown by the wind. In 1893 the losses, principally through this cause, amounted to between ten and fifteen million feet, board measure. The leaves are 10 to 15 inches long, in threes from long sheaths. N. C. GEOI.OGICAI. SURVKY. TiT'LI.KTIN (). PI.ATE XVIIT. BLACK SPRUCE BLACK SPRUCE. HE BALSAM. LASH HORN. TAMARAC. 133 and clustered on the ends of the thick scaly branchlets. They remain on healthy trees about 3 years, but on boxed trees only about two. Tlie sterile flowers are rose colored, appearing about the lirst of April, and tlie large silky winter-buds are white. The cones are light brown, cylindrical or conical-oblong, 6 to 10 inches long, and have thick scales armed with a stout blunt spine. A tap-root is developed in early life and is often forked. The root system of old trees' tends to be heart-shaped with the lateral roots penetrating deeply. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, coarse-grained, and durable; light red or orange in color; the thin sapwood nearly white. It is widely used for construction of all kinds, interior finish, fencing, railroad ties, etc. Turpentine, tar, pitch, rosin, and spirits of turpentine are obtained almost exclusively from this species. The largest bodies of standing long-leaf pine are in Moore, Montgomery, Cumberland, Robeson, and Bladen counties, and probably not more than 50,000 acres still remain unboxed. Wil- mington has for a long time been an important centre for the manufacture of lumber from this species, and much has also been cut in tlie Aberdeen district in Moore and Cumberland counties. Picea nigra, Link. (black spruce. he balsam. lash horn. TAMARAC.) A tree, with spreading branches which form a conical cro\vn, a long cylindrical trunk, and dark brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 90 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate XVIII.) It occurs trom Newfoundland to Hudson bay, the mouth of the Mackenzie river, and the eastern slopes of the Rocky moun- tains, and south through the northern states to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and along the Appalachian mountains to North Carolina. In this State, where it is confined to the upper slopes of the highest peaks, above an elevation of 5,000 feet, from Elk Knob in Ashe to Clingman's Dome in Swain county, it forms pure forest or toward the summits is mixed with Carolina fir and 134: TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. beech, Hr)d readies an average height of 40 to 50 feet and an average diameter of 1 5 to '20 inches. In favorable localities at its lower limits, it attains a height of nearly 10(1 and a diameter of 4 feet. It bears seed in abundance, in this State, only at long and irreg- ular intervals. Young growth, however, is common in the thick woods. Great quantities of spruce have been destroyed by l)ark beetles, notably in Maine and in the Adirondack mountains of New York. A bud worm, Tortrix fnmiferana, Chmens, whicli attacks the shoots and foliage, is one of its most deadly enemies. The dark green needle-shaped rigid leaves aie scattered on all sides of the slightly downy branchlets. The cones are ovate or ovate-oblong and 1 to Ih inches long, with thin roundish scales. The wood is light, soft, not strong, close and straight-grained ; light red, or often nearly white in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is used ibr construction, shipbuilding, piles, posts, railroad ties, etc. Sj^ruce beer is made from this species. The largest bodies of spruce, in North Carolina, are on the Black mountains in Yancey county. Grandfather mountain in Watauga, the Balsam mountains in Haywood, and the Great Smoky mountains in Swain county. Tsuga canadensis, Carriore. (hemlock, spruce pine.) A large tree, with a large conical crown, numerous spreading branches, and dark red-brown deeply furrowed bark, reaching a height of 110 and a diameter of 6 feet. (Plate XIX.) It occurs generally on nortliern slopes from Nova Scotia to northern Wisconsin, and south to Delaware, Michigan, central Wisconsin, and along the Appalaciiian mountains to Alabama ; reaching its best development in the liigh mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. In North Carolina, where it attains an average height of To to 80 and an average diameter of 2 to 8 feet, it is common in the mountains in cool ravines along streams on loamy or rich vegeta- N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HEMLOCK CAROLINA HEMLOCK. HEMLOCK. SPRUCE PINE. 135- hie soil, associated with cherry birch, yellow birch, and the Rhododendron. (Fig. 35, p. 123.) It bears seed frequently, and young seedlings are cotnnion in the shade of the old trees. The hemlock is very free from the attack of injurious insects. Tall trees in exposed situations are often thrown by the wind. The dark green leaves are linear, llat, obtuse, two-ranked, and whitish beneath. The cones are small, oval or oblong, with the scales smooth and entire. The hemlock has nnmerous sjtreading lateral and superficial roots. The wood is light, soft, not strong, l)rittle, coarse and crooked- grained, dithcult to work, liable to windshake and splinter, and not durable ; light brown or often nearly white in color ; the sap- wood somewhat darker. Commercially two varieties, tlve red and the white, are recognized. The coarse lumber is used for construction, outside finish, and railroad ties. The bark is extensively employed for tanning, and yields a powerful astrin- gent, ('anada or hemlock-pitch is made t'rom this species. A good deal of hemlock has been cut near Cranberry for the bark, and large quantities of logs have been floated down the branches of the Tennessee river from Grahan) and Swain coun- ties to Knoxville, Tenn. Tsuga caroliniana, Engelmann. (CAROLINA HEMLOCK. HEMLOCK. SPRUCE PINE.) A tree, with conical crown, numerous branches upon two-thirds of the stem, and rough thick red-brown bark, reaching a height of 5(j to 70 and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet. It is found locally along the eastern Appalachian mountains from the Saluda mountains. South Carolina, to Ashe county in North Carolina, where it occurs on cliffs along the South Fork of the New river, near Elk Cross-roads, and on spurs of the Blue Ridge; also in the gorge of the Doe river in Carter county, Tenn, (Fig. 35, p. 123.) It grows on dry and rocky ridges, rarely form- ing pure forest. 136 TIMBER TKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. The Carolina hemlock bears seed frequently, but usually not in abundance. Seedlings are common in dense woods. The leaves are longer and more scattered than those of the common hemlock, to which the tree bears a general resemblance. The cones are larger, drooping, and with spreading scales. The coarse-grained brittle wood is light and soft ; light brown tinged with red ; the sapwood nearly white. Abies fraseri, Lindley. (balsam.) A tree, with conical crown, numerous spreading branches, and light gray rather smooth bark, reaching a height of 80 and a diameter of 2 feet. It occurs on moist slopes at an elevation of 5,000 to 6,500 feet, upon the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, often form- ing considerable forests. In this State, where it reaches an average height of less than 40 feet and an average diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it is common on the highest summits of the mountain region, but it does not occur below 4,000 feet. It usually forms pure forest, but is found mixed with the black spruce, and to a less extent with beech and the birches. It bears seed at rather long intervals, but seedlings are com- mon under the shade of the old trees. The growth in youth is rapid. The leaves are" somewhat two ranked, linear, flattened and obtuse, and remain on the trees for several years. The cones are 1 to 2 inches long. The wood is very light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained ; light brown in color ; the sapwood nearly white. It is little used. A thin, clear liquid called turpentine or balsam, derived from l)listers on the bark, is used for cuts and sores. Sabal palmetto, Loddiges. (palmetto.) An endogenous tree, destitute of branches, with a small oval or N. C. CjEOLOGICAL si R\EV HULLETIX 6, PLATE XX. A YOUNG PAL GROUP OF PALMETTOS. SMITH'S ISLAND. PALMETTO. 137 globose head formed of the large roniid leaves, and rough furrowed dark brown bark, reaching a height of 40 and a diameter of 3 feet. (Plate XX.) It oc'^.urs from Smith Island off Cape Fear river, North Caro- lina, to Key Largo, Florida, and along the Gulf coast to the Appalachicola river ; reaching its best development on the west coast of Florida, south of Cedar Keys. In North Carolina, it is found on deep sandy or loamy soil with the live oak, American olive, and water oak, and attains a height of 30 feet and a diameter rarely exceeding 18 inches. Its rarity renders it of little commercial importance. The leaves are large, fan shaped, pal mated, and borne on stems 18 to 24 inches long. The flowers are small, greenish, and in small clusters, and the fruit is a small rounded drupe. The wood is light and soft ; light brown in color ; the fibro- vascular bundles hard, dark, and difficult to work. It is imper- vious to the attacks of the teredo, very durable in water, and is largely used for piles and wharves. The inner portion of the young plant is edible, and is often pickled. FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. WILLIAM WILLARD ASHE. THE FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. By W. W. Ashe. FOREST DIVISIONS. North Carolina can be divided topographically into three well- marked divisions : 1. The coastal plain kegion, or coastal division lying to the eastward and extending inland from the coast for a distance of one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles, has an aggregate area approximating 24,000 square miles. Its surface is that of a gently undulating plain of slight elevation (ten to fifty feet above sea level) and more nearly level surface eastward, and becoming more elevated (three hundred to five hundred feet) and rolling along its western border. The upland soils are sandy loams and loams, rarely stifi', moderately fine and even-grained. To the north of the Neuse river loams and loose loams are the more frequent upland soils ; to the south of this river they are more sandy. In the more eastern portion of this region, in the vicinity of the coast, are numerous and extensive swamps, due either to insufiicient surface drainage, or the presence beneath the surface soil of impermeable strata. Their soils are silty and clayey, and com- pact; or sandy and loamy, and loose; over limited areas they are peaty ; where they border the larger streams, that have their head-waters beyond the coastal plain region, they are silty with a small admixture of vegetable matter. In this region the normal annual temperature is about 61°F. ; and the normal annual rainfall about fifty five inches. 2. The Piedmont plateau region, extending westward from the coastal plain, lies parallel to the Atlantic shore, and to the Blue Ridge, the eastern base of which marks the region's western bor- der. It is an extended peneplain, one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles in width, and has an area of about 22,000 square 142 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. miles. In the east its surface is rolling, but adjacent to the larger streams, and toward the western limit, it becomes more hilly and rugged, and in places even mountainous, being penetrated by spurs from the Blue Ridge. It has an average altitude above sea- level of 850 to 900 feet, but rises at the highest peaks to a little over 3,000 feet ; along its extreme eastern border it is not over 400 to 500 feet. On the uplands the soils may be described in gen- eral terms as loams, sandy in some places and clayey in others, formed by the decay of slates, gneisses, granites, and other crys- talline rocks. Along the numerous streams the soil is usually a fluvial deposit : a rich dark-colored loam, containing a vary- ing proportion of vegetable matter. The Piedmont plateau region has an average temperature of about 58.5° or 59° F., and an annual rainfall of about fifty inches. 3. The mountain region embraces an irregular and mountain- ous table-land, which lies between the escarpment of the Blue Ridge on the east and the Great Smoky mountains on the west. Numerous cross-chains, separated by narrow valleys or broader river basins, connect these two mountain ranges. The region has an average altitude above sea level of about 3,500 feet , but rises (at Mt. Mitchell) to 6,711 feet. It has an area of nearly 6,000 square miles. Although the mountain slopes are often steep, the soil is usually fertile, being a loam of varying physical character but generally rich in humus, open or porous and easily cultivated. The average temperature for the region probably approximates 50° F., varying from 57.8° F., at Hot Springs, to an estimated tem- perature for the summit of Mt. Mitchell of less than 38° F. ;" the normal annual precipitation is about 57 inches. The rainfall throughout the State is about evenly distributed through the seasons ; more falls, however, in July and August, and less in October and November, than at other seasons. There are few late spring frosts ; and only occasionally are there early autumn frosts before the wood has ripened at the end of the growing season. *Climato]ojuted, the palmetto, devilwood, and magnolia. The i)almetto is confined to Cape Hatteras and Smith's Island, the magnolia to the coast region of Brunswick county. Where the soils are more moist, the growth is largely of water oak and laurel oak, holly, smooth sweet bay, and mock-orange, with occasional lins, or other kinds of oaks in addition to those named above, which form a dense upper story ; beneath them are small shade-bearing trees or shrubs. The forest floor is good and the humus deep. Where the soils are drier, either from greater coarseness of the sand or from being more elevated above sea level, red cedar, live oak and prickly ash, enter more largely into the composition of the forest, the trees being smaller in size and with shorter boles. On the driest soils, the growth is restricted to scattered groves of red cedar, half shrubby forms of the live oak, thickets of plum and yaupon, and. other shrubs which rapidly propagate by means of root-shoots and suckers. Probably not over one-half of the area is wooded ; the remaining portion is naked, only a small part of it being under cultivation. In places along the coastal islands, and this is particularly true to the north of Cape Hatteras, there are great stretches destitute of all tree growth, the soil being a coarse beach-sand, the surface of which rises into parallel ridges which reach a height, in places, of 7»> or more feet above sea level; and this sand, being fixed by no network of plant root-fibers, and containing no binding ingredient, is constantly shifting under the impact of the winds. Some such areas were originally forest-covered, but once cleared, and the humus, which was slightly cohesive, destroyed, the constant move- ment of the sand before the winds, which have piled it into shift- ing dunes, has prevented a general growth of any kind from secur- FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT. 147 ing a foothold. Fisliennen''s houses have been destroyed by tliese inov'inor dunes and their sites obliterated, and others are menaced by them. Considerable areas of forest have been destroyed by the roots of trees being deeply covered with sand or the entire forest buried, thus increasing the extent of the shifting dunes. Occa- sional clumps of prickly ash and devilwood, which put forth adven- titious roots from tiie young twigs as they are partly covered by the sand, or thickets of shrubby live oak, plum, and shrubs which sucker freely, maintain themselves in some places for many years. All oaks, except the youngest, are killed by sucli moving dunes. Red cedar, holly, palmetto, mock-orange and myrtle, not rooting from the young wood, are quickly destroyed by the covering of sand. A maritime dune, over two miles in length and twenty feet in height, is now moving across Smith's Island, which lies at the moutli of the Cape Fear river. Starting in the southwest part of the island, and moving to the northward, it has already destroyed tlic forest along the southern edge of the island. Commercially these forests are unimportant except where they produce, on some of the islands, a limited number of red cedar posts. Their protection is worthy of consideration, however, as they act as a safeguard in preventing the foruiation of inlets which would impair existing water-ways. THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT. These forests extend from within a few miles of the sea coast inland to near the western limits of the coastal plain region, and embrace the greater portion of the economic forests of the region as well as cover the greater part of its area. FOREST TREES. The pines growing in this pine belt are the long-leaf, the lob- lolly, the pond and in some places the short-leaf. They are for the most part conhned to the uplands, and form the dominant growths vith broad-leaf trees beneath them, or occur as a pure growth. Other coniferous or resinous trees found are the (;ypress, white cedar, and red cedar, all of which in the original forests are 148 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. confioed to the lowlands. The broad-leaf trees are ehie% water oak, willow oak, Spanish oak, swamp chestnut oak, overcup and post oaks, and such smaller species of oak as upland willow oak and the black-jack oak, which, though very abundant, are at present economically of littlevalne ; sweet gum, water gum and tupelo, elms, red maple, hackberry, iiickories (chiefly the white, shagbark, and bitternut), and dogwood. The larger broad-leaf trees, with the cypress and cedars, are con- iined to the lowlands and better class of soils, pines superseding them on the drier or impoverished soil of the uplands. DISTINCTIVE GROWTH. The difterence between these forests and those of the maritime division are marked : The latter are composed mostly of broad- leaf evergreen species; the former are composed largely of pines and broad-leaf deciduous trees. A few trees are common to both forests. Thus the M'ater oak is a (conspicuous tree in both ; but the red cedar is infrequent or altogether wanting over the larger part of the area of the pine belt. The smooth sweet bay of the maritime belt is represented in the pine belt by the closely related sM'eet bay. (See p. 26.) PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PINE BELT. The surface of this part of the coastal plain region is gently rolling, there being, particularly to the eastward, areas of large extent almost level, but along the western border, especially in Harnett, Moore and Richmond counties, it is hilly and broken. The area is nearly as great as that of the coastal plain forest region, and the altitude above the sea level is about the same as was given for that, being from 10 or 15 feet along the eastern bor- der to 150, and even 300 feet, in Moore county, along the west- ern border. To the eastward, in the neighborhood of the coast, where the drainage is insufficient to remove the rainfall, there are extensive areas of lowlands or swamp, mostly forest-covei-ed ; while west- ward, where the fall permits more thorough drainage, the swamps are restricted to narrow borders contiguous to the streams. The FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT UPLANDS. 149 entire swamp-area of tlie region aggregates nearly 4,600 sqnare miles. THE CHANGES IN THE KIND OF FOREST GROWTH. The changes in the condition of the forest growth are dne almost entirely to variations in the character of the soils : porosity, fertility, the amount of moisture contained, in them, and to the distribution of the soil-moisture during the growing season. The extremes of inoisture encountered are from wet, or even inundated soils throughout the growing-season, to dry soils for the greater part of the year, except immediately after a rain. In fertility the range is between compact and line-grained " mud " alluvium, containing in abundance all the elements of plant-food, to almost pure sand ; in porosity, from coarse-grained sand of great depth, to compact shallow top-soils with impermeable substrata. Some soils are almost destitute of humus, while others are constituted largely of decaying or decayed vegetable matter. Such extremes of soils are often in juxtaposition, there being no easy gradation from one to the other, so that the contrast and line of demarcation between the two, and the respective arborescent growth which they support, is sharply and distinctly defined. The forests of the pine belt are separable into two groups : those of the uplands, on which the long- leaf and loblolly pines are the dominant trees ; and those of the lowlands on w^hich white cedar, cypress, or broad-leaf trees are the most abundant. THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT UPLANDS. Forests of pine covered, at least in their original distribution, all of the uplands, there being only a few local areas on which broad- leaf trees were not subordinate to them. To the north of the Tar river, except on the porous and highly silicious soils where pure and uninterrupted forests of long-leaf pine occurred, the original forests were composed of alternating belts of short-leaf and loblolly pines; the short-leaf pine, with a subordinate growth of broad-leaf trees, largely oaks, dominating along the crests and on the drier and more gravelly soils, as occasional trees of this species still standing now testify; while on the lower, moister, loamy 150 FORESTS OF NOKTH CAROLINA. soils grew the loblolly pine, forming a ruling pure growth or coordinate with broad-leaf trees. To the north of the Roanoke river the long-leaf pine probably formed only two extensive forests: one on the sandy area extending north and south through Gates county, the other on " long ridge," an elevated body of sand lying to the south of the Dismal Swamp. To the south of the Roanoke river, the areas of sandy soils with the accompanying growth of long-leaf pine were more frequent, extensive bodies occurring in Halifax, Bertie, and Edgecombe counties; while in Wayne and Nash counties, to the north of the Neuse river, began the forests of this tree, which extended with their continuity scarcely b oken exce[)t by the water courses, west to the oak uplands of the Piedmont plateau and southwestward to the Gulf of Mexico. Within this area, only adjacent to the swamps were there at the iirst settlement of this country more than scattered trees of the loblolly pine. The influence of man in changing and modifying the distribu- tion of these trees in the two hundred years that have followed has been enormous. To the north of the Neuse river the long-leaf pine has nearly disappeared. Occasional solitary trees are still to be found among other kinds of pines, or broad-leaf tiees, and on the sand hills of Wayne county, and in the flats of the great Dover swamp, groups of a few trees yet occur; but their commeicial value as forest trees in this section has passed away. The short-leaf pine has as thoroughly disapp>eared from the counties lying to the north of the Tar river as has tlie long- leaf; the Idhlolly pine with an accompanying growth of small broad-leaf trees has succeeded both. At the present time tiie forest of the uplands are separable into two divisions with distinct arborescent growth : (1.) That in which the long-leaf pine is the dominant economic tree : the long leaf pine woodland. (2.) That in which the loblolly pine is the dominant economic tree : the level pine woodland. In the present aspect of tHe forest there is no sharp line of demarcation between the tw^o, but a differentiation is made for simplifying their consideration, as tliere are large areas, particu- LONG-LEAF PINE WOODLAND. 151 larilv to the south of the Neuse river, on wliich the two trees occur side by side forming about equal proportions of the woods, but in such places the loblolly pine is in process of supplanting the long leaf pine, and puch woodland will be considered from a sylvicultural point of view, as being more suitable for the growth and develojiment of the loi)lolly than the long-leaf pine. The commercial timbers of each kind now on these lands will, how- ever, be considered. LONG-LEAF PINE WOODLAND. The area on which the long-leaf pine is the dominant tree, or where it yet exists side by side with tiie loblolly pine, extends from near Bogue sound in Carteret <;oanty, southward along the great sand bank lying between the sounds and the swamps ; from the burders of the Dover swamp noi'thward to Enfield in Halifax county, and Nashville (within the transitional division) westward to Cary (in Wake county), Sanford (in Moore county), and the east- ern edge of Montgomery county, and the southeastern corner of Anson county. To the northeastward of Lliis area, wherever the soil was suitable, the long-leaf pine has been replaced by the lob- lolly ; but on limited areas of sandy soils, occasional specimens of the former species yet stand, unsurrounded by other large forest trees, but showing that its fellows once tenanted the entire soil. Such- areas will be fully described in considering the pine barrens. Along the great sand hills just within the sounds, the long-leaf pine occurs in open forests of small trees, now largely removed ; further inland, on the praries and hillocks in the swamps and the wet-soiled downs of the coast of Brunswick county, clumps of larger trees grow at intervals; on the loams in the basins of the Black and Northeast Cape Fear rivers; and on similiar soils in Colunibus, Bladen, and Robeson counties, the long-leaf and lob- lolly pines are found together; while northward to northern Wayne, and westward to Wake and Anson connties, it forms, where unlambered or not destroyed, a nearly pure growth of medium sized trees. Leaving out of consideration the few trees disseminated through 152 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. the swamps on hillocks, the long-leaf pine occurs on two classes of_ soils : (1.) The sands of the pine barrens, which include the drier forest lands between the sounds and the great swamps, and the greater areas of dry sandy soils lying in the western parts of the coastal plain. (3.) The loams of level pine woodland which are at present in most places the debatable ground between the long-leaf and lob- lolly pines, and are, in certain sections, largely occupied by the latter species. Such areas on which the loblolly pine is now dom- inant will be described in considering that tree. In the forests on both kinds of soil dissimilar changes in their composition are in progress, the result of nearly the same factors THE PINE BARKENS. The largest detached areas of pine barrens are the long ridge, lying to the south of the Dismal Swamp, the areas in Gates and Green counties, the one to the north of the Neuse river in Craven county, narrow strips l^ing north and south in Pender and Dup- lin counties, a great part of New Hanover county, 'considerable areas in the southern part of Bladen, the middle and southern parts of Wayne and Columbus, and a narrow belt lying between the vast coastal swamps and the coast in the counties of Bruns- wick, Onslow, and Carteret ; while a single large body extends from the northern part of Sampson, the southern and central parts of Harnett, northern and eastern portions of Bladen, and northern Robeson counties throughout Cumberland to the western sections of Moore and Richmond counties. SOILS OF THE PINE BARRENS. The soils are of almost pure sand, containing very little clayey ingredients ; loose, coarse-grained, dry on the surface, even soon after a rain, fresii below, but becoming dry to a considerable depth, and usually with no diflferentiable subsoil. But in the smaller areas there is a top-soil of sand, often shallow, especially around the edges where stiffer loams form a more fertile subsoil. Geologically they are of recent date. FORESTS OF THE PINE BARRENS. 153 The distinctive arborescent growth of these lands is the long- leaf pine and several small scrub oaks; the fork-leaf black-jack oak, barren willow oak, and forms of the post uak. CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BARRENS. Generally the pine forests of tlie barrens resemble a two-storied high forest, there being an upper story of this pine, about 70 or 80 feet in height, with a rather thin cover, even where uninjured by fires or unlumbered ; beneath the pine an open growth of the scrub oaks from 10 to 15 feet in height, or in places nearly clear. As the cover of the pines becomes thinner, the scrub oaks beneath them become more numerous. The floor is poor, and there is but little humus ; it is grassy with coarse tufts of the wire grass or broom grasses or covered with shrul)s. There is no young growth of the long-leaf pine or any valuable tree. Practically all of the pine has been tapped for its resin, crude turpentine, the amount of round-timber standing, which has not had the trunk excorticated in the process of turpentining, buing less than 50,000 acres. Not only has the grealer portion of the timber been so boxed for turpentine, but, after the original faces have l)een scarified as high as possible, and the trees allowetl to rest a few years, additional boxes have been cut between the former ones. Many trees, thus weakened by the deeply cut boxes at the collar of the trunk, windfall, and the loss of timber from this cause has been enormous. The resi'ieovered surfaces wh'^re tapped fur turpentine are highly inflamable, and fires passing over the dry herbage spread to the trees and frequently destroy them. This description represents the forests where they are in the best condition, l)ut it is now realized in only a few places in North Carolina. The greater portion of the forests have been culled for many years, so that there are extensive areas thinly stocked, a few pines to each acre standing in thickets of scrub oaks; or there are birge areas of abandoned turpentine orchard, .aggregating probably 700,000 acres, but yet containing a small amount of timber suita- ble for saw logs. There are extensive areas lying within these forests from which the timber has been so thoroughly removed by 154 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. fires, liiniberii)g-, and a reckless system of tnrpentinini!; that the lands may he classed as waste, there being on, them neither mer- chantable trees nor yontig growth of any species which will, in the course of time, yield timh>er. Nearly all of the waste land in the eastern counties lies in the pine barrens, the larger areas being in Wayne, Sampson, Bladen, Brunswick, Harnett, Cutnberland, Moore, and Richmond counties. The entire area of waste land is about 400,000 a. -res. The waste lands are due to the failure of the longdeaf pine to reproduce itself to any considerable extent in these vast areas. Their ])resent condition has been gradually matured, and the causes which have produced it may now be seen in operation in nearly any unprotected wood of long-leaf pine, where there is no young growth of this tree. The scanty reproduction is due largely to the fires which in many places pass over the land every year consuming the dead herbage, the wire grass and tlie leaves of the scrub oaks, and destroying the slow growling young pines, which by the end of the fifth year have o-nly reached a height of 3 to 5 inches above the ground; the infrequent seeding of the old trees; the enormous destruction of the seed by hogs and fowls when there is a seed-year; the further depredations made by hogs digging up the plant to get the root. It is doubtful if the partial shade of the scrub oaks is sutficient to interfere seriously with the development of the young plant, as great as are its requirements for sunlight and warmth. The failure of the forests of long-leaf pine to reproduce them- selves naturally, except to a limited extent, on any part of the pine barrens, has already been treated of in a previous report of the Geological Survey. It is a matter of importance, as the land in ;ts present state represents a great amount of capital lying idle which might be made productive to the owner, and give employ- ment to lal)or engaged in handling or manufacturing forest products. It is absolutely essential that the demands necessary for its growth be accorded it — immunity fron\ destruction by fires, protection ngainst the depredations of stock, particularly hogs, both to the seed and the young plant, and protection against the POSSIBILITIES OF THE PINE BARRENS. 155 encroaeliiuent of more rapid-growing pines or broad-leaf trees, on soils where such will grow. POKSIBILITIES OF THE PINE BARRENS. The pine barrens, on acoount of their impoverished soils, are incapable of sustaining a wood of a large-sized broad-leaf species. The loblolly pine seems incapable of naturally securing a foothold in these sands, as nowhere in the forest does it follow the long-leaf pine as that tree is removed ; and on the limited areas of old fields where it has appeared spontaneously, it seems unable to attain a large size or perfect development, the boles being short and crowded with limbs, the crowns large and spread- ing, the wood in the standing tree, even the sapwood, often evinc- ing at an early age signs of decay. These are, in fact par excel- lence the long-leaf pine lands. No other tree for timber use is capable of attaining even a moderate development on this soil. The least exacting of the larger forest trees of the State, both in regard to soil-moisture and fertility, it is able to secure by means of its deep-seated taproot, which often penetrates the layers of sand to a depth of ten or twelve feet, the mineral elements necessary for its development, and reach on the most barren soils a height of 50 to 70 feet and a diameter of l-i to 16 inches. On the pauperized soils of the barrens lying near the sounds, the pine is unable to become more than a middle-sized tree 50 to 60 feet in height with a diameter of about 16 inches ; on the deep and poor sands of Wayne, tlie northern part of Bladen, and portions of Sampson counties tiie conditions of development are similar to or only a little better than those prevailing near the coast, and continue so to the westward through Cumberland, Harnett and Richmond counties, until in Moore and Montgomery counties the loose sands become confluent with the late drifts derived from the sandstones containing clayey particles and a loamy subsoil^ where a better growth can be secured. But on many of the smaller areas of sandy soils, where the taproot of the tree is able to penetrate the sand and reach a stifter subsoil, the tree reaches 156 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. a larger size, a lieiu;ht of 70 to 90 feet and a diameter of 16 to 20 inches. LEVEL PINE WOODLAND. The surface of these lands, (also see page 161), is very nearly level, sliofhtly rolling, or sloping toward the streams ; the soils loose, or moderately compact loams, or sandy loams with some- what firmer yello\v or gray, loamy or stiff loamy subsoils; mostly fine-grained, moist or fresh but well-drained. As they become more moist and more loamy the loblolly pine occupies them, espec- ially over the large areas to the north of the Tar river. The larger areas on which the long-leaf pine is yet standing are in Edgecombe, Johnson and Wilson counties ; the basin of the Northeast Cape Fear river from the southern part of Wayne county southward ; large areas in the southern parts of Bladen and Robeson counties and smaller areas in Brunswick and Colum- bus Counties. As has been stated, the long-leaf pine fornierly occupied the greater portion of these lands to the exclusion of almost every other tree, but as the mature trees of this species were removed or died they have been rapidly replaced by the loblolly pine and, in most places to the north of the Neuse river, and in many places to the south, this substitution has been entirely effected. The other trees which grow on these loams with the pines are the post oak, the Spanish oak and the black oak, and small hick- ories and dogwood. CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE LEVEL PINE WOODLAND- Where pasturage has not suppressed the broad-leaf element, the forests of long-leaf pine on the moist loams also resemble a two-storied high forest. The upper story is a compact growth of pine, 100 to 125 feet in height; the the lower is of broad-leaf trees : post oak, Spanish oak, and black oak, small hickories and dogwood, reaching an average height of not more than -10 feet. In few localities is this condition now realized. The cover of pine has been broken by frequent windfalls and culling ; in many places browsing cattle have suppressed the broad-leaf trees, or FORESTS OF THE LEVEL PINE WOODLAND. loT they have been killed bv fires. The loblolly pine, resisting snc- cessfully the fires and uninjured bj cattle, has colonized either by solitary specimens or njore frequently by groups of a few trees which have already reached maturity, or by thickets of younger ones, wherever openings in the cover above enabled it to secure a foothold. In sections long-settled, where the long-leaf pine has been culled, and in long-abandoned turpentine orchards the lob- lolly has replaced a great part of the long-leaf pine. The mature loblolly pines nearly equal in height the long-leaf pine and form a part of the cover, beneath which groups of young trees of the former species can be seen in all stages of development wherever, there is sufficient light to permit their growth. Nowhere except in the limited districts protected from fire and cattle, is there any young growth of the long-leaf pine. This tree, once dominant over such an extensive area, is surely failing to reproduce itself, and it is fortunate that a tree as valuable as the loblolly pine is supplanting it on these soils. The greater part of the compact loblolly growth to the south of the Tar river has in this manner gradually extended by occupying the lands from which the progeny of its closest competitor has been thus excluded by the influence of human agencies. To the causes which have checked the growth of the lono--leaf pine on the pine barrens, fires, hogs and infrequent seeding, there must be added another agency which has aided in suppressino; it on the level loamy soils — the struggle with contesting species. As the cover in the long-leaf pine growth has been broken, either by trees being removed in lumbering or windfalls, seed from the lob- lolly i^ines in the swamps and along the streams have been blown in, this pine seeding more regularly than the long-leaf, and its seedlings have taken possession, the young plant not beino- destroyed by hogs, and by their rapid growth soon getting too laige to be easily damaged by fires. Long-leaf pines, which after a time might have succeeded in getting a start, have thus been crowded out by being overshaded by the more rapid-growino- loblolly pine. Under existing conditions it is impossible for the long-leaf pine to ever again succeed naturally in forming a growth loS FORESTS OF NORTH UAROLIXA. on tlie lands whieli the loblolly pine has thus possessed. The shade of the loblolly pine with that formed by the accompanying undergrowth of broad-leaf trees is too deep for the growth of the long-leaf pine seedling beneatli them, even where there are long- leaf pines standing near that might produce the uecessarj^ seed. SUPPLY AND UTILIZATION OF LONG-LEAF PINE. The larger bodies of merchantable long-leaf pine lie in Bladen, Robeson, Cumberland, Moore, and Montgomery counties, the last being within the transitional region. There are smaller bodies in Sampson, Brunswick, Columbus, and Harnett counties. Nearly all of this has been tapped for turpentine. The total amount standing is estimated to be less than 3,000,000,000 feet, board measure, distributed so as to yield on pine lands an average ciit of less than 8,000 feet, board measure, to the acre. The greater part of the long-leaf pine timber is f unl umbered long-leaf pine lands in this State is now of small extent and is the seat of active lumbering operations. The growth of pine is so open (the density in only a few places being over three-fourths of the possibility), that if protected from fire and hogs until after lumbered, there would be sufficient light for a young crop to have secured a start beneath the old pines. In localities in the transitional counties, where there is a heavy underwood of small broad-leaf trees, chiefly post oak, Spanish oak, and white oak, openings would have to be made in their cover in order to afford the young pines sufficient light for development. In many places where the pine has been regularly lumbered or culled for a great many years there is a like thick growth of small broad-leaf trees beneath the remaining pines, and here too the cover would have to be thinned in order to give the young pines the necessary light. In must ])laces there are still sufficient mature pines standing, if left uninjured, to seed the ground after two or more seed-years, if the seedlings are protected. Where there are now no seed-bearing pines a crop would have to be artificially introduced by either sowing the seed or setting out young plants. As seed in a seed-year could be cheaply secured, and the young plants if set out would also require protection, it would undoubt- edly be more economical to introduce by seeding. The first and absolute prerecjuisite before any attempt can be made to improve the condition of the long leaf pine forests is entire exclusion of cattle and hogs, and complete protection from fire. Laws enforc- ing the confinement o+' live stock will in a great measure secure 160 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. immunity from the first evil and will materially tend to mitigate the second, as the majority of the fibres which sweep across the bar- rens with i-nch destruction are purposely set to remove dried grass and herbage in the spring, and afford cattle the tender, fresh shoots of the year for pasturage. Especially might much benefit accrue to these districts by the reenactment of special fire-laws for the pine barren districts, affixing more severe penalties for their violation ; establishing for their execution an administrative corps of wardens and subordinate officers, with power to summon citizens in case of fires to assist in suppressing them, to inquire into their origin, and to bring suits in the courts against oflTenders and violators of the laws. The present fire-law is unsatisfactory in offering no adequate means for investigation into the origin of fires, so that it is seldom or never that offenders come within its bounds. The long-leaf pine can be reproduced only from seed, and is adapted only for pure growth in a high forest with a rotation of from 80 to 120 or more years. As the tree reaches a smaller size and attains a less age on the highly silicious soils of the pine bar- rens it would be more profitable to use the longer periods of rota- tion, for the production of larger- sized timber, only on the better class of soils. Ft is more impatient of the shade than any other of the forest trees, the young seedling, even, requiring direct sun- liglit and enduring only a moderate shade, and the trees when once stunted by over-shading, or too much compression, never recover their normal vigor. The group system of natural regeneration certainly seems to assure the successful starting of a new crop with a greater prob- ability of success than any other. By this system groups of trees of considerable extent are removed at intervals through the for- est, the areas from which they are rentoved being cut clean, and reo-eneration taking place by seeding from the adjoining trees. The young seedlings cannot be overshaded by the enlargement of the crowns of still-standing trees as is apt to be the case in selec- vtion cutting, and a thick stand, if the group is not of too great extent, more than two hundred to three hundred yards wide, insures sufficient lateral shade during the height-growth stage to LOBLOLLY ]»INE WOODLAND. Ifil cause the tbrniation of clear holes. Dwarfed and defective trees passed over in Innihering may l)e left until after a stand is secured, as seed from them will materially aid in ohtaining an even distri- htition of the youno; crop; but they should be removed as soon as regeneration is assured. Seed for planting should be gathered in autunan, between the middle of October and the early part of November, care being- taken to keep them dry until sown. If the weather is at all moist and warm, planting should take place at once. This will enable the seed to germinate and root before winter. Otherwise they should be kept dry until early spring and planted not later than the first of April. Only slight preparation of the soil is needed for planting. All broad-leaf trees should be removed, and a plowing to destroy the turf lessens the danger of the young pines being choked by tlie grass. Froni sowings carried on at Rladenboro as experiments, it would seem to take about five pounds of seed to the acre, there being about 10,000 seed to the pound. LOBLOLLY I'INE WOODLAND. The area in which the loblolly pine is the dominant economic tree includes the greater part of the uplands north of the Tar river; most of the area lying between the Tar and Xeuse rivers, except the uplands of Edgecombe, Wilson and Nash counties which are occupied conjointly by the long-leaf and loblolly pines; the basin of the Northeast river in Duplin and Pender counties ; the uplands of Jones and Lenoir counties and a great portion of the uplands of Carteret, Onslow and Brunswick counties; much of Columbus and Robeson ; the southeastern corner of Richmond ; the eastern part of Anson and smaller areas in Sampson and Bladen counties. The forests of this pine are cliiefiy confined to the level pine woodland with k:»amy or stiff loamy soils as were described in the growth of the long-leaf pine in the level pine woodland (p. loO). To the north of the Neuse river, the loblolly pine forms a pure forest over the larger portion of the area, as it also does in a large portion of the coastal counties of Carteret, Onslow and Pender, 11 162 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. on the extensive flats of the Lumber river and its tributaries' in Robeson county, and on the loose moist sands of the southeastern part of Anson county. Over the rest of the area the forests are more broken, consisting of small groves in old fields, or contain both the long-leaf and the loblolly pines. CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. Where unlumbered, the forests of loblolly pine are compact, with a continuous cover, the forest floor being good and with a moderately deep humus. On the best soils the trees attain a height of 90 to 100 feet, with trunks of 40 to 50 feet free from limbs. On poorer soils, especially where they have appeared spontaneously in abandoned fields, which are often on the lighter lands from the greater ease with which tilled, the trees are much smaller, not averaging over 70 or 80 feet in height. They have, however, proportionally larger diameters than taller trees and usually shorter boles, the growth, when young, having been so open that the trunks have not cleared themselves from limbs. Tliis is due to a greater number of the trees being suppressed, more light being necessary for growth on the poorer soils. The loblolly pine generally forms an upper story of pure growth, beneath which when the pine cover is dense there is a lower storv of dogwood, post oak, and other small shade-enduring trees ; or when the pine cover is open, as is frequently the case, there is a sli2:htly subordinate growth of Spanish oak, black oak, and post oak, small hickory, and sometimes black gum and other trees. There is often a considerable amount of young growth of broad-leaf shade-bearing species, post oak, dogwood, black gum, and some- times black oak and Spanish oak, whicli survive for a longer or shorter time beneath the shade of the other trees, the dogwood and post oak on the best soils even reaching maturity. Young pines, however, are wanting ; and on the poorer soils broad-leaf tree seedlings only stand the shade, it at all, for a short time. "Where the forests of loblolly pine have been luml)ered the pine shows for a few years no signs of succeeding itself, as there are no young pine seedlings beneath the shade of the mature pines. Self-sown seed, however, from neighboring trees or from under- MERCHANTABLE LOBLOLLY PINE TIMBER. 163 sized ones left in lumbering, even small trees seeding with remark- able fecundity and regularity, soon produce a vigorous stand of young pines in all open places and also beneath the light shade of the broad-leaf trees which often grow beneath the mature pines. This young stand rapidh^ pushes upward through the thin canopy to secure the light. As the oak flats are approached, with their more compact and taller growing broad- leaf trees, it becomes more difficult after lumbering for the lob- lolly pine to replace itself. The rivalry between it and the com- peting broad-leaf trees is closer and more in favor of the shade- bearing broad-leaf element as the cover is less broken, until, on the ever-moist margins of the loamy-soiled swamps, and particu- larly where alluvial, the pine forms only a small proportion of the entire growth. It attains, however, in'such situations its per- fection of individual development. On the other hand, as the drier soils are approached there is less struggle between the lob- lolly pine and the broad-leaf trees ; but as soon as the porous, loose, sandy soils of the pine barrens are reached, the loblolly pine with its delicate, rather superficial root-system is unable during the seedling stage to supply by its roots the water passed off through its leaves by transpiration and it succumbs during the first season. MERCHANTABLE LOBLOLLY PINE TIMBER. The merchantable timber had been more largely removed in the eastern counties where the numerous waterways greatly expedited exploitation as well as facilitated shipment of the manufactured products. In the counties lying north of the Roanoke river most of the loblolly pine suitable for saw logs has been cut ; only small bodies attached to farms, or situated at a distance from transpor- tation facilities yet remain. Great quantities of timber have been cut during the past twenty years for the local mills, the largest of which are located at Elizabeth City; and even larger quantities have been exported by railways and towed in rafts to mills in the vicinity of Norfolk, Va. Timber for the mills at Elizabeth City is now obtained from the forests contiguous to the Chowan and Koanoke rivers and from the counties lying on the southern side of Albemarle sound. There are still large amounts of pine tim- 164 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. ber standing' in Dare and Hyde counties. Tlie forests of Beau- fort, Washington and Martin counties have, however, been nearly exhausted. In Pitt, Edgecombe, and Green counties exploitation is well advanced in the loblolly pine forests near the railways and water courses, while the greater part of the timber has been removed from Pamlico and Carteret counties. The unlumbered pine lands of Beaufort county lie in the northeastern part of the county ; those of Craven in the southwestern part. Bordering the swamps in Duplin, Onslow and Pender counties are large Tinlumbered areas of loblolly pine growth, chiefly where this pine has superseded the long-leaf pine ; and in Brunswick, Columbus, Kobeson and Bladen counties, along Brown and Green marshes and the flats of Lumber river and its tributaries, are still large quantities of merchantable timber. There are snialler bodies of timber, though scarcely more than is sufficient for local use, in Wilson, Nash, Johnson, and the eastern parts of W^ake and Anson counties. FOREST INDUSTRIES. The loblolly pine is tapped for turpentine only to an inconsid- erable extent, but the lumber industries of all of the towns to the north of the Neuse river and of most of the sea-board towns to the south of it, are entirely dependent on this pine for their logs. The chief seats of the manufacture of loblolly pine lumber are Newborn, Washington, Elizabeth City, Edenton, Plymouth and Wilmington. The annual cut of logs amounts to about 560,- 000,000 feet, boad measure, less than two-thirds of which is man- ufactured in this State. The loblolly pine is not used for railyway ties, or sleepers of any sort placed next to the earth. Railway ties for local nse are made from the post oak growing beneath the pine. The dogwood is converted into shuttle blocks. No use is made of the small red oaks and other small trees which constitute the remainder of the forest. FOREST PROTECTION. The loblolly pine requires little protection compared with the long-leaf pine. The seed is small and is not seriously destroyed REPRODUCTION OF LOBLOLLY PINE FORESTS. 165 l)y animals or in other ways. Tt falls during the late antnnin and winter and sprouts during the tbllowino; spring and by the end of the first season the seedlings have reached an average height of about seven inches. After that they grow at a rate of about eigh- teen inches a year for seven years, so that specimens four or five years old are too high to have any but the lower branches scorched by a tire consuming only the leaves and herbage. The thick bark, too, is a great protection to even small trees. Since they grow on moister soils and form a deeper shade than the long-leaf pine which prevents the growing of grass there is less danger from iires. Xot being boxed or worked for turpentine the mature trees are less apt to be destroyed by tires. AVhere growing on drier soils the growth of the loblolly pine is not so rapid later in life as in the early years and the scars left in the natural shedding of the limbs do not so quickly heal over, many of the trees being affected by fungus diseases which gain access through such openings. REPRODUCTION OF LOBLOLLY PINE FORESTS. In old fields and clearings within the area of the distribution (if the loblolly pine a spontaneous growth of loblolly pine quickly appears, the light, winged seed being dispersed by the wind for a considerable distance, sometimes hundreds of yards, from the seed- bearing trees. The production of seed begins at an early age with isolated specimens, sometimes, when they are under ten vcars old, but later with those whose crowns do not receive full ^uulight, and continues uninterrupted for a great many years. There is seldom a year when some trees in a locality do not mature cones, since the trees grow under such diverse conditions of soils and moisture. The cones, which require two seasons to develop, open and the seed are distributed during the autumn and winter after they have ripened, some remaining unopened until the succeeding spring. The seed retain their germinative power for several years, but usually germinate the first spring- after falling to the ground or after being planted. SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT OF THE LOBLOLLY PINE. The selection svstem of cuttinjj;, cullino-, was formerlv much 166 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. practiced in the loblolly pine woods when the demand was almost entirely for pieces of timber of exceptionally large dimensions for special uses. By this method of cutting the largest specimens only were removed and the smaller allowed to continue their growth uninterruped. This was before kiln dried loblolly pine lumber became a feature on the lumber market and stocks of all sizes of this pine came into general demand for lumber purposes. Now clear cutting is the rule in lumbering, though much to the detriment of the forest. In spite of The naturally abundant reproductive powers of the loblolly pine, much can be done during and subsequent to lum- bering to facilitate regeneration and secure a thick stand of young pines. With clear cuttings, frequent seed-bearing trees should be left to insure a thorough and unifortn seeding of the area at as early a time as posssible. It is absolutely necessary to protect recently lumbered lands from fires, as in the event of one while the ground is encumbered with the tops of the'felled trees, all of the young pines will be destroyed, (battle do but little damage to young loblolly pines. Existing woods of compact young loblolly pines, in which the trees have reached a height of 35 to 40 feet, could probaMy be thinned by having the suppressed and subordinate trees removed, to the great benefit of those remaining, aff"ording more light to the crowns and stimulating rapid enlargement of the trunks. Where dense growth is left to natural thinnings, the subordinate groups, the crowns enduring a considerable compression, will interfere for some years with the larger and more vigorous specimens which are ultimately to survive. By securing thick stands, however, during the early stages of development aind thinning at the right times, chiefiy when the period of most rapid height-growth has passed, the accretion secured within a given time can be consid- erably increased above what it would be if the wood were left to natural suppression and a prolonged struggle between trees, only a small proportion of which are ultimately to survive. At certain stages of development, however, the thick stands and the struggle between the trees to secure the light is necessary to cause the rapid pushing upward of the crowns and tiie formation of clean shafts. SYLYICULTURAL TREATMENT OF THE LOBLOLLY PINE. 167 In many places where small but vigorous-growing broad-leaf species have succeeded after lumbering in securing possession of loblolly pine lands, it will be found necessary to break their cover in order to permit the pine, unable to endure a heavy shade, to obtain a foothold. On some areas not a sufficient number of seed- bearing pines were left to thickly seed the area even in several years, during which time the broad-leaf trees thicken up to such an extent as to exclude the pine altogether. Where the pines do come lip in such situation they make rapid heigiit-growth and soon overtop the broad-leaf trees. Such conditions as this are only encountered on the better class of soils. In such places either enough pines must be left to insure thick and immediate seeding, or the broad-leaf trees must be removed or tiiinned simultaneously with, or just after, the cutting of the pines. A portion of the underwood, the post oak and dog- wood can be removed without any extra cost, the former being in demand for railway ties and the latter for shuttle blocks, etc. In many places where the underwood is not salable, its thinning or removal in part will be a matter of necessity in order to secure suc- cessful reproduction of the pine. An inspection of loblolly pine lands which were closely lum- bered 6 to 12 years ago fully shows that regeneration is imperfect and decidedly irregular, many places of considerable extent being entirely without a young growth of pine. As is the case with the other pines, the lol)lolly can be repro- duced only by means of seed. It is adapted for pure growth in a high forest with a rotation of 50 to 120 years, according to the dimensions of the timber desired, and the quality of the soils; or it can be grown on the best grades of moist or damp loams, in mixed woods with the large broad-leaf species, under a more lengthy rotation for the production of large-sized timbers. The trees, especially when young, endure st»mo shade, and during the early stages of development the crowns are capable of withstanding considerable compression, but if overshaded for a long time are unable, when light is afforded them, to regain their vigor. Its easy reproduction by means of the light seed renders it especially adapted to clear cuttings, when regeneration can be secured from adjoining woods. That is, it is adapted to the group 168 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. ■ system of natural regeneration with large-sized groups, or the strip system, with groups or strips not over three hundred to four hundred yards wide. This is the method of regeneration now roughly relied on over a large portion of the eastern counties, though the seed from under-sized and defective trees, left on the lumbered area, materially assist. To make certain of regenera- tion the strips cleared at one time should not have a greater width than four hundred yards. For planting very little preparation of the soil is required. Thin woods of broad-leaf trees can have loblolly pine planted with them if their cover is sufficiently open to admit of the growth of the pine, wherever the humus is not too deep, without any more preparation of the soil than turning over the humus. Waste places that are not naturally seeded could advantageously be plowed and artiticially planted. Seeding can be done in early spring, the seed lieing covered by harrowing with l)rush, but should not be covered deeper than J inch. The greater part, if not all, of the seed will germinate the same year in wdiich planted, usually in about four weeks. About four pounds of seed are required to sow an acre. There are about 25,000 seed to the pound. The young plants must be carefully protected from fires. TRANSITIONAL FORESTS. The transitional forests, lying along the western border of the coastal plain region, are formed by the overlapping of the conifer- ous fore.-t of the pine belt and the broad-leaf forests of the Pied- mont plateau region, so that oaks and hickories with the long-leaf pine form the gi-eater q^art of the growth. These forests are best develo])ed in tlie middle and southern parts of Nash county, the eastern part of Wake, and the western part of Montgomer3^ To the north of Nash county, in Northampton and Halifax counties, it is only occasion ;illy along crests covered with sandy drift that the forests are tyj)ically developed; elsewhere, on the more loamy soils, the broad-leaf element exists witliont the long-leaf pine, and is associated with the short-leaf and loblolly pines. In southeast- ern Chatham and southeastern Randolph counties the long-leaf ])iiio also occasionally occurs along sandy or gravelly crests, but FORESTS OK THK LOWLANDS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN. 169 the area occupied by it is comparatively small. The transi- tional forest is best developed in the western part of Montgomery county, where it forms a belt three to six miles in width. The trees jnost abundantly associated with the long-leaf pine are the black-jack oak, post oak, Spanish oak, and white oak, and white hickory ; these form a low growth, 30 to 50 feet in height, and are overtopped by the long-leaf pine, which is 60 to 90 feet in height. In some localities the pine forms as mu(;h as one-fourth of the entire growth ; usually, however, much less. The loblolly pine which is associated with the broad-leaf trees in these transitional counties, is very largely second growth. The long-h^af pine lias been extensively culled in AVake and Nasi) counties, and 1)ut little merchantable timber of that species remains : in Montgomery county, however, the forests are still intact. 1'he long-leaf pirn- is failing to reproduce itself in these forests for the same reasons that were given for its scant}' reproduction in its competition with the loblolly pine ; here, the competition is with broad-leaf species. All the transitional forests lie within the Piedmont plateau region, the forest soils being derived for the most part from crys- talline rocks, and are more fertile or at least better suited for tree growth than most of the soils in the coastal plain on which the long-leaf pine is found growing. FORESTS OF THE LOWLANDS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN. These forests occur on lands which are swam])y or inundated during at least a part of the growing season, and are naturally separable into four divisions which differ in the character of the dominant economic growth : i (1.) Iif which numerous broad-leaf trees, chiefly oaks, constitute the greater portion of the growth — the oak fiats. (2.) In which gums and cypress constitute the chief growth — the gum and cypress swam])?. [?>.) In which the white cedar occurs — the white cedar swamps. 170 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. (4:.) In which the pond pine forms the greater portion of the giowth or is tlie hirgest tree — ])oiid pine pocosins. OAK FLATS. The oak liats border most of tlie gum and cypress swamps^ Ij'ing between the gum and cjpress swanjps and the level ])ine lands. They constitute ab>ut one-fourth of the swamp area, or 1,000 square miles. The soils are damp or moist usually deep loams, or more often sandy loams, generally inundated during spring, with a good humus and a fair intermixture of vegetable matter in the top-soil. Their growth is entirely of I)road leaf trees, in places with occasional loblolly pines disseminated among them, but the white and water oaks are characteristic. Water and willow oaks skirt the Hats. Swamp chestnut oak and overcup oak, Spanish oak, and occasional white oaks form a great part of the growth of the interior; witii them, elms, red maple, cottonwood, and more or less sweet gum and water gum. These form an upper story 80 to 100 feet in height, and of consideralile density ; beneath them are many small trees, ])ost oak, hornbeam, and iiaws. Where not suppressed by browsing cattle, or the shade is not too dense, ynung seedlings of most of the trees are represented. All of the trees endure a light shade in youth ; J:he willow and water oaks least, the white and overcup oaks the deepest and for the longest period. In mo.st localities pasturage is regularly practiced, this woodland being esteemed the best grazingground for cattle during the spring and summer, and the young gi-owth of tender broad-leaf species is systematically suppressed. Pine and the more vigorously sprouting and rapidly growing s]>ecie& and those seeding most alnmdantly — cottonwood, water oak and wuUow oak — largely replace windfalls and culled specimens. The seed of the swamp chestnut oak, overcup and white oaks are largely destroyed by Jiogs ; the seed of the other oaks to a less extent. There is so little undergrowth, and these woods are so damp, that iires rarely pass through the liats or do any serious damage. Much of tlie best white oak, the sevtn'al species, and Spanish oak. OAK FLATS. 171 has been culled for making staves or for large-sized timber — tnn timber — for shipbuilding, water and willow oaks or pine having replaced them. The soils, being fertile, extensive areas have been drained and put under cultivation. Where such areas are aban- doned the loblolly pine with sweet gum, and if seed-bearing trees be very near, water and willow and Spanish oaks establish them- selves ; the pines first and most abundantly, the others later and in less numbers. If not thoroughly drained, the oaks will in time supersede the pine or a portion of it. Where the soil of the oak flats becomes at all peaty yellow pop- lar occurs, but only occasional trees among the others. It is most frequent in the series of counties facing the sounds. In a few places in the vicinity of the coast, or near large bodies of Avater where the air is especially humid, there is a considerable intermixture of beech with the oaks. In connection with the oak flats may be considered the greater part of the alluvial bottom lands bordering the larger streams that have their headwaters beyond the coastal plain region. These fluvial soils are silty, a mixture of the finest clayey and sili- cious particles, with a varying proportion of decomposing vege- table matter intermixed. The silt becomes finer and the soils more compact as the coast is neared. On the more elevated parts of these bottoms where the periodic overflow is neither too fre- quent, or the rise of the water too deep, there is a mixed growth of broad-leaf trees. Variations in the kind of trees occur accord- ing to the depth and frequency of the overflow. AVhere the soils are drier the water and willow oaks, white oak and the Spanish oak with shagbark hickory form most of the woods; where wetter, ash, cottonwood, and hackberry are largely intermixed, these being replaced on the wettest soils by sweet gum, water gum and tupelo with cypress and some cot- tonwood and swamp ash. The white oak and ash have been extensively culled from these swamps, and merchantable cypress has been largely removed. These woods, when oaks predominate in them, are practically under the same conditions and require about the same system ot" management as \vill be indicated for the oak flats. The white Li'Ji FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. and Spanish oak are to be favored at the expense of the other less valuable kinds of trees, which if left alone are apt to take their place. On the alluvial lands the species usually succeeding- the oaks are the light-seeded sweet gum, cottonwood, sycamore, and, to a less extent, hackberry and loblolly pine. MERCHANTABLE TIMBER ON THE OAK FLATS. The largest areas from which the white oak has not been severely culled lie in Bladen, Onslow, Jones and Pamlico coun- ties. They will cut to the acre from 40 to 60 cords of mixed hard- woods. Where culling of white oak has long been practiced water oaks have gradually replaced them, in a great measure at least. These forests yield excellent white oak timber and some *' red'" oak (Spanish oak) of large dimensions, and suitable for milling- purposes ; yellow poplar and cottonwood for paper-stock ; a limited amount of red maple, and large quantities of white oak railway ties. SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT. The seed of such species as it is desirable to reproduce should be protected from hogs, and cattle should be excluded from all young growth, until it is too large for them to injure. The most valuable trees occurring on the oak fiats are the sev- eral species of white oak and the Spanish oak, and forest manage- ment should have for its object the increasing of the proportion of these, and preventing the water oaks and other less valuable spe- cies from supplanting them. On large areas where indiscriminate culling has to a great extent removed the species of white oak, less valuable trees have already followed, and but little can he done in the way of natural regeneration to raise the standard. Artificial re-introduction of the white oaks is necessary. This can be accomplished by thin- ning the existing wood of the least desirable species or by remov- ing decrepit specimens, and underplanting with acorns, preferably with those of the swamp chestnut oak, since in the latitude of tliis State that is the most vigorous-growing species and reaches the largest size on such soils. Or, the swamp chestnut oak or THE GUM AND CYPBESS SWAMPS. 173 other desired species, ean be irj trod need gradually beneath such breaks iu the cover as are occasioned from time to time by wind- falls or by culling. If the underplanting is done by seeding, and where acorns are abundant or can be cheaply obtained this is the pieferable way, being less expensive than raising young plants in nursery rows and then transplanting, the acorns should be gathered in the autumn, as soon as they have fallen ; if they are to be kept for spring plant- ing they should be deeply packed in fresh sand on the north side of a barn or some other cool situation. If the acorns of the ciiest- nut oak are allowed to lie on the ground too long after falling, particularly if the weather is moist and warm, a great part of them will have begun to sprout and then cannot well be kept ov^r winter. The acorns of this oak are more difficult to keep over winter than those of any other, and they retain their germinative power for the shortest time. For these reasons it may be advisa- ble to sow in the autumn, though some of the acorns may be car- ried oif by squirrels and mice, and there is a possibility that such as do not sprout and take root in the autumn, as most of them, however, will, may be carried oif by high-water. The oak flats and the narrow alluvial bottoms are the only lands in the coastal plain region which are capable of producing a growth of large-sized broad-leaf trees, and for this reason they assume a greater irapoitance than their limited area would other- wise seem to justify. Whatever in the way of yellow poplar or oak timber suitable for saw-logs, or of hickory for meciianical purposes, is to be grown in the coastal plain region must come either from the oak flats or the alluvial bottoms. THE GUM AND CYPRESS SWAMPS. The gum and cypress occupy the deepest parts of nearly all the swamps which have a suthciently porous soil to permit the pene- tration of the deeply seated cypress roots and which are not sub- ject to drying out in the late summer ; and even though the sur- face may be very dry in dry seasons, if the subsoil be well watered and porous, these trees may still flourish. (Plate XXI.) 174 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. They seem to be rather indifferent to the quality of the soil, attaining a large size and comparative tliick growth on even the sandy soils, provided they are well watered. The presence of a deep humus which has been uninjured by lire has undoubtedly much influence. On the sedimentary alluvial soils the growth is fiomllO to 125 feet in height, and it is somewhat less on sandy soil. The body of the wood is formed of sweet gum, water gum and tupelo, with these more or less cypress, which however seldom constitutes as much as one-fourth of the entire growth. Beneath these are small water ash, and young trees of species represented in the dominant growth, in all stages of development. The trees are all shade-enduring in their youth and, probably with the exception of the water gum, all shade-demanding in the earliest seedling stages. It is not often that fires do damage to these swamps, as through the winter and spring they are too wet to burn ; but sometimes in dry autumns the underwood is destroyed with great loss. The injury inflicted by browsing cattle is slight. MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF GUM AND CYPRESS SWAMPS. The supply of cypress suitable tbr making either board or shin- gles is nearly exhausted. In the Pamlico peninsula several large bodies are yet intact ; scattered trees still stand along most of the larger streams : Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Northeast and Cape Fear rivers; smaller bodies are yet to be found in many of the other swamps, such as those surrounding Lake Waccamaw, Big Swamp in Bladen county, and others. Except in the few places where the forests have been unlum- bered the cover is broken and irregular from the removal of the mature cypress. The thickets of water and sweet gums growing beneath them have rapidly pushed upward to take the place of the cypress on its removal. While the timber of the cypress is of the most excellent quality, its natural powers of reproduction are so limited and the accre- tion of the trees after the height-growth is made is so slow that the outlook for extensive reproduction is far from encouraging. WHITE CEDAR OR JUNIPER SWAMPS. 175 Although the cypress does not discriminate in regard to mineral fertility of soil, it is so exacting in regard to moisture that the area which is really adapted for its best growth for timber is exceedingly limited. The trees growing on the margins of the swamps, and in swamps where the moisture is very unequally dis- tributed through the growing season have a far larger proportion of sap than those in the deep swamps and are often seriously affected with hollows. Although young cypress trees in all stages of development are to be seen scattered through the forests, their number, in com- parison with the competing sweet and water gums is insignificant. Their height-growth, however, is rapid until the trunk begins the formation of the characteristic short, flattened, spreading crown. After the attainment of the height-growth, the diameter growth, the stage of most rapid accretion, is sufficiently rapid. The trees at this stage have a diameter of from 14 to 18 inches, and are from 80 to 100 years old, and are still largely sapwood. The diameter-growth after this becomes gradually less, until in some of the oldest and largest trees there are as many as thirty rings of annual growth to an inch of diameter. The length of time required to reproduce the forests which are now being util- ized will not be less than 200 or 2.50 years, and many of the large trees in the existing forests are over 300 years old. For most of the purposes, too, for which the timber is used, that of the more rapid-growing white cedar is equally as well adapted. The area of such swamp land suitable for the growth ^f cypress is not far from 300,000 acres, while the area of gum swamp is over 1,200 square miles. WHITE CEDAR OR .lUNIPER SWAMPS. The woodland in which the white cedar is the dominant tree occupies small shallow swamps, " bays ''; or not infrequently there occur groups of a few trees disseminated through gum and cypress swamps, or more rarely in beech and yellow poplar flats where the soil and moisture-conditions become favorable for the develop- ment of the white cedar and less favorable for that of the larger broad-leaf trees. 176 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA, The most extensive bodies of such swamp lie in the vicinity of the coast in the great Dismal Swamp ; in the conntiet* of Dare and Hyde ; and the Pamlico peninsula, where the cedar occurs in small groups in a morass, the growth in which varies a great deal as the amount of moisture in the soil becomes greater or less. There are other large bays in Pamlico connty, and on the flats surrounding and contiguous to Lake Wac(-an)aw. Smaller bodies are scattered along the sandy bottoms of the Chowan river, and occupy small bays in Jones and Bladen counties, and the shallow' flats bordering the clear-water streams, in Bladen, Cumberland, Richmond, Harnett and Moore counties. On the State's northern border white cedar occurs at an altitude of 100 feet above sea level ; in Moore and Richmond counties, at twice that elevation. Its further distribution to the westward is checked by unfavorable soil-conditions. The total area of white cedar swamp does not exceed 200,000 acres. The white cedar is confined to sandy or peaty soils. In the maritime counties it occurs chiefly on peaty soils, often underlaid by marls ; in the njore inland and southern counties it is found along the sandy beds of small streams or the contiguous sandy flats subject to frequent overflow; or it occupies snjall depressions in the sandy soils of the long-leaf pine forests forming the juniper bays. It shuns the heavy alluvial soils. CONDITION OF UNLUMBERED WHITE CEDAR SWAMPS. On the peaty soils of the best character, especially where lying above beds of loam or marl, white cedar is associated with yellow poplar, the gums and bays, wherever the amount of moisture and the undecomposed organic constituents become too great for the growth of the oaks. On somewhat better soils it forms dense clumps of nearly pure growth where openings occur in the caver of the dominant story of yellow poplars and gums. In the depres- sions in the pine liarren sections in the white cedar or juniper bays it constitutes, with the white l)ay and the red bay, the greater portion of the growth, forming a dense wood 60 to 70 feet in height, the crowns of the trees closely interlocking above, their trunks thick, straight and slender ; beneath them, and in their CONDITION OF UNLUMBERKD WHITE CKDAU SWAMPS. ITT deep shade, are almost impenetrable thickets of young trees and shrubs. The forest tlooi- is a thick humus or is deeply bedded in spluigiinu). Oti the sandy fiats bordering- the streams, trees of wliite cedar occur scattered in a rather open growth of small gums and bays, and reach a height of 30 to 50 feet and a diameter of 15 to iin inches; the humus is thin and the undergrowth thickets of small bushes. In most localities the cedar swamps have been exploited, or the removal of the cedar is now in progress. Ex(;ept where yellow poplar forms a portion of tlie wood, the white cedar is tlie only valuable tree, and it alone lias been removed, all specimens usually being removed that have a greater diameter than 8 inches at the stump. Where tlie greater part of trees are cedar, the cutting is nearly clean, and the few small trees that are left, having very slender stems, are snapped off by the first severe storm : where there are more broad-leaf trees present, these afford protection to the young growing-stock too small to cut. Tiie bays and gums that are left make rapid growth after lumbering, and for sometime retain undisputed possession ; the extremely small white cedar seedlings beneath them, although at first making slow growth in the shade, finally re-assert themselves, make rapid height-growth and break through the cover above them, and struggle with the broad-leaf species for the light. If the swamps are burned, as is frequently the case after lumbering, and the burning is not so deeply in the soil as to injure the roots of the broad-leaf trees, they will sprout vigorously from stool and root ; the fire-tender white cedar, however, will be entirely destroyed, and only after a great many years will it again be introduced by wind-sown seed. If the soil is peaty, and is very deeply burned, its ability for supporting a growth of white cedar may be entirely ruined. Only a small |>roportioii of the area of the cedar swamps has lieen deforested fVu- agi-i-'ultural uses, such areas being the best drained of the j^eaty soils with yellow poj)lar as a part of the growth, and such cleared lands lie chiefly in Dare and Pamlico counties and those counties which penetrate the Uismal Swamp. Agriculturally these lands are among the most productive in the State. A few other areas may in time be drained and reduced to 12 178 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. tillag-e, but most of the soil, both where peatj and sandy, is unsuited for agricultural purposes, and the permanency of the growth of white cedar on it should be accepted as an assured fact and pro- tection and management bestowed on it accordingly. Fires, in dry seasons, when the peaty soil or deep humus becomes thoroughly dry, sometimes spread from the pine lands, or from farms, to the white cedar swamps and inflict severe damage, destroying not only the young growth, but much of the old, and burning up the soil as well. Extensive areas of unlumbered forests still exist in Dare and Tyrrell counties, and smaller in Gates, Jones, and Brunswick. Smaller bodies occur in Bladen, Cumberland, and Harnett counties, from which the largest specimens have been culled for telegraph and light posts. TREATMENT OF WHITE CEDAR SWAMPS- The white cedar is one of the most valuable trees growing in the coastal plain region. The demand for its timber, on account of its lightness and resistance to decay on exposure to moisture, is far in excess of the supply. Though exacting in regard to soil, its ])references are for such lands as are unsuited for agricultural uses. Its sylvicultural treatment is beset with no difficulties, and its rapid growth offeis inducements of early returns to whoever produces it. Where culling can be practiced, and only the largest stocks removed, the largest yields of timber are secured, since the young trees which are too small for use can continue their growth uninterrupted, sheltered by specimens with firm trunks which can protect tiiem from the wind. In only a few places, however, will economic considerations permit this, as the cost of cutting road- ways, laying trams and making sound, road-beds, which has to be undertaken to remove this timber, is so great that the cutting to the smallest size that can be utilized is often justifiable. Where the soil is sufficiently wet, not so much shade is demanded by the very young plant to protect it from the sun; where drier, more shade is necessary. As seed-bearing years are frequent, and the light, slightly winged seed are borne in abundance, modified forms of clean cutting can TREATMENT OF WHITE CEDAR SWAMPS. 179 be carried on which will allow regeneration beneatli the shade of the parent trees. After the laying out of the system of roads, a preparatory cutting can be made in which most of the larger specim.ens can be removed, being selected as uniformly as possible so as to distribute the light below evenly. Then two, three or four years later all of the remaining trees which can possibly be utilized can be removed, waiting though until after there has been a sufficiently large yield of seed to produce a thick stand of seed- lings in the light shade caused by the breaking of the cover of old trees. The young seedlings the second year after they have sprouted will be able to endure full sunlight. There is no doubt but that the area of white cedar growth can be much extended by introducing it artificially in localities which have a suitable soil, but have a growth of bays and large gums, which by their somewhat superior growth have naturally been able to exclude the white cedar. The proportion of it can also be increased in situations where it already grows by removing competing species, — bays and gums, and permitting the cedar by natural seedings to take their place. Artificial propagation must be by seed, and as has ])een sug- gested, must be carried on in the shade of some other tree to protect the young seedling from too rapid evaporation during the first summer and autumn while the root-system is as yet comparatively undeveloped, shallow, and insufficient to supply water as rapidly as it passed off by transpiration. The seed, which are borne in small berry-like cones, are very small and slightly winged. The cones should be gathered in the early autumn, before they have opened or fallen, and while the seed are yet in them, kept througli the winter in a place where they will not dry out, and planted the next spring by sowing broadcast beneath the trees that are to serve as protection to the young plants. THE POJSD PINE POCOSINS. These, as the name implies, have the pond pine as the distinc- tive growth. With it are the white bay, red bay, and loblolly bay, and less frequently small black gums and loblolly pines. During certain seasons of the year these pocosins are swamps ISO FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. or senii-swamps. When tliey occupy the snminits of the dividet- between waterslieds, as is tlie ease with some of the largest, they are poorly drained and often wet. They include two classes; (1) Those having a primarily pauperized soil of coarse sand, or of finer sand, silty, and more compact. (2) Those having an impervious stratum of clay, eilt or hard-pan underlying the top- soil ajid preventing percolation .of the water to underground streams or its exit by subsoil drainage. The latter may have soil rich in nutritive elements though eminently un]iroductive. During winter and spring such soils are s;jturated ; during sum- mer and autumn, frotn inability of subsoil moisture to rise to the surface through the impervious layer, they are exceedingly dry. The largest areas of such swamji lie in Bladen, Craven. Jones, Pamlico, Tyrrell and Washington counties ; while a (considerable portion of tlie Dismal Swamp, in the northeastern cornei- of the State, has a soil and growth of this character. The forest, even in the best condition, is exceedingly open and thin, there being an irregular growth of pine 40 to HO feet in height, the mature trees averaging about 14 inches in diameter, and a denser underw^ood of small white bay, red liay and loblolly bay, almost impenetrable on account of the thicket of the gall- berry, huckleberry, and species of Andromeda and similar shrubs beneath them. AVhere the soil is of better quality, either more fertile, or because the impenetrable substratum is deeper beneath the surface, there is more pine, often a considerable part of it being loblolly, and the underwood is less dense. Where the soil is least fertile there is least pine and a denser thicket of shrubs. Next to the long-leaf pine the pond pine is less exacting in regard to fertility of soil than the other pines, growing, in manv places, on the soils which if dry the long-leaf pine would occupy. The young plants of the pond pine will endure a considerable shade for many years. When young specimens are accidentally broken, eaten ofl:" by "cattle, or top-killed by fire, they sprout freely. During dry seasons confiagrations sometimes consume the shrubby underwood, destroying much of the timber. When the pines are thus burned out, the white bay puts forth abundant suckers, forming dense thickets, and the red bay numerous shoots ; FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU REGION. isf the pine, however, in time returns. Althouojh seed-years are fre- quent, the crop is usually small. The cones remain attached to the limbs for a long period, often retaining the seed for several seasons. The seed retains its gerininative powers for many years and may sprout the spring of the first or second season after fall- ing to the ground. As the trees do not grow in thick stands, they fail to clear their stocks until of a large size. Through the dead branches and knot-holes maiiy rot-causing fungi find entrance. Many large trees are unsound from this cause. This pine produces very little merchantable timber, though if fires are kept from destroying them the yield would not only be larger but of a better quality. In a few limited districts a con- siderable part of the saw-logs are from this species. It is chiefiy of importance on account of the large areas in the State on which it occurs as the only timber tree. FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU REGION. The differences in the character of the forests of the Piedmont plateau region are the results of the infiuence of variations in the ijuality of the soils, and in the altitude of the surface above the sea level. The precipitation is nearly the same in all sections of the region, and there is very little differ- ence in the relative humidity between even extreme localities within its limits; so these factors exert only unimportant influ- ence. The variations in elevation, too, are so gradual through- out the greater part of the region as to affect only slightly the composition of the forest, except when those of extreme distances are compared ; but on the southeastern border, on the abrupt rise marking the transition to this region from the coastal plain, these forests contain certain species which are representa- tive of the latter region, the distribution of some trees extending even much further to the westward ; while other species charac- teristic of the sylva of the higher mountains ])enetrate from the northwest far to the eastward, but usually occur only around the ^purs of the Blue Ridge or the isolated peaks situated beyond them in the Piedmont plateau. The forests of the eastern lowlands of 182 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. the Piedmont plateau contain the greater number of species that are representative of the sylva of the coastal plain. The distribution of the economic forests, however, is deter- mined largely by the character of the soils. The forests of tlie lowlands are of relatively small extent and importance; while those of the uplands are extensive and vield nearly all the timber suitable for construction. THE FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT LOWLANDS. The lowlands of the Piedmont plateau region instead of embrac- ing broad swamps are conhned to narrow borders of sedimentary origin along the streams. Their forest growth is composed entirely of broad-leaf species except in the eastern bordei- coun- ties, where occasional loblolly pines are found mixed with the hardwoods. ^ The lowland forests may be divided into (1) those in the hol- lows and bordering the smaller streams, where the soils are sandy loams containing a large proportion of organic constituents ; and (2) those contiguous to the larger and more slowly flowing streams^ which are bordered by flats having silty soils, containing tnore clayey ingredients and less vegetable matter than those of the bot- toms of the smaller streams. These two classes of forests and soils, sharply defined where a small stream flows into a large one,. gradually pass the one into the other in ascending the rivers. The changes in the character of the growth along the larger streams take place gradually as the changes in the composition of the soils, there being usually, no abrupt transition in the kind of growth of different portions of the some swamp, as occurs in the swamps of the coastal plain region. Many species, almndant along the lower edge of the region, the southeastern, become less frequent as the streams are ascended ; others, less common to the eastward, increase in number as the soils become more loamy and the Blue Ridge is approached. The loamy alluvial lands contiguous to the smaller streams have-in all parts of the region very nearly the same kind of growth: beech, red oak, and white oak, maples and yellow poplar, while with these are associated many smaller trees: the hop-hornbeam. FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT LOWLANDS. 183 ninbrella-tree and dogwood, which sometimes are snfiiciently nnmeroiis beneath the deep shade of the more lofty trees to form a thin underwood. As these soils, however, become at all silty the sweet gnni and black gum, overciip and swamp cliestnut oaks, and other trees which are more representative of the forests along the larger streams gradually become conspicuous; sup- planting first the beecli and red oak, then the white oak and yellow poplar, and finally entirely taking their place. The body of the forest on the silty or mud alluvium of the larger streams is generally formed of sweet gum aud black gum, bitternut, overcup oak and swamp chestnut oak, sycajnore and hackberry. Of these trees the black gum, bitternut and syca- more are uniformly distributed throughout, although nowhere abundant or forming a conspicuously large portion of the growth ; the}' extend beyond the confines of the Piedmont plateau and enter into the composition of the forests of the moun- tain region. The elms, hackberry, and sweet gum, on the other hand, become smaller in size and less frequent to the westward, until on the table-land west of the Blue Ridge they become rare trees, occurring only in the basin of the French Broad river and along the larger streams to its southward. The overcui* oak is found westward but little beyond the limits of the loblolly pine in Granville county, but in Anson county it makes a broad sweep to the west, and extends up the valley of the Yadkin river, as far as the eastern parts of Davie and the southern portions of Yadkin counties ; while the swamp chestnut oak extends west to the Broad river in Cleveland county and north to Granville and Davie. To the eastward it is the red maple which is the characteristic maple, while the sugar maple occurs with it in cooler places as the alti- tude increases, extending down to al)Out .500 feet al)ove the sea level. With these trees in the eastern border counties occurs the loblolly pine; and very often as far to the west as Lincoln county the water and willow oaks are found ; less frequently the Texas red oak, and in a few places the big shagbark hickory. On the extensive flats of the Neuse and its tributaries, and on other streams in this portion of the State, though to a less extent, the shagbark hickory becomes one of the most conspicuous and 184 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. abundant trees, while with it in a few localities is found the small shag-bark. Beneath the taller trees, no matter what kind, especially where the cover is somewhat open, are the hornbeam with the thorns and haws, and often papaw. To the eastward a few broad flats occur, the soils of which remain moist or even wet, but are rarely inundated, and these are covered with a growth of water oak, overcup oak and willow oak, and fringed with white and black oaks. The broad flats of Little river in Union. Stanly and Anson counties, and those along some other streams in the same section of the State, are of this description. All open banks where there is full sunlight are lined with river birch and black willow ; and some flats which are subject to frequent and periodic overflow are covered with compact groves of willow or birch; or if the inundation is more prolonged, and this is })articularly apt to be the case eastward, with thickets of small ash and elm. Besides these lowlands may he added the mud or clay deposits in depressions on the crests of ridges, usually found in sections where the soils are shallow, often where slates are the country rock. They are very M^et during rainy weather, and for some time afterwards, as there is little subsoil drainage ; but during the sum- mer and autumn become exceedingly dry. The growth on such deposits is usually entirely of willow oak, black-jack oak and more or less ]-)ost oak. Many of these l)ottoms with a loamy soil, particularly where the growth was the white oak and poplar, representing some of the most fertile land, have been cleared. Some, however, after being- cleared, have been found untenable on account of the overflow- ing, and have been finally abandoned. Such lands are usually covered (juickly by heavy thickets ol birch, sycamore and elm, while mai)les and gums, whose seedlings grow well in a shade, soon a})]iear beneath them. Where lumbering has been going on along these bottoms or staves gotten out, the debris, which is carried off by the streams, often collects at shallow points so as to block the channel of the FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT LOWLANDS. 185 ■stream, and back the water for some distance above, killiiiii; most •of the mature trees whicli may be on the adjoining bottom, as well as a greater part of the yonng growth, l)v Hooding their roots. Dense and fast growing thickets of elm and ash, and rarely blacdc glim, appear in snch places, and continue unmixed until the bed ■of the swamp is sufficiently raised to allow other trees to grow. The oaks on all of these bottoms show very little young growth, if the water oak to the eastward and the swamp chestnut oak in some localities be excepted. Where oaks and other trees have been culled, chiefly maples and sweet gums have taken their places, so that the promise of the bottom lands for the future is not bountiful, nor do they now contain any large supply of mer- chantable timber. IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS OF THE LOWLANDS. The forests of the bottom lands have in nearly every instance been excessively damaged by constant pasturage. -The white oaks liave in consequence not reproduced as al)uudantly as other ■species whose foliat'e and seed are not so largely interfered with by stock. To the eastward and ahuig the stiffer-soiled bottoujs the overcup oak and swamp cliestnut oak are the most worthy of ■extensive reproduction ; to the westward and along the smallei' streams M'here the soils are more loamy the white oak is more desirable. Protection must be accorded these in same way as was indicated in the case of the oak flats of the coastal ]>lain i-egion, and regeneration should be secured in the same way. Abandoned fields and closely culled spaces on the wetter soils of the bottom lands are ((uickly sown in a mixed growth of light- seedetl trees, chiefly birches, willows and sycamore, and among them soon appear ash and elms and other species demanding a light shade. Sometimes, espe(;ially along fence rows, black walnuts appear, and these are worthy of protection. In open or thin places in the woods, on the drier bottoms, this tree could well be exten- sively introduced artificially. In the western and northern part of the Piedmont plateau it will reach a large size, but as with 186 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. other broad leaf trees, it. mast be kept in a thick stand until the height-ojrowth has been nearly completed to secnre clean stems. FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT UPLANDS. The upland forests of the Piedmont plateau region are of broad- leaf species and pine, or of belts of broad-leaf trees witli pine alternating with belts of broad-leaf trees without pine, tliere being no areas in the original forest, if some shallow granitic soils be possible exceptions, which produce a pure growth of either a broad-leaf or coniferous tree. The se(|uence of belts, with and without pine, continues unchanged in this State to tiie northwestward as far as the east- ern boundary of the mountain region in Siirry, AVilkes, Caldwell, and Burke counties; and to the southwest, crossing the Blue Ridge, and with the difference between the pine and no-pine belts more accentuated from the effect of elevation, occurs to northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. This succession of forest belts, or the ]iresence or absence ot" pine in the woods, depends on the variations in the character of the soil, as to texture, as well as in mineral constituents, and drainage. The belts of soil, following or coinciding with the geological terraines, lie, in general, northeast and southwest courses, thougli the interposition of dykes, particularly granite dykes, to the eastward, has produced more limited belts lying at various angles to these ; and not infrequently this occurs when the order of the rock strata iias beeii interrupted by the mere change .in the direction of the outcrop. While in the original forest the areas of dissimilar growth are coGxtensive with certain classes of soils, and thesanit- is more or less true of the aftergrowth in culled and coppiced woodland, in the great body of second growth seed- ling woods the effects of these differences in soil are largely obscured or altogether lost. The most radical change which is taking place in the great body of the woodland is the change of growth from pine and mixed hardwoods to pure pine, by abandoned fields being seeded in pine» the place of these fields being supplied for agricultural purposes by farther encroachment on the hardwood areas. B^tt where the SOILS OF THE PIEDMONT UPLANDS. 187 relative proportion of the pure pine growth is already large, it is more desirable to reclear these old fields, on account of the ease with which these pine lands are made tillable, from the great absence of lateral roots in the pine growth and the quickness with which the stumps and roots decay in the sap trees, if cut in the spring when the beetles attack them, and the presence of the sap invites fungus diseases. The body of the upland forest is composed of oaks with more or less hickory, and in places with short-leaf pine scattered among them. Other trees of industrial importance enter but slightly into their composition. This is the composition of the original forests as they now stand. The second growth, on the other Hand, which in local cases is an exceedingly important element in the woodland, has pine for tlio forest bod}^ generally, and hardwoods as subordinate. SOILS OF THE PIEDMONT UPLANDS. The soils of these counties, unlike those of the coastal plain region, are very largely primary ; or at least are not secondary in the sense of the transported drifts of the sands and loams of the uplands and the alluvial deposits of the lowlands of the east, but are derived from the decay of rock or rock-forming material in situ. This material generally forms the subsoil, which is covered superficially, to a depth of three to eighteen inches, by a top-soil, diflerentinted by natural elutriation of the finer, more adhesive or' clayey parts, so as to be coarser in texture and not so stiff or brightly colored as the subsoil. This top-soil, unless its depth i& ten inches or over, has very little influence on the kind of tree growth. GENERAL CONDITION OF THE FOREST. The woodland presents a general view of wide stretches of for- est of broad-leaf trees, usually with irregular and broken cover, in places much culled, and w^ith no undergrowth where pastured, and young pines or cedar appearing at intervals through them. This broad-leaf woodland alternates with small groves of pine, usually rather open or thitily stocked, the pine being the short- 188 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. leaf aiul scrub pine ; or sometimes red cedar replaces it, or there are mixtures of these trees. The groves of pine or cedar are a youRoi; growth which has spontaneously appeared in abandoned fields. In the neighborhood of the towns the groves of pine are of greater extent, and the younger groves which are appearing are more compact, the older trees furnishing abundant seed ; the broad-leaf wood is more restricted in extent and often largely formed of coppice shoots, among which many seedling pines appear when old pines are within seeding distance. The original forest lands may be separated into three parallel belts, neglecting for the present the numerous local variations : (1) a more eastern with soils from slates, sandstone and gneiss and forests with a large proportion of pine, the eastern pine helt of the Piedmont platea'u ; (2) a middle belt with deep loamy soils mostly froni granitic rocks and supporting hardwood forests of the first quality, with only small percentage of pine or none, the hroad leaf forest helt of the Piedmont plateau : and (3) the exten- sive areas of gneissic soils to the westward with smaller-sized hardwoods and more pine, the western pinehelt of the Piedmont plateau. THE EASTERN PINE BELT OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. The forest belt lying to the eastward with the woods composed of broad-leaf trees and pine can be separated into three divisions which difter essentially in the proportion of pine in their compo- sition and the ability of the soil to sustain a hardwood growth of broad-leaf trees. There is : (n A more easterly division in extent nearly coinciding with the geological ten-aine of gneisses and granites, the forests of which are formed of both tlie loblolly and short-leaf pines with medium-sized broad-leaf trees. This is described under the name of \\\q. forests of the eastern granite areas. (2) A division abutting the above on the west, and nearly including the Jura triassic red sandstone formation of the geolo- gists, the original forests of which contain a large proportion of short-leaf pine, with small-sized broad-leaf trees, and a large extent FOKESTS OF THE EASTERN GKANITE AREAS. 189" of young pine, botli the short-leaf and loblolly, in pure growth, forests of the eastern red sandstone. (3) A southeastern division with soils from slates, for tlie most part rather sliallow, supporting forests of short-leaf pine and small broad-leaf trees, witli only a small area of young pine in pure growth. Tliis will be called the forests of the slates. This does not include the entire eastern slate area, but chiefly that in the more southeastern counties'" of that belt, the general limits of which will be given in describing this head. Such differentiation, it must be understood, is merely for the simplicification of description ; further division might well be made, but these show fairly well, being natural divisions, the most evident differences existing in the forests and the intimate relation existing between them and the soils. THE FORESTS OF THE EASTERN GRANITE AREAS. The northeastern counties of the Piedmont plateau region, Franklin, Warren, Yance, and the northern and central parts of AVake, with rolling surlace, have generally grayish and loose top- soils, frequently gravelly, especially along ridges, from the detritus from numerous quartz veins, and red or reddish subsoils, deep, fresh or moist along hillsides, but often coarse-grained and porous. The boly of the forests is formed of post oak, black oak, white oak and Spanish oak, with a considerable intermixture of wiiite, small-nut and pignut hickories, and, in most places, short-leaf pine. The larger forest pines have, however, been largely removed. Along the hollows and cooler slopes, mixed with the white and black oaks, are the northern red oak and yellow poplar, yielding a low grade of lumber, red maple and some ash; along the drier crests there is more post oak and often an increasing proportion of black-jack oak. The woods around many of the towns, periodically cut over or heavily culled for fuel, are rapidly deteriorating into mere post oak and black-jack oak coppice, with, if fires are excluded and there are seed-bearing pines near by, an ever-increasing propor- tion of the short-leaf pine. * Largely the Monroe slates. See Bull. 3, N. V. Geological Survey, 1«)H, p. 3(). 190 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. While the greater portion of the original growth of short-leaf pine has been removed, there are now large areas of wood, either in a pure stand of short-leaf pine, or that species mixed with the loblolly pine, especially on the lower or moister lands ; and these areas contain a considerable amount of merchantable tim- ber, though usually of a small size and yielding only sap lumber. The re-growth pine is usually at its best when growing on hill- sides in culled woods with white and black oaks, where rapid development is secured, and tall and straight stocks formed. That which has colonized old fields and there formed a pure growth is straight-stemmed if the stand is sufficiently thick ; but the fields, first taken in thick sod of tall grasses, are usually burnt many times while the trees are yet small, and the growth, being thus kept thin, continues as it matures open and scrubby, wliile the trees have short boles. Below the pine, post oak and small hick- ories (especially white hickory) appear, and where the soil is at all moist or stiff" the dogwood spreads. The loblolly pine when in this re-growth, here and as far west- ward as its distribution extends, does not do well after passing into the pole-stage, if it is growing on dry, sandy or gravelly uplands ; either it spreads out, and becomes short-stocked and limby, if an abundance of light is afforded, or, if that be denied, soon dies out. Although the woods of these eastern granite areas have long- been culled, they are still yielding much merchantable building- material, besides fencing-timber, railway ties (chiefly from the post oak and white oak) and large amounts of fuel, both of pine and hardwoods. A considerable (juantity of yellow poplar and some ash is exported from these areas for the manufacture of pulp, while one local paper mill employs ash for this use. There are several small mills sawing the second growth short- leaf pine, and a few sawing the original growth. TREATMENT REQUIRED BY THE FORESTS OF THE EASTERN GRANITE AREAS. These forests are in most places capable of producing oak tim- ber of considerable size, except along the summits of the hills. FORESTS OF THE EASTERN RED SANDSTONE BELT. 191 where the dry and coarse ^ravelly soils are more suited for pine than the lar^-er and more exacting broad-leaf trees. Cattle have for a number of years been excluded from the greatest portion of the woodland in a considerable part of this area, and the beneficial effects of this is evident in the thicker undergrowth. The black oaks, particularly the black-jack and the Spanish, are generally increasing more rapidly than the white oak, and do not seem to be dying out so rapidly as in counties fartiier west. The very large areas of loblolly pine growth in old fields should be favored when it is on moist soils or loose loams : but on all stiffer or drier soils that of the short-leaf pine should be favored. Thinnings might advantageously be carried out for each of these species, as will be described further on. Along all gravelly ridges mature seed-bearing pines should be preserved as seed-trees, and the proportion of pine in the small oak growth on the crests increased ; on the more fertile soils of the slopes and along the borders of the hollows the pines reach their largest size, but the competition there with the broad-leaf trees is such that it is only occasionally that a pine can succcecl in reach- ing maturity if it spring up among the broad-leaf trees. FORESTS OF THE EASTERN RED SANDSTONE BELT. Contiguous on the southwest to the granite areas in Granville and AVake counties just described, and extending southward through Durham, the eastern parts of Chatham, Montgomery and Anson counties, are the sandy loams yielded bj' the Jura-trias red and brown sandstones. This belt or terrain varies from S to 16 miles in width, and though its surface is generally undulating it is broken and rugged only in the few places where sandstone ridges occur, as in portions of Chatham, Moore, and the southern part Anson counties. The soils vary from loose coarse-grained sandy loa?ns to stiff fine-textured loams, the latter being generally confined to river bottoms. They are usuall}' brown or gray in color, with charac- teristic brown, purplish, or terra-cotta-colored, stiffer subsoils • usually deep, but in spite of their de])th ill-suited for tree growth. 192 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. Under denudation tliej wash badly, and all the iiner and more silty soils bake in drying;. On the llatter lands the forests are formed of small-sized trees. In the original ijrowth there is nsually an upper dominant story of short-leaf pine from 50 to 70 feet in height, with an underwood of post oak, Spanish oak, black-jacdv oak, white oak, and white hickory. This often merg-es into ])ost oak and bhickjack oak flats; or where the soil is stifl'er and the country more rugged better naks are to be found along the slopes and in the hollows. The original growth has been largely removed. (Plate XXII.) In the southern portion of Granville, the southwestern part of Wake, and Durham, and the eastern part of Chatham counties are large areas of abandoned agricultural lands under cover of the short leaf and loblolly pines. The pine may be seen in all stages of development, though in one grove ail trees are about the same size. The loblolly is for the most part conlined to the lower or flatter lands, the short leaf to the better-drained soils and those situated at a distance from large streams wliere there are the seed- bearing trees of the loblolly pine. In many places the two pines occur mixed ; but the loblolly generally displaces the short-leaf, crowing more rapidly and enduring greater lateral compression and shade, than the latter. On the driest soils, however, tb - short leaf finally outgrows the loblolly and prevails. Much of this pine is of good stand and has tall and straight bodies free from limbs, and this is more true of the loblolly pine groves than of those of the short-leaf; but much more of it has been thinned by repeated fires, and is capable of yielding but little wood except for fuel. The floor is generally covered with a thick sod of broom-grass. Only a few broad-leaf trees appear spontaneously beneath these pines; those which do occur are chiefly post oak, white hickory and dogwood. In Anson county there remains but little of the original forest. North of AVadesboro the soil is a gray, sandy loam, rolling and iiioist, covered wnth a generally compact growth of the loblolly pine, which is of fairly uniform size ; high poles or small-sized mill-timber, where large tracts of cotton lands were simultaneously abandoned in the period between 1861 and 1S68, and liave not N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. BULLETIN 6. PLATE XXII. MIXED PINE AND HARDWOOD FOREST OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU^REGION IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS OF THE SANDSTONE BELT. 193 since been re-cleared. Beneath tliis loblolly pine there is very little hardwood growth. South of Wadesboro the topography is more rugged, and the soils are stifter, and along the crests and upper slopes often shallow. Everywhere it has been badly eroded. The short-leaf pine holds possession of the large extent of old fields, with, in some places, a small proportion of loblolly pine inter- mixed. The growth is open and stunted and in many localities dying out. There is little underwood and a consequently poor floor. To the eastward along the Pee Dee river, lie the light loams of the long-leaf pine belt, on which at the present time in Anson county, there are not over 3,000 acres of good standino- pine. Tlie remainder of the long-leaf pine lands in this county, as has been said, are covered, where the soils are dry, with small broad-leaf trees, chiefly post oak and black-jack oak ; or where the soils are moist with an open, spreading growth of the loblolly pine. The greater part of the woodland of these counties, possibly as much as two-thirds of it, is in young groves of pure pine. The so-called "forest" pine has been nearly removed; some is yet held in a few places. There are considerable areas of small-sized short-leaf and loblolly pine timber suitable for milling purposes, making sap lumber. Only a little of it has been cut, that chiefly for making tobacco tierces. From the broad-leaf trees (the white and post oaks mainly) hoops and st'aves and railway ties are made. Some dogwood is gotten out for shuttle-blocks. There are few wood-working industries, and these are chiefly saw mills, sup- plying in part the local demand. IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS OF THE SANDSTONE BELT. The moister soils are capable of producing loblolly pine suitable for saw-logs, and medium-sized white and Spanish oaks. The drier soils can grow rather small-sized trees of the short-leaf pine, post oak and small-sized white oak. Protection from fires is needed ; browsing cattle do only slight damage, except where there is a very large proportion of broad- leaf trees. All young short-leaf pine appearing in lumbered woods should be protected. 13 19-1 FORESTS OF NOETH CAROLINA. The thick groves, particularly those of the loblolly pine, might well be thinned. Very lightly at first, if the stand is very thick, and the thinning repeated after several years. If the stand is not so thick a correspondingly light catting will be required. Seeding pines should be left around every cultivated field which in time may be abandoned, so that when cultivation ceases it may quickly be seeded in self-sown pine seed, and the young pines serve as a protection to prevent the washing away of the soil as so much of it is now destroyed. The loblolly pine can be grown in a pure forest on all the moister soils of this division. The short-leaf pine does well in a pure growth on the better soils. On the poorer soils all the groves of untended trees now have too open a stand. This may be due entirely to external influences; in many places it is evidently traceable to fires. If this be due in certain cases to the natural thinning out of the pine on such soils as the trees become of large size, in all such cases underplanting will have to be resorted to. FORESTS OF THE SLATE SOILS. The geological formation of crystalline schists and slates, which extends from Person count}^ southwestward to Union, yields two extreme types of soils, each supporting characteristic growth. The first of these to be here described is the less suited for the gi-owth of trees, and has woods of pine and small broad-leaf trees ; the second produces woods of broad-leaf trees of a larger class and no pine, and will be described further on in considering the belt of red and gray loams which lies next to the west. The first soil referred to as being a characteristic one over a large part of these counties is a usually shallow, closfe and stiff, yellow loam, sometimes superficially sandy, derived from gray or yellow slates, and is nearly confined to the southern, counties : Randolph, Stanly, Montgomery, and Union. The topography of the districts where such soil is found is simple, the surface nearly flat or gently rolling. Throughout it is ill-drained, and the variation in the growth is incidental to the thoroughness of the drainage. Where better drained the forest resembles a two-storied high for- est. The upper story consists of a rather open growth of short- FORESTS OF THE SLATE SOILS. 195 leaf pine rising to a height of 50 to 70 feet; the lower story of small post and black-jack oaks, with more or less Spanish and white oak and ^vhite hickory, has an average height of 40 feet, individual trees acquiring a diameter of 14 to 18 inches. The trees are often shrubby, and there is very little young growth. As the soil becomes poorly drained the pine decreases, until on the " willow" oak flats " the growth becomes restricted to black- jack and post oaks as a lower story, slightly overtopped by willow oaks, a growth capable of yielding only a limited number of ties, and felloe and hub-material. In Davidson, Stanly and Union counties mines have been worked for many years, requiring large amounts of fuel and posts which have been gotten from the neighborhood. Such deforested dis- tricts are now generally covered with a coppice of good stand, often with many young pines and some seedling oaks intermixed. Along many of the river hills through here thickets of the scrub pine may be seen. It appears to be spreading eastward from the granite knobs above along the rivers, occasional trees yet being seen in bulled or coppiced woodland as far to the eastward as Orange county. • There is a comparatively large part of the area of these coun- ties in forest and only a small amount of second growth woods ; and as the woods have been but little culled a correspondingly large amount of merchantable timber, pine in places and oak suit- able for ties and wagon-material. These forests liave in many places been badly injured by frequent and destructive fires, but during late years the woods have been better protected and the adoption of laws requiring the confinement of live stock in several of the counties has tended to diminish the evil and at the same time improve the general condition of the woodland. The soils of the first division are on the whole too shallow to make large-sized broad-leaf trees. The most valuable tree is the' short-leaf pine ; next the post and white oaks and white hickory and dogwood. The pine will make medium-sized mill-logs; the oak scarcely more than railway ties and smaller material. Fires should be rigidly excluded, as their damage to young pine is great. In most places cattle should be excluded. Improve- 196 FOKESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. ment cuttings conld be advantageously conducted throughout nearly this entire section, defective pines being removed and old black oaks and Spanish oaks that are interfering in any way with young growth of more valuable species. The proportion of pine can be largely increased in such soils as are sufficiently deep to permit its growth, the amount of post oak increased on the crests of ridges, and of white oak on the slopes and better soils. THE DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. Beginning in Mecklenburg county and extending northeast through Cabarrus, Rowan, Davidson, Guilford, and Caswell coun- ties and west to the middle parts of Davie, Yadkin, and Rock- ingham counties are red and gray compact loams, sometimes loose, rarely sandy, derived largely from gneissic or granitic rocks ; and with these may be included the loose loams of Orange, Granville, and Alamance counties, and the stiff red loams of central Iredell, middle part of Lincoln and Catawba counties, and the loose and sandy red and gray loams of southern Cleveland and Rutherford counties. This territory embraces the great body of the fertile upland soils, both stiff and loose, of the Piedmont plateau. The forests were originally of the first quality, consisting of compact-growing hardwoods, oaks, and hickories, with pine dis- seminated only on rocky or sandy soils along the crests of hills. They difler from those lying to the eastward in the almost total absence of the short-leaf pine in the original forest, the rather limited area of young pine in pure growth, and the presence in many sections of the red cedar and scrub pine as the old field growth. FORESTS OF THE COMPACT RED LOAMS OR " RED CLAYS." The Stiff red soils, the so-called "red clays," derived from hornblende-bearing rocks are fertile, and are usually free from stones. The soils are in narrow terraines, two to twelve miles wide, lying in a northeast and southwest direction, the largest extending from Charlotte to Concord, with a length of about FORESTS OF THE RED CLAYS. 19T thirty-five miles. Otlier extensive bodies are at Salisbury and Lexington ; several smaller are in Guilford county, and a large body extends through central Alamance and Orange counties, and the northwest part of Person county. Besides these bodies are the areas in Catawba, Lincoln, and Iredell counties already referred to, and smaller areas in other portions of these counties. The forests of the compact red loams are composed of black and white oaks, white and small-nut hickories with small intermixture of Spanish oak, and along the crests of the ridges, of post oak; but on lower hillsides and steep north slopes the yellow poplar, northern red oak, shagbark hickory, and white ash also occur. These trees in the most favored situation form a forest whose canopy is raised 90 to 100 feet, and the trunks which support it are free from limbs for 4(» to 60 feet. Beneath these trees where there has been no pasturage there is in many places a heavy undergrowth of dogwood and young trees. The wooded land is for the most part distributed among small farms, and much of it has been heavily culled of the white oak for building and fencing- material, and in places the Spanish oak has been removed for the same uses. Where such culling has been done and the woodland pastured at the same time, the growth has remained open and there is no underwood : and although in many such tracts no pas- turage has been permitted for the past five or ten years, the reproductive power of the black oaks seems to be so impaired, possibly from the dry and impoverished floor, that seedlings are infrequent and small, and few young black oaks are to be found in the undergrowth now appearing, which consists of dogwood, hickories, haws, and young white oaks. There are still many fine bodies of hickory, although much has been cut from these lands for numerous local buggy and spoke factories, and much has been exported in the log. Old fields on the compact red loams are not frequent and they are either tardily taken by pine, the seed being borne there from trees at a distance on other soils, or sometimes they are taken by thickets of sassafras, sumach or by persimmon, and in a few local- ities by red cedar. Sometimes, however, a growth of mixed 198 FORESTS OF NOKTH CAKOLINA. broad-leaf trees, whose seedlings are light-bearing, appear, Span- ish, post, and white oaks, white hickorj', dogwood, and sonrwood. IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. These forests are capable of yielding large-sized oak and hick- ory timber. The white and black oaks are the most valual)le trees growing on these soils, and are better adapted to them than the others ; the Spanish oak is less suited. Of the hickories the smallnat and the white make the most rapid growth and thrive better on this stiffer soil ; the small-nnt on the shadier slopes or where the stiffest soils prevail ; the white where the soils are drier or not so stiff. The short-leaf pine will attain a large size and make exceedingly rapid growth, either in growth with other trees or when growing alone. Browsing cattle and hogs should be excluded, and tires, which at present are of seldom occurrence, should be guarded against. AVhere the woodshave not been pastured there is usually a heavy stand of young trees beneath the old ones, and generally of the same kind, although not by any means in the same proportion. There are great numbers of white oaks, especially four-year-old seedlings, and thickets of saplings, from the two latest heavy masts, around and beneath seed-bearing trees ; and this young growth is most promising. Defective old trees, or objectionable species, black gums, scarlet oak and other trees of less value which by their shade are interfering with such young growth should be removed, and if it will pay to turn them into cord-wood they should be cut np and hauled out, as little cutting and injury Ijeing inflicted on the young growth as is possible. There is in some places much mature timber: when it is post oak, chiefly suitable for railway ties; when white and black oaks, it will yield small-sized milling timber, and this is often standing to the great detriment of the thick young growth beneath it, and might well be partly removed to give the young growth an oppor- tunity for development. Where pasturage has been uninterruptedly practiced for many years and the woods are open beneath, there being no underwood of young trees, an absolute exclusion of cattle is demanded in IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. 199 order to secure the regeneration of a new crop beneath the old trees. Where lack of grazing lands makes woodland pasturage necessary, the plan of utilizing one-half of the woodland for grazing until the young growth in the other portion becomes too large to be injured by cattle, and then turning the cattle into that, while the pastured area is permitted to rest and secure a new growth, could be adopted. Where there are yet many black oaks, white oaks and hickories standing, they can be allowed to naturally seed the ground, and the seedlings from them form the new wood. In places, however, these species are nearly wanting, or the white oak has been largely removed, so that if a new crop were to be naturally regenerated beneath the remaining trees it would be formed largely of little-desired species. Underplanting with the white oak, and retaining the old cover for several years, and then removing it after the young white oaks have formed thickets so as to shade the ground, is here recommended. The most naked spaces, without any cover at all, might well be sown in the short- leaf pine. Some localities show absolutely no signs of young growth of broad-leaf trees except sucli kinds as are neglected by browsing cattle; the old trees which are standing have passed their matur- ity, their tops are decaying, the trunks are often hollow, and their vigor is constantly lessening from the free access of the sun to the soil around their roots. Any kind of a young growth in such sit- uations will be valuable in protecting the soil from washing and preventing the further decay of the old trees by shading their roots. Nearly all of this thinned wood has more or less young short-leaf pine in it which is rapidly increasing, being passed over bj' cattle. THE FORESTS OF THE LOOSE GRAY LOAMS. The forests of this division cover the greater portion of the sec- tion of the Piedmont plateau which lies between Rutherford and the southeastern part of Mecklenburg, on the south and west, and Yadkin, Rowan, Caswell and Orange counties on the north and east; within this division lie the smaller areas of compact red loams with their somewhat different growth. There is not always 200 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. a sharply defined limit between the loose gray loams and the com- pact red loams, one gradually passing into the other; more often the areas of compact red loams have sharply defined limits. The more sandy soils prevail, however, in Alamance, Orange, the west- ern portion of Chatham and in Person counties, in the southern portion of Mecklenburg, and the southern parts of Cleveland and Rutherford counties. The gray loams are loose, even sandy in places, with the subsoils stilFer and bright-colored, deep, well drained, but fresh or moist and welhsuited for tree growth. In a few places they are rocky or even bouldery as in portions of Orange and Alamance counties. In general, the forests are quite similar to those of the compact red loams ; but the Spanish oak to a large extent replaces the black oak ; there is more post oak, and the standard of excellence is not so high. The composition of the original forest may be said to be of white oak, Spanish oak, post oak, black oak, white hickory, and scarlet oak, in relative abundance about in the order named, and forming over three-fourths of the growth ; beneath these trees is a selection of underwood, where it has not been suppressed by pasturage, which shows a fair representation of the dominant trees, and with these the dogwood, suurwood, haws, and thorns. Dogwood, however, is not so abundant as on the compact red loams. On slopes facing the north and cool hillsides there is but little ash and red maple, and only occasional trees of the northern red oak, but yellow pop- lar is more frequent. Vine, though infrequent on the stifier soils and confined to the ridges, forms on the looser a not inconsiderable element in the woodland, from J to 2 per cent, of the mature trees often being pine, these being large and tall, but scarcely overtopping the hard- woods. AVhere the soil is poor and sandy as in southern Mecklenburg, there is a reoccurrence of the pine, post oak, and blackjack oak growth, with the pine as an upper story and the broad-leaf trees as a lower. The area of such sandy land, however, is limited, and it is generally largely cleared for cotton culture, with the greater part of the woodland hardwood coppice and pine regrowth. FORESTS OF THE LOOSE GRAY LOAMS. 201 To the eastward in Person, Orange and Alamance counties the small shagbark hickory is frequent along the crests of sandy ridges, forming in a few places as much as 10 per cent, of thegrow^th over limited areas. Where high hills occur with sandy or gravelly crests, and espe- cially if boiildery, as the river-hills along the Deep and Haw, and the elevated ridges in Person county which centre around Fuller mountain, the chestnut oak becomes conspicuous, and in culled and coppiced woodland rapidly propagates, seeding at an early age, and abundantly reproducing from stool shoots. * Coppiced and culled woods deteriorate in two directions accor- ding to -the kind of soil on which they grow ; if on sandy soils the early seeding black-jack oak and post oak increase, their seedlings, appearing among the stool shoots, the trees of these species becom- ing large enough to prodnce seed before those other kinds; on the stitfer red soils where the black-jack oak is w^anting, the sourwood increases rapidly for the same reason, it seeding at a very early age, especially from shoots. On the hillsides in culled woods many maple seedlings occur, and reach a height of 20 or 30 feet, and then die. The black gum does the same, small trees of this species often forming a consider- erable proportion of the young growth ; but although it reaches a much larger size than the red maple, and persists for afar longer time, it, too, is finally suppressed by more rapid-groAving trees which are better suited for the dry soils. To a less extent the same is true of the sweet gum, but unless in rather favored localities its seedlings, which appear in many places in the w^oods, die after a few years growth. Where the soils are not too sandy or thin there is a growth of broad-leaf trees nearly as excellent in quality as that on the com- pact red loams. Its average height, however, will scarcely exceed 85 feet, and as the soil becomes more silicious there are fewer small-nut and shagbark hickories and black oaks, these being- supplanted by post and Spanish oaks ; or, if thecountrj- is rugged and the crests of the hills rocky and gravelly, especially if with quartz fragments, the scarlet oaks and pignut hickories enter largely. 202 FORESTS OF. JJORTH CAROLINA. These forests require the same raauagement aud care for their improvement, as was indicated for those of the compact red loams. GENERAL CONDITION OF THE DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU REGION. Between 80,000 and loO,000 acres of oak and hickory woodland situated in Person, Caswell, and Granville counties were burned in the spring of 1893. The greater portion of the mature and large- sized, oak and hickory timber was killed; and while the tops of all smaller trees were destroyed, they put forth abundant stool shoots so that the burnt areas are now covered with thickets of young sprouts. There is another large burnt area in the north- eastern portion of Rockingham county over which a lire passed about 187.5. This is now covered with a thick growth of small trees about twenty years old, there often being several stocks from the same stool so that they interfere with each other and prevent development. While at the present time, on account of the general distribu- tion of groves of seed-bearing short leaf pine, this species quickly forms a stand in abandoned fields, as is the case from Rutherford, Cleveland, and Mecklenburg counties north to Davie and Guil- ford, yet in many portions of southern Alamance, the northern parts of Orange, in Person, Caswell, and the eastern parts of Rockingham and Forsyth counties, the short-leaf pine does not rapidly take old fields, from five to ten years or even more being required for a thick stand to be naturally secured. In the eastern portion of Guilford county, and in Alamance, Orange, Person, and Forsyth there is a large proportion of red cedar associated with the short-leaf pine, in localities where the pine does occur in the old field growth ; Init the cedar is finally suppressed by overshading. In some localities cedar unmixed with other trees forms the regrowth. This tree is also rapidly increasing in culled woods, but, as in the pine groves, it is unable to endure the deep shade of the broad-leaf trees, being of much slower growth than they, and is at last overshaded. In the coun- ties to the west of Guilford, and especially in those to the south- west, there is not so much red cedar. CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 203 Where neither the red cedar nor short-leaf pine appears in the old fields, as in portions of Guilford, in Caswell, especially in the valley of Country Line creek, in Rockingham and Forsyth coun- ties, and to a less extent elsewhere, the scrub pine forms a large portion of the regrowth in old fields, in many places forming com- pact thickets of pure growth ; in others, thickets of the short-leaf pine and scrub pine alternate. The two pines are sometimes associated. When this is the case unless the short-leaf pine has the advantage of a start of a few years growth, the scrub pine, being the mor'e rapid grower, will overshade it and suppress it. Less frequently is the scrub pine associated with red cedar in these groves. The scrub pine forms groves of pure growth on the granite knolls which extend across tlie eastern edge of Cabarrus county into Rowan, and the dissemination in the old fields has probably been from the trees on these knolls and those growing along the' hills of the Haw and the Deep rivers, as the scrub pine is not found at other places in this division in the original forest. Probably as much as one-third of the area of this division is in wood, and over one-half of the wood is regrowth. A greater por- tion of the regrowth, over a third at any rate, is pine and cedar. There are besides large areas of waste lands, with almost no tree growth of any kind, or exceedingly thinly stocked with pine or oak, chiefiy post oak, black-jack oak, and Spanish oak stool- shoots. There is almost no merchantable heart-pine suitable for milling. The local bodies of regrowth pine which are now large enough for small sized saw-logs will yield only sap lumber, and are not gen- erally utilized on this account; but there are large quantities of pine suitable for fuel. There is not very much oak, either white or red oak, which is suitable for lumber. What tliere is lies chiefly in Orange, Person, and Davidson counties; but there are smaller bodies in otlier places. Smaller white oak and post oak, suitable for railway ties, in most places is not abundant, many sections not producing enough to supply the local demand. Hick- ory, however, is relatively more abundant, not having been so largely culled for local use; numerous spoke and tool-handle fac- 204 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. tories are now utilizing this. There are few saw-mills, and nearly all of the building material used by the larger towns is brought from other sections of the State. THE WESTERN PINE BELT OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. Lying to the west of the compact red and gray loams are fine- grained and mostly sandy loams, usually red or reddish in color with a thin surface soil, usually less fertile than the compact red and gray loams and less suitable for tree-growth.. This division extends from the central part of Rockingham, Iredell, and the central part of Rutherford counties northward and westward to the base of the Blue Ridge and its outlying spurs. A few local areas of compact red loams occur, and the original timber on these soils was entirely of broad-leaf trees. The surface of the entire division sloping eastward from the escarpment of the Blue Ridge is broken and rugged. The culmi- nating points of the divides between the rivers which here find their head waters are low mountain chains running irregularly east and west. These mountains and the groups and isolated peaks, lying still further to the east, the Sauratown and Crowder moun- tains, and Kings mountain have an arborescent growth similar to that on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, and their woods will be considered in connection with that (p. 210). Here, however, it may be well to say that the woods on the north slopes yet contain some merchantable yellow poplar in some of the hollows, with ash, northern red oak, and white oak. The woods on the southern slopes, and this is especially true of the South mountains, the Sauratown and King's mountain, and the broad water-shed between the Green and Pacolet rivers, have been many times burned, and pine timber has been very badly damaged while tie and tan-bark oak has been greatly thinned or reduced to stool-shoots. The forests of this division are of pine mixed with broad leaf trees, of which the scarlet oak is the most abundant. It Is espe- cially common on gravelly soils and has associated with it the Spanish oak, post oak, white oak and, to a less extent, the black •oak, while along all high and sandy crests and rocky slopes the WESTERN PINE BELT OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 205 chestnut oak becomes a tree of economic consideration. There is not so much hickory as in the oak forests of the central portion of the state this group being represented chiefly by the pignut, white, and some smallnut. The sourwood becomes even more conspicuous than in Davie and Guilford counties, and along the hollows and northern slopes there is some yellow poplar, ash and northern red oak. These woods are in a far more uniform condition than those lying to the eastward and are much less broken. There are broad expanses of woods, formed of pine mixed with broad-leaf trees, with the cover entire or somewhat broken, and dotted with small groves of pure pine, either the short-leaf or the scrub, in old fields ; or there are extensive areas of culled or coppiced woodland adjacent to the farms and small towns. Throughout some portions of the division cattle have been excluded from the woodland for periods of from five to ten years, but most parts are yet pastured. The forest floor is generally poor, the underwood thin or entirely absent, and the cover of the mature trees open. ' ,^'"' The original forest is from 70 to 80 feet in heiglit, though in many places it will not be over 60 feet where tlie soils are thin and poor, while in hollows and on cool slopes many trees will measure over 100 feet in height. Considering the division as a whole, the trees stand in relative abundance about in tlie follow- ing order: short-leaf pine, scarlet oak, black oak, white oak, sourwood, chestnut oak, post oak, Spanish oak, and white hickory. These form considerably over three-fourths of the growth. ' Less abundant and forming the larger portion of the remainder of the growth are the dogwood, pignut, chestnut, black-jack oak, black gum, and small-nut hickory, scrub pine, and red maple. The culled woods show an increased proportion of young pine; while scarlet oak, chestnut oak, and sourwood are increasing in both culled and coppice woods, the scarlet oak more rapidly than any other oak. Its young growth often forms thickets in the open spaces where trees are removed in culling; and in coppiced woodland it reproduces rapidly both by seedlings and stool-shoots. It is chiefly on the drier sandy and rocky soils that the chestnut 206 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. oak is spreading most rapidly under culling, especially where the cutting is heavy or where the woods are coppiced ; so that large areas where fuel is regnlarly cut show a growth which has dete- riorated, so that while it formerly consisted of mixed oaks and hickory, now it is of scarcely other trees than the scarlet and chestnut oaks. Both of these trees, however, are well-suited for coppice-cutting on account of their rapid growth, vigorous sprout- ing, and the long persistence of the stools. The increase of the red maple in culled woods is also rapid. Under the protection of the light shade so afforded maple seed- lings can be found on all classes of soils from the driest to the most moist. On the moister soils they seem to be incorporated as a permanent part of the growth : but where the soils are dry they grow more slowly and are overtopped by the oaks when eight or ten inches in diameter, put up sprouts from around the base of the trunk, the main stem becomes weakened and dies. In like manner many seedlings of the yellow poplar appear; those on the drier soils soon succumb ; those on the moister persist for a long time*, if on a north slope even becoming large trees. Black gum seedlings, which are frequent on the drier soils, con- tinue to grow for many years, but the specimens never become more than small-sized trees. The regrowth in the old fields is uniformly pine, except in a few local areas of compact red loams, where it may be red cedar or scrubby broad-leaf trees as vvell as pine. The pine in old fields is usually the short-leaf; but in some sections it is the scrub, especially where adjacent to the mountains, or where thickets of that pine occurred in the original growth, as along steep river hills or the thin soils near granite knolls, the so-called " flat-rocks." Less frequently white pine forms the old field growth, and then only at the base of the mountains where mature trees of this species occur. Beneath pine regrowth of all kinds, unless the cover is exceedingly heavy, sourwood, red maple and dogwood appear. MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF WESTERN PIEDMONT PINE BELT. The forests of the western pine belt now yield more timber than those of any other part of the Piedmont plateau region, and MERCHANTABLE TIMBER, WESTERN PIEDMONT PINE BELT. 207 exploitation is not so far advanced in tliein as elsewhere. There are many mills sawing pine and soft woods in Wilkes and the northern part of Alexander eonnties; mills cutting hardwoods at Hickory, Morganton, Lenoir, Old Fort, Thermal Springs and at other localities, while mills sawing pine are scattered through the entire territory. Several local tanneries obtain their bark supplj^, chiefly chest- nut oak and white oak bark, from the immediate neighborhood, but they have removed only about one-half of the available amount in the South mountains, and that in the Brushy moun- tains and on the slopes of the Blue Ridge has yet scarcely been touched. The largest tanneries are at Morganton and Wilkesboro. The largest areas containing merchantable pine lie in Caldwell, Burke, Alexander, Wilkes, and the northern parts of Cleveland and Rutherford counties. SOme white pine of a low grade is fur- nished by the counties lying along the base of the Blue Kidge. It is locally used for building material, but far the greater part of the lumber manufactured is utilized in making shipping boxes for local cotton and woolen mills. The northern pitch pine occurs through here above an elevation of 1,300 feet, usually growing with the short-leaf pine and distinguished from it under the name of " black pine" ; and along the mountains, above an elevation of 2,000 feet occur occasional specimens of the Table- mountain pine, which finds its eastern limits on the rocky sum- mits of King's mountain in the southeast and the Sauratown moun- tains in the northeast, though in the intervening territory between these two mountains and the ridge of the Brushy and the South mountains it is not known to occur. All of these pines afford merchantable milling timber. The scrub pine is abundant on the shallow soils of the mountains and along the Blue Ridge, fre- quently forming small patches of unmixed growth. The milling oak timber is the white, some Spanish, red and black oak ; there is a great deal of white and chestnut oak tie- timber, but not so much post oak as farther eastward, the scarlet oak largely taking its place IMPROVEMENT OF THE FOREST. These forests are capable of yielding short-leaf pine, which will 208 FQREST8 OF NORTH CAROLINA. on the best soils attain a height of 90 feet, and on the poorer a height not exceeding TO feet ; and many of the soils, on account of their poorness, are much more snited for a growth of pine than of more exacting broad-leaf trees The white and chestnut oaks grown on the crests of the hills will make trees large enough for railway ties and tan-bark but scarcely larger ; on the moister npper slopes the black and white oaks attain sizes which make them suitable for milling-timber; on the cooler and moister lower slopes the white oak, northern red oak and yellow poplar attain moderately large dimensions and form good timber. The Spanish oak generally reaches only a small size and is often defective; and the same is true of the scarlet oak. Sonrw^ood large enongh to be of value commercially is usually defective. The white pine will certainly do fairly well in a few localities along the western limits of the division, and though at this low elevation it fails to clear the stocks, at least in the forest specimens, as it does at a higher elevation, it is worthy of being protected on account of its rapid growth. Thickets of pure growth will probably form cleaner shafts than where single specimens appear in mixed woods. The broad-leaf trees require such care as was indicated for those of the compact red loams (p. 198). The white pine can be treated in the same way as will be given for the groves of that tree occurring in the high mountains (p. 218). FORESTS OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION. The differences in the character of the forests of the mountain region are not determined so largely either by the kind of soil or by the amount of moisture contained in it as are those of the Piedmont plateau and coastal region. Within short distances among the mountains there are wide variations in elevation. With increased elevation a rapid lowering of the average annual temperature takes place, and a proportional shortening in the growing-season ; increase in the rain-fall and relative humidity, and a decrease in evaporation both directly from the soil and through transpiration. The effect of these factors in limiting the distribution of certain species is more evident than that of the soils; though, between certain limits of elevation, changes in the FORESTS OF THE IA)WER MOUNTAINS. 209 character of the soil intiuence the kind of growtli. It is doubt- ful, however, if chaii,2;es of soil in the larger mountain masses above 5,000 feet elevation produce any change at all in the kind of trees, the number of species being limited to those whose hardi- ness of crown or foliage and short growing-season render, capable of withstanding the sudden changes of temperature to which they are subjected tow^ard the summits of the higher moun- tains. At liigh elevations certain trees are to be found both along dry ridges and in cold swamps ; the white and pitcli pines and black gum ; and, choosing less noticeable extremes of soil, are the red oak, liemlock, beech, birches, and sugar maple. The forests of the mountain region are separable into three zones or belts lying at diiferent elevations. These may be described as follows: (1) The forests of the lower mountains; (2) the forests of the higher mountains; (3) the forests of the moun- tain summits. THE FORESTS OF THE LOWER MOUNTAINS. The forests of the lower mountains lie between l,5<»0 and 3,000 feet elevation. They occupy the eastern and southern slopes of the Blue Ridge and its outlying spurs, and the minor chains of the Brushy and Sauratown mountains which penetrate or lie within the Piedmont plateau region ; and to the westward of the Blue Eidge they occupy the hills and lower mountain slopes about to the maximum elevation given above. Oaks, white, chestnut, black, scarlet, red and shingle, with some hickory, chiefly white, bitternut and rarely the shagbark and small- nut, with the chestnut and occasionally dogwood, are the chief broad-leaf trees. The pines are the short-leaf, pitch. Table moun. tain, scrub (Jersey) and the white. These form a story of vary, ing density, but never constituting over one-half of the trees, slightly above the broad-leaf trees ; or are coordinate with them and fewer in number. As the quality of the soil improve?, either as regards fertility or constant proportion of moisture, and the indi- vidual specimens composing the broad-leaf element reach a hu'u'er size, the pines become fewer in number, restricted in kind to those attaining the greater size, the white and short-leaf, and are con- 14 :>10 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. fined to the more rocky und shallow or sandy-soiled crests, and eventually are crowded out: either because the broad-leaf trees overshade the mature light-loving pines, or because their shade becomes too deep for the growth of the young plant. DISTINCTIVE GROWTH. The forests of the lower mountains approach in the character of their economic trees those of the western gneisses of the Pied- mont plateau. The pines, except the short-leaf and the scrub (Jer- sey) are usually kinds which are not frequent in any part of the Piedmont plateau region; the chestnut oak becomes frequent; the post oak and Spanish oak do not occur at all over the larger part of the area; and the red oak, shingle oak, and chestnut oak become conspicuous and valuable trees. The forests of the lower mountains are separable into three divisions : (1) that in which the Table mountain and pitch pines are the dominant resinous trees ; (2) that in which the short-leaf, pitch, and scrub pines are dominant ; (3) that in which the white pine is the dominant tree. • TABLE xMUUNTAIN I'INE DIVL'^IdN. The area in which the Table mountain and ])itcli pines are the important pine timber trees embraces the eastern and southern slopes of the Blue Ridge, with the outlving spurs, from Georgia to Virginia, and the groups of the Brushy, Soutii and Sauratown mountains. AVith these pines is to be found the short-leaf pine, which becomes more abundant as the elevation decreases and the soil become deeper and less rugged. The slopes of this range are steep ; the soils are shallow^ loams or sandy loams, ei'oding rapidly under denudation, and, when cleared, restocking slowly on the ces- sation of cultivation. The broad-leaf trees which are associated with the pines are chiefly the scarlet and chestnut oaks and the chesbiut. These forin a low, open growth, seldom exceeding fifty or sixty feet in height. There is no nnderwood, and it is only occasionally that young trees are found, and these are for the most part stump or stool-shoots from trees the tops of whicii have been TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE DIVISION. 211 killed by the frequent fires which ravage these forests. Old trees, particular!}' oaks and chestiiuts, show many defects from these fires, chiefij short and limby boles and hollows. Pasturing cattle and ranging swine are regularly practiced ; firing is done to improve the grass crop and secure young stool-shoots in the spring ; and to clear off the litter before the fall of chestnuts and acorns in the autumn. Locally, white pine occurs. Their l)oles, how- ever, are short, limby and frequently defective, the heartwood being snl^ject to the attack of Trametes pini, which caused defective stocks. The Carolina hemlock, the bark of whicii possesses the same tanning properties as that of the hemlock, is confined for the inost part to the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge. Locally abundant, it is found at intervals along this mountain chain, to the west of it on rugged cliffs along the north and south forks of the Estatoe river in Mitchell county ; the South Fork of New river in Ashe county ; the gorge of the Doe river ; and in the southeastern parts of Macon and Jackson counties, and in one locality over forty miles to the oast of this range, the Sauratown mountains. In the deep, narrow hollows which indent the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge, tiie black walnut grew more abundantly and reached a larger size than elsewhere in this State ; but it has been largely removed, and there are now only a few small trees. Of the locust, yellow poplar, and white oak which grew with it, only the white oak is still standing in large quantities. The timber in the hollows, where there are few pines and but occasional hem- locks, has been less damaged by fires than that of the drier and more exposed slopes. Browsing cattle, however, have checked the growth of most of the young broad-leaf trees. MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF THE TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE BELT. There is now comparatively little merchantable timber lying along the Blue Ridge. Locally there is white pine, and yellow pine of several species suitable for milling purposes; and in the hollows some yellow poplar, white oak and chestnut suitable for lumber. White oak and chestnut oak railway tie-timber is abun- dant, and large quantities of white and chestnut oak tan ])ark are 212 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. obtainable. Lumber mills obtaining their logs from these forests are in operation at Lenoir and Hickorj', and smaller mills else- where. A tannery at Morganton depends on these forests largely for its oak bark. Fires have damaged these forests more than those of any other part of the State except the pine woods of the southeastern counties. The forests cover nearly the entire area. The farms are few and confined almost entirely to the narrow alluvial bottoms; a few clearings have been made on the more gentle slopes or broader rounded crests. Some bottoms have been permanently damaged by washing during floods and the deposition of a heavy mud sedi- ment on the surface of the loams. Old fields are seeded chiefly by the short-leaf, scrub and northern pitch pines ; less frequently by the white. Sometimes they are all mixed. Such second growth is, however, inconsiderable. The forests are capable of producing pine — short-leaf, and some white— together with chestnut oak on the slopes and crests : while walnut, yellow poplar, white oak and locust reach a large size in the hollows. IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. A complete cessation of the present annual firing is necessary, not only to insure the possibility of a vigorous stand of young- trees, but to afi^ord protection to the standing stock. Pasturage should not be perraitled in such portions of the]forest as contain young growth that can be injured. Hogs must be excluded after seed-years of nut-bearing trees. As there is now very little mer- chantable timber on the ridges, all management should have for its object the improvement of the general condition of the forest, regarding both density and preference for the more valuable kinds of trees. Few of the trees on the ridges will form large merchant- able stocks ; their utilization extends only to small pine milling- timber, oak railway ties, oak and Carolina hemlock tanbark, small chestnut and locust timber for posts and construction. The trees naturally growing here are light-demanding, except the chestnut, the white oak and white pine, all of which will endure some shade ; the chestnut the deepest and the longest, the white pine least and for the shortest time. SHORT-LEAF AND PITCH PINE FORESTS. 213 The eliestnut, chestnut oak and the white oak can be relied on for reproduction from stump and stool-shoots, the chestnut sprout- ing most vigorously and from the largest-sized stumps, and the white oak least vigorously and from the smallest stumps. The locust frequently sprouts from small stumps, also from suckers under a thin cover. SHORT-LEAF AND PITCH PINE FORESTS. The area in which tiie short-leaf and pitch with the scrub ( Jersej' ) pine are the dominant resinous trees, embraces the basin of the French Broad river in Buncombe and Madison counties, the river-hills of the Swannanoa, those of the French Broad in Hen- derson county, and the lower hills in Haywood, Swain, Jackson, Macon, Cherokee and Graham counties, lying below an elevation of 2, SCO feet above sea level. The surface of this area is broken and rugged, the hills often steep, between them, along the rivers and smaller streams, lying narrow alluvial tracts. The lowest elevations are found on the eroded slopes of the Asheville basin and along the waters of the Little Tennessee river, where at the lowest limits the altitude is not over 2,000 feet. The upland soils are stiif, mostly even-grained loams, rarely sandy. Although generally deep and derived from disintegration hi sit'' of gneiss, or, in Cherokee and Graham counties, slates, they are, on the whole, not fertile ; those of the lowlands are rich sedimentary loams witli much ve*getable matter along the smaller streams ; along the larger streams are loams similar to those on the smaller ones, but more sandy and less fertile. The hills erode rapidly on their shoulders when unprotected. Old fields, liowever, are generally quickly seeded in native grasses, which form a retentive turf, and after a longer time pines appear. The short-leaf, pitch and scrub (Jersey) pines are the character- istic conifurs. The broad-leaf trees which grow with them are <'hietly the white, black, scarlet and chestnut oaks, eliestnut, and hickory. Of these the white oak is first in numbers and import- ance. It forms from .1 to .5 of the entire forest, being most abundant along the slopes; black oaks and pine superseding it towards the crests; other broad-leaf trees toward the bottoms. 214 Ft/REST8 OF NORTH CAROLINA. The pines form from .1 to .3 of the forest, being in greatest abundance in the Asheville basin and at the lower elevations. CONDITION OF THE PINE FORESTS. The short leaf and pitch pine forest covers a little more than one-half of the area, and is largely of these pines mixed with broad- leaf trees less than one-twentieth of the forest being pure pine regrowth in old fields. It is divided chiefly among small farms. On the uplands it is decidedly irregular, the cover broken l)y the indisci-iminate removal of mature trees, the young growth beneath representing all ages. Where pastured and burned the forest floor is poor and the young growth not abundant. On the l)est soils these trees attain an average height of from 60 to SO feet ; on the poorer and along the sandier crests from 50 to 70 feet, the ])ines being the taller on the poorer soils but being overtopped or e(|uale(l in height by the broad-leaf trees in more fertile situations. The density is generally less than three-fourths of what it should be, natural reproduction being prevented l)y excessive and injudicious lumbering, pasturage, and burning. In many places the mature pines have been largely removed, oaks taking their places, but where there has been no burning many young pines are to be seen. The milling poplar and oak have been largely removed ; ])0plar, from its shade-demanding requirements, the fact that the young plants are eagerly sought for by browsing cattle, and the removal to a great extent of the seed-be/iring trees, is reproducing itself only to a limited degree ; the chestnut, the white oak, black oak. and scarlet oak more treely. Where the woodland has been protected for a great many years the" mature timber shows little damage from lires or the efi^ects of pasturing; there are only a few localities, however, where this is the case. Black oaks and chestnuts often have hollows from fires ; more rarely pines and white oak. The merchantable timber still standing is chiefly valuable as a source of supply for the numerous farms to which the woodland is attached and the small towns lying near them. At present the forest is about exhausted, so far as the milling WHITE PINE FORESTS. 215 pine and yellow poplar is concerned. Oak and chestnut, tliona;li chiefly of a small size, are still to be obtained. The forest is capable of yielding milling timber, fuel, railway ties, and fencing, for most of which a local market can l)e found. IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS Protection from Are and cattle should be aflbrded where this is not already done. Defective trees, or those of inferior kinds, which are interfering with young growth beneath them should be removed. Proximity to farms will generally allow this to be done as such wood can be made use of as fuel. The growth should be allowed to thicken up to restore the humus and give the re(|nisite shade. Most of the land here is too broken to permit clean cuttings without danger of great injury to the soil. Pure growth of pine, on the gentler slopes could, however, be cut without danger of excessive washing. Naturally the forest requires selection cut- ting. The pines and yellow po])lar require reproduction in all cases from seed. To supply smaller wood for fuel and farm use most of the broad leaf-trees can be reproduced from stool-shoots. Fields are seeded by pines and to some extent by locust ; rarely by nut-bearing trees. The yellow poplar will propagate in thin woods on a damp soil as the seedlings require some shade. The short-leaf is the most valuable of the pines, and though at first not the most rapid-growing, the Jersey or scrul) out growing it, should be protected at the expense of the others if it is intended to permit the trees to reach a large size. WHITE PINE FORESTS. The woodland in which white pine is the dominant coniferous tree is not extensive, but lies in isolated, small bodies along the crest, and southern and eastern slopes of tiie Plue Uidge, or on the low hills on the west. The most extensive forests containing white pine lie in the soutlieastern part of Ashe county, extending, though interrupted, :216 FOKESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. lip the valley of the South Fork of New river into Wutauga conntj; in the upper valley of the Linville river in Mitchell county ; in the valley of the French Broad river in Transylvania county ; and in the southern parts of Macon and Jackson coun- ties, at an elevation of 2,800 to 3,800 feet above sea level, exten- sive forests seldom being found above the higher limit, or perfect individual development attained below the lower. The total area of white pine forest is not over 200,000 acres. In a few places on the southern slope of the Blue Eidgc, par- ticularly along the headwaters of the Elk, Yadkin, and Roaring rivers in Wilkes and McDowell counties, and the upper valley of the Johns river, the white pine is associated with yellow pines as well as with deciduous trees, but the trees are generally short- boled and neither so large nor tall as those growing at a higher elevation to the west of this range. Single specimens or small groups of trees are locally dispersed in the broad-leaf forests throughout the mountain counties between the limits of altitude given above. Their value, how- ever, is potential rather than actual, since, growing on the thin- soiled crests of ridges and failing to develop clear shafts, they lack the essential requirements of timber trees ; but, as possible sources for the dissemination of seed either in denuded land or iti tliinned woodland, es|>ecially where pastured, their utility may become great. Such groups of trees are to be found in Alleghany, Madison, Haywood, and Graham counties, besides in portions of other counties in which bodies of more compact growth occur. Tlie white })iiie is generally associated with white, black, red, and less often, scarlet and chestnut oaks, chestnut, and hickory, when growing along the crests or flanks of rolling hills, on coarse, often porous, gravelly, loamy soils; or less frequently with hem- lock, sweet and yellow birch, red oak, and pitch pine along moist or wet fluvial deposits on fertile, loamy soils. CONDITION OF THE WHITE PINE FORESTS In some localities these forests have been extensively culled or. lumbered ; in others, their integrity is as yet scarcely broken. Where they have not l)een dismembered two groups of trees are CONDITION OF THE WHITE FINE FORESTS. 217 represented : white pine, fonnint^ an upper group, from 100 to 150 feet in height, and usually .1 to .3 of the growth ; beneath this, a group of deciduous trees of varying height, but rarely over 90 »r less than 7o feet, composed chiefly of white, Vdack, and chest- nut oak, and chestnut. Of these, white oak is the most abun- dant. Where lumbered they are irregular; occasional decrepit white pines overtopping the deciduous growth, which, however, has been cut into only locally ; but where around settlements both pine and hardwoods have been culled the entire cover is broken and thin. One of the effecits of pasturing forest lands is that while young plants of deciduous trees havu been destroyed, pines have increased ; Init where burning is practiced, sourwood, scarlet oak, white oak and other vigorous and free sproufers have propagated most rapidly, while pines have diminished. In a few places a iieavy underwood of the great laurel, less commonly of laurel (ivy), grows beneath the deciduous trees, form- ing a thicket 10 to 15 feet in height, with many crooked stocks rising from the same burly roots. Where this underwood is pres- ent the deciduous growth above is usually more open, but l)rows- ing cattle have inflicted less damage on young growth of tender- leaf species, and fires are less frequent; the humus is thick and the soil unimpaired. There are onl}' few farms in the area of white pine forest; probaljly less than 20 |jer cent, of the total acreage being under cultivation. In Ashe and Watauga counties the forest is divided cliieliy among small farms; in Mitchell and Macon are large areas thinl_y settled. On the farms the woodland has been more largely culled and pastured, and its density will seldom l)e above two- thirds of the normal condition. A few groves of vigorous young pines have sprung up in the fields from the self-sown seed of neighboring forest trees; but such groves are not common. Young pines are increasing in the woodland only to an inconsiderable extent. Much of the bottom land on which this pine grows has already been deforested, and it is probable that all of it will eventually be l»rought under 218 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. cultivation, as the soil is of superior quality and stands tillage better than that of the adjacent hills. The forests on the hills, however, should be regarded as permanent, and care bestowed on them accordingly. Larger pines, being protected by their thick bark, are damaged only to a sligiit extent by fires; young ones while the bark is yet smooth are more readily scorched and injured and sometime killed. Oaks and chestnuts show hollows from the effects of fires, particularly along ridges and in dry woods. MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF THE WHITE PINE FORESTS Extensive areas of unlumbered forest still exist in Transylvania, Macon and Mitchell counties. The standing trees will yield fairly good lumber, though it is seldom tliat over two cuts, 16 feet in length, from which clear boards are obtainable, can he secured from one tree. Snialler bodies ^yielding a larger proportion of knotty timl)er are standing in Wilkes, McDowell, and Caldwell counties. Lumbering is in progress in Mitchell, Caldwell, and Wilkes counties. IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHITE PINE FORESTS. At the higher altitudes these forests are capable of producing pine milling timber of good quality, large chestnut and oak tim- ber, ties and fencing. At present there is no local market. Below 2,000 feet the pines fail to clear their stocks and the growth i& slower, so that very little lumber free from knots can 1)e made from any trunk. In places where there is young growth, protection from fire and cattle is imperative. Defective seed-bearing pines, which are not seriously interfering with young growth, should be allowed to remain as seed-trees, both in lumbering and where culling is carried on. It is essential that the growth be maintained at the fullest possible density until the young pines have cleared them- selves, as otherwise from their tendency towards perfect symme- try in the development of most of the buds into limbs, the boles- will be limby and knotty. As the young trees re(|uire small grow- ing-space, the crowns standing much lateral compression and' FORESTS OF THE HIGHER MOUJSITAINS 219 being to a certain extent shade-bearing, the density can scarcely be too great until the trees reach the size of large poles. The rate of height-growth is more rapid than tliat of any of the associated species, averaging for the first fifty years over a foot of height-growth a year ; and for the first ten years nearly 18 inclies a year, so that the young trees quickly free themselves from the shade of broad-leaf trees when growing with them. The white pine seeds many old fields, but not so (juickly or thoroughly as the short-leaf pine. In such groves of pure pine the stand should be kept thick and should not be culled until the height-growtli is made. If grown in pure wood, selection cutting- would best preserve the factors of the locality, but there are many places where clear cutting would be permissible. The proportion of pine in wood mixed with hroad-leaf trees can well be increased to twice or even three times what it is at present, as it is the most valuable tree growing on these gravelly hills. The pine begins to seed in abundance when about forty or forty-five years old, and seed are borne abundantly once in 2 or 3 years. THE FORESTS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. These forests embrace all the woodland lying at an elevation above that of the forests of the lower hills and below 5,OO0 feet. The lower limit of their distribution is about 3,<>0() feet, but on southern slopes, particularly along the Blue Ridge, the distinct- ive character of the growth does not appear for several hundred feet above this limit, following closely the isothermal with the variation incidental to changes in moisture in the soil, depth of soil, and its piiysical characters. The greater part of the woodland of the counties of Alleghany, Ashe, AVatauga, Mitchell, and Yancey is so situated ; and in the mountain region to the south of these counties, the woodland lying around the base and on the slopes of the larger mountain masses. About one-third of the area originally occupied by these for- ests is now under tillage or in meadow ; the rest is more nearly virgin than any other considerable extent of forest to be found in this State. The situation, on steep slopes or rugged declivities. ^20 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. the distance from large waterways, and the inaccessibility of the region to railways, has rendered it impossible to economically remove any but the most valuable timbers ; while difficulty of til- lage, and the short growing-season have tended to prevent exten- sive cultivation of those lands lying above 8,500 feet elevation. SOILS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. The soils are rather fine and even-grained loams, gray or red in color, or black from organic ingredients; the loamy and gen- erally stiffer sub-soils red or gray. Over the larger part of the area they are derived from the decomposition, in situ, of gneiss or gneissic rocks or schists, and are sufficiently deep for tree-growth, particularly along the lower slopes, where detritus washed from above has accumulated or obscurely marked river terraces exist. In portions ofCherokee and Graham counties, and locally else- where, the soils derived from slates, qnartzite and metamorphosed sandstones are shallower, thinner and not so favorable to tree- growth. The soils of the upper slopes are thinnest, the clayey particles being more largely washed out, and are sometimes shal- low. Those of the sedimentary bottoms are more loamy and coaiser, with more organic constituents and less clayey, sometimes underlaid by pipe clay, and ill-drained. The soils of the lower slopes are generally deep and are the most clayey. FOREST TREES OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. The forests of the high mountains may be divided into (1) those lying on the crests, and on the slopes facing the south, and (2) those of the north slopes and hollows, and along the bottom lands. The soils of south hill-sides are drier and are thinner than those on slopes with a northerly aspect, and the amount of light and heat is greater than is secured on hill-sides with equal inclination to the north, and the trees are conse(|Uontly of more light-demand- ing kinds. The trees occurring on the slopes facing the north and in the hollows are: hemlock, birches, maples, beech, chestnut, red oak, white oak, great laurel, yellow poplar, white ash, cucumber, X. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. lULLETIX 6. PLATE XXIIL MIXED HARPWOOD FOREST OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. 221 buckeye. The characteristic trees which are to be found on the northern slopes and hollows are : hemlock, ,^reat laurel, sweet birch, yellow birch. (Plate XXIII.) On the southern slopes and alons^ the gravelly crests of the hills the growth is less varied, being largely composed of chestnut^ white oak, red oak, black oak, and chestnut oak. The forest on southern slopes is less dense than on northern and the trees are smaller. CONDITION OF THE FOKESTS. The cover of these forests has scarcely been broken, the tops of the trees presenting a nearly uniform surface throughout, the crowns closely interlocking and forming a dense shade. Beneath them is a good floor, usually free from grass and weeds and gen- erally with a deep humus. On the best soils along the lower slopes and bottoms the forests attain an average height of from 90 to 120 feet, with clear shafts of 60 to 90 feet, bearing narrow crowns. On the poorer and thinner soils, particularly towards the upper slopes, the forests become low and less dense, the cover often thin and open, the boles of the trees shorter, generally crooked and knotty, bearing great spread- ing crowns. In very many places there are two groups of trees represented in the forest : a dominant arborescent growth of large trees varied as to species and forming the commercially valuable timbers ; beneath tliem a group of evergreen shrubs or under-trees, often of great density, formed of the great rhododendron and laurel. In most-places there is present a vigorous young growth of the domi- nant group of trees if they are shade-bearing species : beech, birch, and hemlock on the wetter soils ; sugar maple and occasion- ally red oak on the drier, the young growth forming thickets, sometimes of pure growth, beneatli the parent trees ; but where the cover has been broken by trees being removed in lumbering or by windfalls, irregular thickets of light-loving species spring up : chestnut, encumber tree, yellow poplar, white ash, white and red oaks, which can endure a deep shade only for a short time. Browsing cattle have damaged young growth to a great extent, 222 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. especially such kinds as will not endure, beneath the shade of other trees, repeated cropping: yellow poplar, white ash and oak ; sugar maple and beech to a less degree. In many places about fallen trees and the openings made in lumbering, where there would be a heavy young stand, cattle have prevented its growth until thickets of brambles have sprung up witliin which young seedling trees find protection. Forest fires have inflicted only slight injury either to standing timber or to young growth on the northern slopes, as the damp or fresh humus does not readily carry fire, but on the south sides much timber has been damaged. MERCHANTABLE TIMBEK OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. Merchantable trees of walnut and cherry, which have been much sought after for cabinet-making have been nearly all removed. Occasionally large trees of the former kind are to be found, and a few small boaies of the latter still exist upon the higher mountains. Yellow poplar and cucumber-tree, being the chief building materials of the region, have largely been removed ; large 1>odies are still to be found, however, intact, particularly in Yancey, Mitchell, and Transylvania counties, and smaller ones in many other places in the mountains. Floating timbers, white pine, vellow poplar, ash and -chestnut have been largely removed from the lower valley of the French Broad to supply mills at Asheville. Oak has been cut nowhere except for local use. The Little Tennessee river and its tributaries liave had much of the float- ing timber removed from them near the water courses. Hemlock has been cut only around Cranberry and adjacent to some of the laro-er water courses. Ash has been generally removed wher- ever means of transportation were available. Birch, except curly yellow birch, has never been lumbered, and the same is true of maple, beech, and lin (basswood). Chestnut has been locally removed. Around all settlements and farming communities a great portion of the oak, chestnut and poplar has been removed, and the forests are much broken. FOREST INDUSTRIES OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION. There are mills sawing lumber at Linville, Cranberry, Asheville FORESTS, OF THE MOUNTAIN SUMMITS. 223 and Hot Springs and small ones along and near the railways. The Watanga, Toe, Little Tennessee river and its tribntaries afford transportation, the timber going to various places in East Ten- nessee, chiefly, though, tc Knoxville. Hemlock is l^arked around Cranberry for tanneries at Elizabethton, Tenn., and chestnut oak is barked around Asheville for local tanneries. No use is made ■of the hemlock stocks after they have been barked ; the oak is converted into cordwood and sold for fuel. Walnut, curly ash and curly birch are shipped in the log to veneering factories. The best (juality of yellow poplar, ash, and oak timber from here goes chiefly to Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and other inland points, sawn in S to 12 inch squares. Locust pins are manufactured at Bryson City, Waynesville and other places. Only a few staves are made and not many white oak railway ties are produced. In the more remote districts birch oil {oil of wintergreen) from the sweet birch is distilled in crude home-made retorts, constructed of wood, lined with olay and with metal bottoms. This was an extensive and profitable industry until overproduction reduced the price. The timber of trees thus Ijarked is rarely used. Among other smaller industries, which are carried on with moie or less profit, are keeping bees, in sections whei'e the sonr- wood, yellow poplar and lin are abundant, to utilize their fiowers for honey; the sale of nuts from the native chestnut; and the manufacture of syrup and sugar from the maples. THE FORESTS OF THE MOUNTAIN SUMMITS. The bhick spruce is the characteristic tree of these forests. With it is generally associated the Carolina balsam, the lower limit of which is about 300 feet above that of the blacdc spruce. The mountain ash (mountain sumach), striped and spiked maples and wild red cherry are small broad-leaf trees which are usually found growing, though not abundantly, with the l)alsam and spruce. These forests of sombre evergreens lie along the summits of the highest mountains, seldom ])eing found on peaks with an eleva- tion of less than 5,500 feet above sea level. They cap the Grand- father an-d the adjacent pinnacle of tlie Grandmother ; encircle in a great belt' the rounded bald of the Roan ; stretch along the -224: FORESTS OF NORTH OAROl.INA. numerous massive peaks of tlie Blacks from Bolen's Pyramid to the Pinnacle ; lie on the top of Pisgah ; cover the crests and upper slopes of the Great Smoky mountains and the cross-chain of the Balsams as a nearly continuous forest for a distance of almost thirty miles, and crown the tops of the higher peaks of the south- ern parts of Macon and Jackson counties. From their dark foMage the Blacks and Great Smoky mountains derive their names, and the Balsam mountains from the growth upon them. The lower limits of the forests lie on an average above 5,000 feet above sea level, or a little less. On north slopes, within deep and cool hol- lows, they extend as low as 4,700 on the Grandfather mountain, 4,600 feet at the head of Caney river in the Blacks, and 4,500 feet at the head of Forney's creek in the Great Smoky mountains, while on bold south slopes, as occur in the Blacks and elsewhere, the broad-leaf trees will often extend as high as 5,300 or 5,500 feet. Commercially these forests are at present unimportant. INDEX. PAGE. Abies fraseri 136 Acer barbatum 50 leucoderme 23 dasycarpum 51 leucoderme 22 negundo 53 pennsylvanicnm 49 rubrum 52 saccharimini, L 51 saccharimun, WaiiK 50 spicatuiii 48 Aesculus octandra 47 Amelanchier canadensis 60 Apple, crab 27 Aborvltaj 19, 119 Ash 70. 73, rS, 74 green 21, 73 mountain 20 red 31, 72 water 21,73 white 21.70 Asimina triloba 41 Aspen 2.S. 117 Balsam 19,136 Bald cypress 123 Basswood 33, 43 Bav 43 bull 43 loblony 36,43 i-ed 26, 74 smooth red 36 swamp 34 sweet 26, 34, 74 white 33.34 Beech 28, 111 blue 113 water 113 Betulalenta 115 lutea 113 nitrra 114 Birch, bitter 113 black 114, 115 cherry 28,115 red 114 river 28, 114 sweet 28 vellow 28, 113 Bitternut 31,84 Black s?um 36, 63 spruce 19.1:33 walnut 31,83 Boxelder 31,53 Boxwood 47,63 Buckeye 31, 47 Butternut .; 83 Buttonwood 81 Carolina Balsam, see balsam. Carolina hemlock, see hemlock. Carpynus caroliniana 113 Carya alba 86 amara 84 tomentosa 87 Castanea dentata 109 pumila 26 Cedar, red 19, 121 swamps 175, 177 white 19, 119, 175 white, treatment of 178 white, merchantable 177 Celtis occideutalis 80 Cercis canadensis 57 Cherry, bird 58 flre 58 wild black 37, 59 P\GE. wild red 27, .58 Chestnut 26, 109 Chinquapin 26 (^hionamhus virginica 21 Chittam 56 Coastal plain 143 forests 144 forest Industries 164 Cottonwood 22, 118 Deciduous forests of ttie lledmont pla- teau 1S6, 199, 203 Deerwood 49 Devil wood .21 Diospyros virginlana 68 Dogwood 22,63 flowering 63 swamp 48, 49 Elm, American 29, 76 cork 77 slippery 29, 78 soutliern 77 winged 29, 77 Fagus ferrugiiiea Ill Forest divisions, see under coastal plain, Piedmoat plateau and moun- tain region. Forest growth of coastal plain 143, 147 mountain region. .210, 213, 215, 230, 323 Of Piedmont plateau.. 183, 186, 188, 196, 304 Forest improvement in coastal plain 159 164, 173 in mountain region 313, 215, 318 in Piedmont jtlarcau Is.'), los, 207 Forest industries of coa si. i I pi.-iin.. !.')S, ii;4 of nioiMitaiii n',m(iii..;.';,'2 of Pietlniont plateau. .206 Forest management,see f . im provenient, and under sylvicultural treatment; also under each tree. Forest protection in coastal plain... .159, 164, 173, 178, 180 In mountain region .212 215, 318 in Piedmont plateau, isr.. r.n. i!t:n98, 307 Forest regions lU, 142. 14;>, 181, 208 Forest soils of coastal plain .141. 144, 149 152, 168, 170, 173, 175, 179 of mountain region.. 142, 210, 213. 220 Of Piedmont plateau. 142, 182 187, 189, 191, 194, 196, 204 Forests, deciduous, of Piedm't i>latpau..l96 Forests, influences which account for change of growth of, 143, 181, 183, 186, 208, 320 ; also see soils. Forests, maritime 144 Forests of coastal plain 143 of eastern pine belt of Piedmont plateau 198 of granite areas (eastern) 189 of aum and cypress 173 of higher mountains 219 of long-leaf pine 149 of loblolly pine 16] of lower mountains 309 of maritime belt 144 of mountain region 308 of mountain summits 323 of oak flats 170 of Piedmont lowlands 183 of Piedmont region 181 226 PASK. Of Piedmont uplands ISti of pine belt of coastal plain 147 of pine belt of Piedmont plateau, eastern ISS of pine belt of Pisdinunt plateau, western "iOi of red clays -19r> j of sandstone. easCtrn 191 i of short-leaf pine 188, 204, SOJ i of slate soils 194 of swamps 169, 183 | of white cedar 175 ; ot white pine 315 ; Fraxinuds americana 70 i caroliniana 73 pennsylvaniea 7:i pennsylvanica lfau>eolata 73 j Fringe- tree 31 Gleditschia triacantlios 5t5 Gordonia lasianthus 43 Gum 61,63 I black., 26, 63 j sour 63 tupelo 26, 65 Gum and cypress swamps 173 | timber 174 Hackberry 27, 80 Haws, black 33 red 37 He balsam 133 Hemlock 19, 134, 135 Caroliua 19, 135,211 Hicoria alba 87 aquatica 85 carolinge-septentrioualis....20, 201 glabra 88 minima 81 ovata 86 laclniosa 20 odorata 3 J villosa 31 Hickox-y, big-bud 87 bitternut 21, 84 Carolina shag-bark. 2iJ large shag bark 30 pignut 20, 8S red-heart 20,84 sand 21 scaly -bark 88 shag-bark 20, 88 smallnut 30 small shag-bark 20, 301 swamp 85 water 31, 85 white 31,87 Holly 23,48 Hop-hornbeam 29,113 Hornbeam 38,113 Hex opaca ..46 Indian bitters 38 Ironwood 47, 113, 113 Ivy 67 Judas tree 57 Juglans cinei-ea S3 nigra 83 Juniper 19,119 Juniperus vh-giniana 131 i Kalmia latitolia 67 ! Laurel 67,68 I Leatherwood 47 Level pine woodland, also see under I forest 152, 156, 161 | Lin 23, 43, 45 southern 33, 44 | Linden 43, 44, 45 1 Liriodendrou tulipilera 39 Loblolly pine, also see pine.. .18, 125, 161, 192 condition of forest 163 merchantable 183 protection 184 reproduction 165 sylvicultural treatment. 16) woodland 161 PAGE. Locust 54 black 54 clammy 20,55 honev 30,56 yellow 20,54 Long-leaf pine 18,131 c.-. Ill, I it lull of 153,156 disti'iljuti u 151 protection 154, 159 soils on which grows. 153, 156 sylviculturaltrtatm> nt.l59 woodland 150. 151 Magnolia (evergreen) 33, 33 acuminata 35 foetida 33 fraseri 38 glauca 34 graiidiflora 33 great leaved 34, 36 macrophylla 36 mountain 34, 38 ti-ipetala 37 Maple 32,51,53 ashleat 53 mountain 22, 48 red 22, 49 rock 50 silver "22, 51 soft 51 striped 22, 49 sugar .50 swamp .52 white 33 white bark 22 Maritime forests, condition of 115 soils of 144 Mockernut 87 Mock orange 26 Mohrod-^ndron carolinum 70 Moras rubra 79 Mountain ash 20 magnolia 38 maple 48 Mountain region, di\ ision 208 foi-ests of, see under forests. Mulberry 33,79 Oak, description of : Bartram's oak 25 basliet 95 black 25. 101 black- jack 21. 1U4 blue 107 buck 93 chestnut 25, 93 cow 95 tork-leaf black-jack 2.5, 103 laurel 24. 106 Lea's 34 live 21, 96 nortliern red 35 overcup 25, 93 pill 106 post 25, 91 red 25, 97, 99, 103 rock clitstuut 25, 93 sand 25, 103 sand black-jack 25. 102 scarlet 25, 99 scrub Iii3 spotted . ;i9 shingle :-'4. Iii7 Spanish 2.), 'J'.i, 103 swamp chestnut 25, 95 swamp post 92 swamp red 98 swamp wliite 95 Texas red I'l, 98 turkey lu2. im;. 107 upland willow 24, UI7 water 24, 1U5, 106 white 25, 89 willow 24, 106, 108 Oak flats 170 227 PAGE. Oak flats soils of 171 timber of 173 treatment of 173 Olive, American 31 Osmanthus americana 31 Ostrya virginica 113 Oxyclendron arboreum b6 Palmetto 29,136 Papaw 41 Persea borbonia 3(5, 7't borbonia pubesceus '.iG Persimmon 37, 68 Peruvian 58 Picea nigra 133 Piedmont plateau divisions, see forest. Piedmont plateau forests, see forest. Pignut 20, 88 Pine barrens, see forests. Pine belt, see forests. Pine, description of ; black 126 cedar 138 heart 13U Jersey 18, 138 loblolly 18, 135 long leaf 18, 131 northern pitch 18, 136 pond 18, 137 white 18, 133 short leaf 18, 130 scrub 18. 138 spruce 128, 130, 134, 135 Table mountain 18, 139 yellow 130 Pinus echinata 130 mitis 130 palustris 131 pungens 139 rlgida 136 serotina 127 tseda 135 strobus 123 vii-giniaua 1^8 Planer tree 28 Platanus occidentalis 81 Plum, wild 37 Poplar 117 Carolina H*^ yellow 23,39 Poiniius grandidenta IH heterophylla ll*^ monilifera 118 Prickly ash 19 Prunus americana 37 angustifolia 27 caroliniana 26 pennsylvanica 58 serotina 59 Pyrus americana 20 angustifolia 37 coronaria 27 Quercus alba 89 aquatica 105 brevifolia l07 catesbsei 103 cinerea 107 coccinea 99 cuneata 103 digitata 103 heterophylla 25 imbricaria 107 laurifolia 106 leana M lyrata 93 marilandica 104 michauxii 95 minor 91 nigra 101, 105 PAGE. Querelas phellos 108 priiius 93 rubra 97 texana 98 tiiictoria 101 velutina 101 virens 9(; virgiuiana 96 Rainfall : 141,143 Kedbav 36,74 Kedbud 33,57 Red cedar 19, 131 Red gum 61 Rhododendron 68 Khododendron maximum liS Robinia pseudacacia 54 viscosa 55 Sabal palmetto 136 Salix nigra 116 Sandstone belt, forests of r.il Sassafras 36, 75 Sassafras sassafras 75 Service tree 37, 60 Shad bush 60 Short-leaf pine 18, IHO Silverbell tree 70 Snowdrop tree 28, 70 Sorrelltree 66 Sourwood 66 Spruce, black 18, 133 Spruce pine 128, 130, 134, 135 Soils, see forest. Sugar tree 50 Swamps, see white cedar, gum and cy- press, and oak flats. of coastal plain 169 of Piedmont plateau 1S3 Sweet bay 26, 145, 148 smooth 26, 145, 146, 148 Sweet gum 23, 61 Sweet birch 28 Sycamore 23, 81 Taxodlum distichum 123 distichum iinbricaria 19 Temperature, annual, of forest regions 141, 143 Thorns (haw) 27 I huja occidentalis 119 Tilia americana 43 heterophylea 45 pubescens 44 Transitional forests 168 Tsuga caroliniana 135 canadensis 134 Tulip-tree 23,39 Tupelo gum 36, 65 Ulmus alata 77 americana 76 fulva 78 Umbrella tree 24, 37 Viburnum 22 Virgilia 56 Wahoo 38, 77 Walnut, black 21, 83 white 21,82 Water beech 113 White pine 18, 123 forests 215 treatment of 218 Whitewood 39 Wicky 67 Willow 116 black 37, 116 glaucous 28 river 116 Ward 28 Yellow poplar 23 BULLETINS OF THE NOETH CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEYEY. I. Iron Ores of North Carolina, by Henry B. C. Nitze, 1893. 8°, 239 pp., 20 pi., and map Postage 10 cents. 2. Building Stone in North Carolina, by Joseph A. Holmes and J. Volney Lewis In preparation. 3. Gold Deposits of North Carolina, by Henry B. C. Nitze and Geo. B. Hanna, 1896. 8°, 196 pp., 14 pi., and map Postage 8 cents. 4. Road Material and Road Construction in North Carolina, by J. A. Holmes and William Cain, 1893. 8°, 88 pp... Out of print. 5. The Forests, Forest Lands, and Forest Products of Eastern North Carolina, by W. W. Ashe, 1894. 8°, 128 pp., 5 pi Postage 5 cents. 6. The Timber Trees of North Carolina, by Gifford Pinchot and W. W. Ashe, 1897. 8°, 227 pp., 22 pi Postage 10 cents. 7. Forest Fires ; Their Destructive Work, Causes and Prevention, by W. W. Ashe, 1895. 8°, 66 pp., 1 pi Postage 4 cents. 8. Water Powers in North Carolina, by George F. Swain and Joseph A. Holmes In press. 9. Monazite and Monazite Deposits in North Carolina, by Henry B. C. Nitze, 1895. 8°, 47 pp., 5 pi Postage 4 cents. 10. Gold Mining in North Carolina and Other Appalachian States, by Henry B. C. Nitze and A. J. Wilkins In preparation. II. Corundum and the Basic Magnesian Rocks of Western North Carolina, by J. Volney Lewis, 1895. 8°, 107 pp., 6pl...Postage 4 cents. 12. Drinking Y/ater Supplies in North Carolina, by Joseph A. Holmes In preparation. 13. Clay Deposits and Clay Industries in North Carolina, by Joseph A. Holmes and Heinrich Reis In press. 14. Mica Deposits and Mica Mining in North Carolina, by Joseph A. Holmes In preparation. 15. Mineral Waters of North Carolina, by F. P. Tena- ble In preparation. 16. A List of Elevations in North Carolina, by Joseph A. Holmes In preparation. 17. Historical Sketch of North Ca.rolina Scientific and Economic Sur- veys ; and Bibliography of North Carolina Geology and Mineralogy, by Joseph A. Holmes In preparation. 18. Road Improvement in North Caroiina, by J. A. Holmes and Wm. Cain In press. These publications are mailed to libraries, and to individuals who may desire information on any of the special subjects named, free of charge, except that in each case applicants for the reports should forward the amount of postage needed, as indicated above, for mailing the bulletins desired, to the State Geologist, Chapel Hill, N. C. 1