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Fi<;. 1. In the AVoods 
 
FIRST BOOK OF 
 FORESTRY 
 
 BY 
 
 ( : 
 
 FILIBERT ROTH 
 
 Chief of the Division of Forestry, United States Department of the 
 
 INTERIOR, IN CHARGE OF THE WORK IN THE GOVERNMENT FOREST 
 
 Reserves, and formerly Assistant Professor of 
 Forestry in Cornell University 
 
 3303J 5 J333g}^ 
 
 Boston, U.S.A., and London 
 
 GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
 
 Cbe ^tbenaeum Precis 
 
 1902 
 
THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRESS, 
 
 Two Cowbb Recsived 
 
 OCT. 1 1902 
 
 . COPVWIQHT ENTRY 
 
 CLASS ^ XXa No. 
 COPY 9. 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall 
 
 Copyright, 1902 
 By filibert roth 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 o *■ • • 
 »• • • 
 
 • • « 
 
 « c c c 
 
 • • • • 
 
 •-• •.« 
 
 q,v 
 
 A 
 
PREFACE 
 
 During the last twenty years the general interest in forestry 
 has grown with remarkable rapidity in all parts of our country. 
 The federal government has set aside large forest reserves, and 
 several states have established reservations or parks. The pri- 
 vate owners of large tracts of forest lands are employing trained 
 foresters to care for their property, and an improvement in the 
 smaller holdings is everywhere noticeable. 
 
 Forestry is taught in two special schools in America, and 
 elementary courses on the subject are given in several colleges 
 and preparatory schools. A desire has been expressed to intro- 
 duce this useful and interesting study into our public schools 
 and country homes, and this volume is an attempt to provide a 
 book on the subject which shall satisfy this demand. In keep- 
 ing with this purpose there has been no attempt to write a text- 
 book or manual of forestry; but an effort has been made to 
 present in simple, non-technical language some of the general 
 principles underlying the science, and to state the methods 
 which are employed and the objects to be attained in the practice 
 of forestry. 
 
 Early association with the well-kept forests of Germany, 
 observations made in the widely differing forest districts of our 
 own country, and three years' experience in teaching forestry 
 have helped to make the responsible task of preparing this book 
 a pleasure. While, as a matter of course, the many excellent 
 German works on forestry have served as a basis and a guide 
 
 iii 
 
IV PEEFACE 
 
 in writing the book, yet an effort has been made to use our 
 own woods for illustrations and to adapt the subject-matter to 
 American conditions. 
 
 The collecting of the illustrations has been greatly facilitated 
 by the kindness of Dr. L. N. Britton, Col. Wm. F. Fox, Prof. 
 J. A. Holmes, Messrs. Newell and Gannett of the United States 
 Geological Survey, Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Prof. N. Gifford, and 
 Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau of Forestry of the 
 United States Department of Agriculture. To these gentlemen 
 I extend my sincere thanks. 
 
 Especial thanks are due to Mrs. Anna B. Comstock of the 
 Bureau of Nature Study of Cornell University, whose kind 
 interest and request called this book into existence. Her good 
 judgment has proved of great value in the arrangement of the 
 subject-matter, and her assistance in seeing the book through 
 the press has made its early publication possible. 
 
 FILreERT ROTH. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I — THE FOREST 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Wildwoods .......... 1 
 
 What Light and Shade do for the Woods . . 14 
 
 What Different Soils do for the Woods ... 18 
 
 What Moisture does for the Woods ... 24 
 
 What Heat and Cold do for the Woods ... 32 
 
 Woods and the Mountains ...... 37 
 
 PART II — FORESTRY 
 
 Raising or keeping up the Forest 41 
 
 Coppice Woods ........ 45 
 
 The Ordinary Timber Forest ...... 53 
 
 Starting the Young Growth under Seed Trees . 64 
 
 Starting the Young Growth by seeding from the Side 71 
 Starting the Young Growth by Artificial Planting 
 
 OR Sowing ......... 76 
 
 Review of Methods ....... 95 
 
 Care and Protection of the Forest . . . . . 97 
 
 Thinning and Cleaning . . . . . . 98 
 
 Protection against Injury from the Elements , . 104 
 
 Protection against Animals ..... 115 
 
 Protection against Injurious Plants .... 131 
 
 Use of the Forest ........ 133 
 
 Cutting Timber ......... 135 
 
 Estimating and measuring Timber . . . . 164 
 
 V 
 
vi CONTENTS 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Resin and Turpentine Industry ..... 174 
 
 Seeds and Mast 177 
 
 Pasturage .......... 178 
 
 Game and Fish ........ 180 
 
 The Business of the Forest . . . . . . .182 
 
 Special Kinds of Forests ....... 184 
 
 The Wood Lot 184 
 
 Waste Lands ......... 193 
 
 Forest Plantations on Prairies ..... 195 
 
 Sand Dunes ......... 198 
 
 PART III — RELATED TOPICS 
 
 The Forest as a Protective Cover 203 
 
 The Forests of our Country ...... 209 
 
 Some History .......... 214 
 
 The Wood 217 
 
 Some Structural Features ...... 217 
 
 Some Physical Properties ...... 227 
 
 Some Chemical Properties ...... 230 
 
 Wood as compared with Iron ..... 232 
 
 How to distinguish our Common Trees . . . . 238 
 
 Conifers . . . . . . . . • ■ 240 
 
 Broad-Leaved Trees ....... 246 
 
 How TO USE the Key ....... 256 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 I. The Doyle-Scribner Log Scale ..... 259 
 
 IL Tahle of Circles 260 
 
 IIL List of Woods and Treks ...... 261 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 fiCt. page 
 
 1. In the Woods Frontispiece 
 
 2. Beech Woods 3 
 
 3. The " Long-Bodied " Oak of the Forest 5 
 
 4. The " Short-Bodied " Tree of the Open 7 
 
 5. Badly Healed Knot 9 
 
 6. The " Blaze " as it appeared when first made 10 
 
 7. The " Blaze " partly healed over, as it appeared seven years ago . 1 1 
 
 8. The " Blaze " just covered, as it looks now 12 
 
 9. Nature's Methods are Wasteful 13 
 
 10. Even Spruce is made to " clean " itself 15 
 
 11. " Leaders " on White Pine and Balsam 19 
 
 12. Longleaf Pine -1 
 
 13. Too Dry for Forest 25 
 
 14. Too Much Water kills 27 
 
 15. Used to Water 29 
 
 16. Cypress Swamp 31 
 
 17. Palmetto 33 
 
 18. Coniferous Forests alone climb our High ^Mountain Ranges . . 39 
 
 19 a. Coppice Woods 42 
 
 19 h. Coppice Woods 43 
 
 20. Stump and Sprouts 47 
 
 21. The Wrong Way to cut the Stumps 49 
 
 22. The Right Way to cut the Stumps 49 
 
 23. A Little Light starts Young Growth 55 
 
 24. Young Growth of White Pine under Old Seed Trees 67 
 
 25. Natural Seeding from the Side 73 
 
 26. White-Pine Cone, Seed, and Seedling 77 
 
 27. Drill Board '^1 
 
 28. Seed Beds ^'-^ 
 
 29. Seedlings ^<j 
 
 30. Planting in Old Burned-over Slash Land in Adii'oudacks ... 87 
 
 vii 
 
viii LIST OF ILLUSTKATIOXS 
 
 FIG. TAGE 
 
 31. Planting Tools 89 
 
 3"2. Pine Grove from Planted Seed 91 
 
 33. An Oak Grove from Artificial Seeding 93 
 
 34. Which should come out? 99 
 
 35. Thinned, but will need it again 101 
 
 36. A "Burn" 103 
 
 37. Tangle after Fire 105 
 
 38. The Camp Fire as it should be 107 
 
 39. Trenching a Forest Fire Ill 
 
 40. Fighting Fire in the Adirondacks 113 
 
 41. The Fires have cleaned up 114 
 
 42. A Fire " Slash " in the Adirondacks 117 
 
 43. The Imported Elm Leaf Beetle 119 
 
 44. Pine Weevil: Adult Beetle, Pupa, and Grub, or Larva .... 120 
 
 45. Scale Insect on White-Pine Leaves 121 
 
 46. Bark Beetles and their Work 122 
 
 47. A Destroyer of Forest and Shade Tree: the White-Marked Tus- 
 
 sock Moth 123 
 
 48. Fall AVebworm 125 
 
 49. One of the Greatest Friends of the Forest 127 
 
 50. Cutting Spruce in the Adirondacks 135 
 
 51. The Tools we use 137 
 
 52. Skidding Spruce Logs in the Adirondacks 138 
 
 53. " Scaling," or measuring and stamping or marking Spruce Logs . 139 
 
 54. The " Landing " on Ampersand Creek, near " Driving Time " . 141 
 
 55. Boiling in Spruce Logs on Ampersand Creek 143 
 
 56. Tangent or Bastard Cut 151 
 
 57. Rift or Quarter-sawed 151 
 
 58. End of Log, showing Rift and Bastard Cuts 153 
 
 59. " Bigtree " Logging in California 157 
 
 60. Cypress Logging in Florida 159 
 
 61. DiagTam to show how a Forty- Acre Lot is covered in estimating 
 
 Timber 167 
 
 62. Calipers for measuring the Diameter of Trees 171 
 
 63. Measuring the Height of a Tree 171 
 
 64. Scale Rules 173 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IX 
 
 PAGE 
 FKi. 
 
 G5. In a Turpentine Orchard 175 
 
 6(3. Game ^^\ 
 
 67. Tapping the Sugar Maple ^^^ 
 
 68. Old-Fashioned AVay of boiling Maple Sap 187 
 
 69. Black Locust Plantation, Meade County, Kansas 196 
 
 70. The Yaggy Catalpa Plantation, in Reno County, Kansas ... 197 
 
 71. Sand Dune along the Coast 199 
 
 72. Sand Dune in Holland, after Reclamation 200 
 
 73. How the Forest regulates Erosion 205 
 
 74. How the Land erodes after the Woods are gone 207 
 
 75. General Forest Map of the United States 211 
 
 76. Cross Section of Oak (upper), Ring-Porous Wood ; Hard Pine 
 
 (lower), Non-Porous Wood 219 
 
 77. Diffuse Porous AVoods 220 
 
 78. Non-Porous AVoods 220 
 
 79. AVood of Spruce 221 
 
 099 
 
 80. Spiral Gram — " 
 
 999 
 
 81. Shortleat Pme "— 
 
 82. Alternating Spiral Grain in Cypress 223 
 
 83. A Bird's-eye Board 224 
 
 84. AVavy Grain in Beech 225 
 
 85. Section of Knot 225 
 
 86. Effects of Shrinkage 229 
 
 87. " Shelf " Fungus on the Stem of a Pine 231 
 
 88. Fungus Threads in Pine AVood 231 
 
 89. Conifers with Leaves in Bundles 241 
 
 90. Conifers with Leaves not in Bundles 242 
 
 91. The Cedars 243 
 
 92. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, Tooth-Edged Leaves 245 
 
 93. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, Tooth-Edged Leaves 247 
 
 94. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, but Lobed Leaves . 249 
 
 95. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, but Lobed Leaves . 251 
 
 96. Leaves Simple, Alternate, but with Entire Edge, and Trees with 
 
 9 59 
 
 Opposite Leaves : • • -'^- 
 
 97. Compound Leaves, but Alternate 2.^3 
 
 98. Compound Leaves, Opposite -•'^^ 
 
FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Part I 
 
 THE FOUEST 
 
 THE WILDWOODS 
 
 It is a bright September day. Let us take a stroll 
 into the wildwoods. 
 
 Here we are. A fringe of wild rose and raspberry 
 bushes introduces us to a denser border of hazel, dog- 
 wood, and hawthorn, mixed with shrubby, limby trees 
 of beech, maple, and elm. Let us break through the 
 forest border. What a change ! Within a few steps we 
 have passed from a grassy pasture, through a dense wall 
 of shrubbery, into the lofty, cool, and shady forest proper. 
 ^ Stately trees of maple, beech, elm, and oak stand widely 
 spaced; the ground is no longer covered with grass or 
 shrub, but is a regular forest floor, — a thick layer of 
 leaves; while the light of day is shut out above by 
 a dense canopy, — a roof of branches and leaves, the 
 crowns of our trees. ) 
 
 '^ 1 
 
2 FIPv8T BOOK OF FORESTEY 
 
 It is a mature old stwid ; the trees are mostly over 
 two feet ill diameter and eighty to one hundred feet 
 high, and it is quite safe to say that they started more 
 than a hundred years ago. 
 
 It is a mixed stand of different kinds of broad-leaved 
 trees, or liard woods, with here and there a pine. Most 
 of these trees are long shafted, — their trunks are long 
 and free from limbs for thirty to forty feet from the 
 ground, — and how greatly they differ from the beautiful 
 shady elms about the house ! 
 
 Some of the trees are not as thrifty as the rest ; they 
 appear injured ; their crowns are small, and the crowns 
 of the larger trees crowd and shade them. We will call 
 these trees suppressed, and the larger ones dominant. 
 
 Some of the suppressed trees are nearly or quite dead, 
 and it appears that the crowding and shading cause 
 this injury. 
 
 Though there is an abundance of room on the ground, 
 there are but few young trees, and these only in the places 
 where the roof, or canopy, of our forest is less dense, 
 where some old tree had fallen years ago. And yet these 
 trees must have borne many a good crop of seed during 
 their long lives. What has become of all this seed ? Did 
 it fail to germinate ? Did the seedlings die ? Apparently 
 this dense stand is not a good place for young trees; and, 
 strange enough, the few smaller trees which do exist seem 
 to be all maple and beech, while hardly any of them are 
 
7^^WW^r-Tl 
 
 Fig. 2. Beech AVoods 
 (After Rothrock) 
 
 3 
 
4 FIEST BOOK OF FOEESTEY 
 
 oak or hickory. Evidently the beech and maple can 
 endure this unfavorable, dense shade better than oak, 
 hickory, and elm. We may call the beech and the maple 
 tolerant, since they tolerate or endure shade; while evi- 
 dently the oak, hickory, chestnut, locust, and others are 
 rather intolerant of shade and fail to start and thrive in 
 places where the beech might still do well. 
 
 Let us walk on a little way. The woods are more 
 open, the trees more numerous and more mixed. There 
 are quite a number of smaller trees, some mere poles or 
 saplings. Here we see a tree with an uncommonly broad 
 crown ; it appears as if it were monopolizing the ground 
 in a most greedy fashion. Some people have termed 
 such trees ivolves, though their greed would suggest quite 
 another animal. But whatever the name, they are hardly 
 good neighbors for these fine little saplings of oak and 
 chestnut. 
 
 There are a number of bushy young trees here, and 
 even a few brambles ; dogwood and hazel find sufficient 
 sunlight. In a garden we should hardly tolerate these 
 bushes, but would rather grub tliem out as weeds ; and yet 
 they are hardly more useful here in the woods, for surely 
 they will never grow into trees, and in all cases may hin- 
 der young trees from starting or choke off the seedlings 
 of our useful trees. They eiYe forest 'weeds, and, while we 
 could hardly afford to grub them out, yet we shall try to 
 keep them down ; but how ? Well, Nature has already 
 
8 PIKST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 cover of leaves by dragging out the logs. Then a great 
 many seeds would reach the ground, and if they germi- 
 nated would have room and light to grow. 
 
 Here is the stump of a tree apparently cut last winter. 
 Let us examine it. It appears made up of numerous rings, 
 one within the other. Let us count them, beginning with 
 the pith which we see near the center. Eighty-five rings. 
 So this tree was as high as the stump eighty-five years 
 ago. Probably it was about three years old then; so that 
 the tree was cut down when about eighty-eight years of 
 age. Quite an interesting fact in itself. But let us look 
 at these rings again. They are rather narrow near the 
 pith. This would tell us that the tree did not fare so very 
 well at first ; probably it was shaded too much by the 
 older mother trees which were here at that time. From 
 the twenty-fifth ring on, they are quite broad, — the tree 
 grew more thriftily ; perhaps some of the older trees were 
 blown down and thus the young tree had more light and 
 room. But from the seventieth on, the growth was evi- 
 dently slow ; the rings are narrow and seem to grow nar- 
 rower each year. This reminds us of old age. Do the 
 trees ever grow old and cease to be active groAvers ? If 
 we keep our eyes open to these many records of the woods, 
 they will tell us many a tale, and probably they will show 
 us that trees, though they are generally quite long-lived, do, 
 after all, grow old ; that trees, like people, pass through 
 stages similar to our youth, manhood, and decline. 
 
THE WILDWOODS 
 
 9 
 
 Trees differ very much in this respect. A poplar tree 
 is old at a hundred and fifty years ; a cypress lives to be 
 five hundred years and more ; and some of the large red- 
 woods, the '^ bigtrees," attain so great an age that the 
 older members of this 
 group began life long 
 before Christ was born. 
 
 Note that smooth- 
 barked spot on yonder 
 rough-barked oak. That 
 is the place where a limb 
 projected many years 
 ago, when the tree was 
 smaller. The limb died, 
 decayed, broke off near 
 the trunk, and the place 
 healed over. Being much 
 younger, the bark at that 
 spot is smoother. Some- 
 times these limbs do not break off early enough, or the 
 stub is too large, like the many you see on these white 
 oaks ; then the tree can never cover up the stub. The 
 large knot hole, from which we saw the squirrel come 
 out, is a similar case ; but there the stub decayed, and 
 the decay proceeded along the limb into the trunk and, I 
 fear, did much mischief ; for such a trunk does not make 
 much sound timber. 
 
 Fig. 5. Badly Healed Knot 
 
 a, wood of the knot ; h and c, wood callns of 
 the stem coverintj the wound ; shaded por- 
 tion, decayed wood; hlack part, a cavity 
 reniainina: 
 
10 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 -f^v5 
 
 Here is another smooth spot on a rough-barked tree. 
 This is evidently not of the same kind as the one we have 
 already noticed. Why, there are two, on opposite sides of 
 
 the tree ; and note there 
 are similar spots on yon- 
 der elm ! Sighting along 
 we see more of them on 
 other trees, and always 
 two on each tree. They 
 are the blazes of survey- 
 ors or of some one who 
 wished to mark a line. 
 Were we to cut through 
 one of these blazes, as 
 along the line AB, Fig. 
 6, a, it would probably 
 have the appearance 
 shown in Fig. 8, h. 
 
 Counting the rings we 
 would find that the blaze 
 was made when the 
 twentieth ring had been 
 formed, and since there 
 are now thirty-two rings on this section, it means that the 
 blazes were cut twelve years ago. Three successive stages 
 representing the fresh blaze, the same seven years ago, 
 and as it now appears are shown in Figs. 6 to 8. 
 
 Older 
 Bark 
 
 -Bast 
 
 // 20 
 
 Fig. 6. The " Blaze " as it appeared 
 
 Avheii first made 
 «, iront view ; h, cross section on line AB 
 
THE WlLDWOODtS 
 
 11 
 
 Let us dig up a little soil and see what it is like. 
 Beneath the cover of dry leaves we find leaves in all 
 stages of decay ; below this, a dark soil, a leaf mold -, and 
 
 below this, earth. If ,,,, 
 
 • • If 
 
 we rub a little of this 
 
 earth in our hand, we 
 see at once that it is 
 not a clear sand, but 
 that it is a loam which, 
 if moistened, would be- 
 come sticky. Would 
 these fine hardwood 
 trees have grown here 
 if it were a clean sandy 
 soil ? 
 
 We have now learned 
 several thing's on onr 
 stroll ; but there is still 
 something which seems 
 to have escaped our 
 notice, though we have 
 climbed and stumbled 
 over fallen timber at 
 almost every step. It is the great waste of material 
 in our uncared-for wildwoods. Here are some fine, large 
 trunks of l)eech and maple half decayed ; there is an old 
 elm log comjjletely changed to a brown, powdery mass 
 
 Oute 
 
 25 17 20 25 
 
 Fig. 7. The " Blaze " partly healed over, 
 as it appeared seven years ago 
 
12 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTEY 
 
 and covered with pretty moss and ferns ; and yonder 
 are two large trees of asli, one liollow, the other dead. 
 But then, what else could we expect ? As long as man 
 
 does not interfere 
 with these woods 
 and utilize the 
 timber, the old 
 trees die, tumble 
 over, and remain 
 until decay dis- 
 integrates their 
 bodies ; and rain 
 and snow gradu- 
 ally level these 
 powdery masses 
 and mingle them 
 with the earth, 
 where they serve 
 to fertilize the 
 ground for new 
 generations of 
 trees. Were it 
 not for the fungi 
 attending to this 
 destructive work, the trunks and tops of a few generations 
 of trees would cover the ground and prevent any new 
 growth, and thus luring all forest hfe to a standstill. 
 
 Outer 
 
 20 ig 18 ij 32 JO ij 2S 20 
 
 Fig. 8. The " Blaze " just covered, 
 as it looks now 
 
^ 
 
 > = 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 13 
 
14 FIRST BOOK OF FOEESTRY 
 
 If we stop to think a moment, we realize that as long 
 as man does not Tise or fire consmne the timber, the 
 amount of wood which decays each year in the forest 
 must very nearly equal the yearly growth ; so that it is 
 really wasteful if a j^iece of woods is left entirely to 
 itself. 
 
 We also note that these fungi are, after all, quite a useful 
 and even a necessary part of our woods. Of course they 
 are apt to do more than their share ; and this handsome 
 birch would live longer and its trunk would be of much 
 more value without the fungus whose shelf-like, fruiting 
 body we see covering an old notch, cut hj some thought- 
 less person merely to "try the ax." 
 
 On our way home we see some other pieces of woods. 
 Most of them are open ; they lack the border ; cattle graze 
 in them, and there is a considerable growth of grass. We 
 note a lack of young trees; and, on the whole, they give us 
 the impression that the growth is slow, that little timber 
 is produced, and that when the few remaining good old 
 trees are used up, the woods will be little else than 
 crippled brushwoods. 
 
 What Light and Shade do for the Woods 
 
 Here is apparently a windfall; all trees seem to have 
 been blown over or Ijroken off. It is a rough-looking 
 place. But see the large number of young trees ! Some 
 
THE WILDW00D8 
 
 15 
 
 started as sprouts from the stumps of smaller trees, but 
 most of them appear to have started from seed. Here is 
 a patch of very 
 
 small trees, appar- 
 ently not more than 
 six years old, and 
 two -year -old seed- 
 lings are seen every- 
 where. Among the 
 young trees are 
 tangles of wild 
 blackberries, rasp- 
 berries, and other 
 shrubbery, and in a 
 few places the grass 
 is trying to cover 
 the ground. Every- 
 thing is struggling 
 to hold its own or 
 to gain possession 
 of a little more soil 
 and light. 
 
 Here is a dense 
 thicket of young 
 trees three to eight 
 feet high. Let us 
 count. Why, there are eight live trees on one square 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 Even Spruce is made to " clean " itself 
 (After W. F. Fox) 
 
16 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 yard ; and several smaller ones are dead among them, so 
 that there were even more some years ago! But all 
 of these can never hope to live and grow to any great 
 size. Here is evidently a struggle ; most of the trees 
 must die, and those left must be injured by this struggle; 
 for the trees which will die during the next ten years are 
 still using up food and water, much of which is needed by 
 those which will survive, and the crowns of these latter 
 are crowded and thus prevented from becoming as large 
 as they should be. 
 
 Here is an old thicket twenty to thirty feet high, and 
 instead of as many as eight trees to a square yard, there 
 are little more than this number per square rod. These 
 saplings are slender poles, with little short crowns of live 
 limbs, and the greater part of the pole is bare ; the few 
 remaining lower limbs are all dead, most of them decayed 
 and broken. What has become of the hmbs ? The dense 
 shade has prevented them from producing leaves, and as 
 soon as a limb ceases to produce leaves the tree ceases to 
 feed it; it dies, dries, decays, and drops off. These sap- 
 lings have cleaned themselves and are still continuing to 
 do so. Now we understand why tlie large, long-shafted 
 trees we saw on our first trip have the fine, clear trunks 
 and make such good saw-logs. 
 
 Without this cleaning our lumber would be far more 
 knotty than it is. Shading and crowding, then, help as 
 well as hurt in our forests. They help by killing out the 
 
THE WILD WOODS 17 
 
 weaker trees, by removing the useless limbs, and by 
 making our trees shoot up as -straight, long-shafted poles. 
 
 The question now arises : Would spruce and other toler- 
 ant trees clean as easily as these intolerant ones ? Hardly ; 
 their very tolerance depends on the fact that their leaves 
 can live and work in denser shade. But if they do not 
 clean so well, would the boards cut from these trees be as 
 clear or have as few knots as those of pine and chestnut ? 
 Next time we are in the lumber yard we will find out if 
 this be true. 
 
 Since crowding and shading make the trees shoot 
 straight up and prevent their branching or forking, it 
 has often been claimed that shade makes trees grow faster 
 in height. This may sometimes be true; frequently it is 
 not. This growth in height is, of course, very important, 
 and it is well that we should learn all we can about it. 
 
 In going about these openings and thickets we notice 
 that the shoots from the smaller stumps of chestnut, etc., 
 grow very long even during the first year. Many of 
 these sprouts are over four feet long, and if we compare 
 them with the seedlings it is evident that the sprouts are 
 by far the faster growers. Among the seedlings we find 
 some that made ten to fifteen inches the first year, but 
 the little seedlings of pine are scarcely three inches tall. 
 
 If we examine the little trees three to eight feet high, 
 we note that it is not always so easy to tell just what 
 is the last season's growth in trees like oak, elm, etc., 
 
18 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 but in pine, spruce, balsam, red fir, etc., each year's growth 
 is very conspicuous. In Fig. 11 the young white pine has 
 a candleUke tip, about eleven inches long, then a whorl of 
 limbs, below this another straight, branchless part, and 
 so on. Now each piece between the several whorls of 
 limbs is a year's growth, and we call the tip end, or last 
 year's piece, the leader. 
 
 In spruce a few smaller limbs exist on each leader, but 
 in young trees this branching is rarely so great as to hide 
 or disguise the leader. Thus, in these young conifers, we 
 can tell at a glance how much grew last year, the year 
 before, etc., and by looking over a number of these trees 
 we soon make up our mind whether they have grown 
 fast or slowly in height. 
 
 Studying the trees in this way, we shall find that conifers 
 generally grow very slowly the first five years, and most 
 rapidly when al^out ten years old ; and that our eastern 
 trees usually stop growing rapidly in height when they 
 are about sixty or eighty years old. Hardwoods behave 
 similarly, but usually their seedlings grow much faster. 
 
 What Different Soils do for the Woods 
 
 We have seen a good forest of broadleaf trees on a 
 loamy or clay soil ; and if we should journey through the 
 southern portion of the New England States, through 
 New York and Pennsylvania, the Ohio valley, and the 
 
Fig. 11. "Leaders" on White Pine and liaLsaiu 
 
 Same scale aud locality 
 
 19 
 
20 FIEST BOOK OF FOEESTIIY 
 
 Alleghenies, we would learn that such forests are common 
 and cover a large portion of our best settled districts. 
 
 A trip through southern New Jersey and through the 
 sandy coast districts of the entire South would teach us 
 that everywhere the sand lands are stocked with open 
 forests of j)me. These forests are mostly jt>zrre stands ; 
 they are not a mixture of hardwoods and pine, though 
 occasionally a few scrubby hardwood trees exist. 
 
 On the better sands of North Carolina and other states 
 these pure stands of pine are often quite dense ; the trees 
 are tall, and all open spots are readily reclothed with 
 young pine ; but on the poor, white sands of jDortions of 
 Florida Ave should find forests so open and parklike, the 
 trees so far separated from each other, so little of young 
 growth, of shrubbery or undergrowth, that the woods 
 almost lose their forest character. 
 
 Over long stretches of these woods the soil between the 
 scattering trees is either entirely bare or covered with 
 creeping saw palmetto. Strange enough, tlie pine, which 
 here is commonly the longleaf pine, with needles ten or 
 twelve inches long, cleans as ^^erfectly as if it were in 
 the densest woods. Evidently it is very intolerant here, 
 and possibly the poor soil helps the process of cleaning. 
 
 Is the climate the cause of these open, parklike pine 
 woods? Let us go to one of the many "hummocks," or 
 low flats with a more fertile soil. Within a distance of 
 twenty yards we step from a pure and open stand of pine 
 
Fk;. \'J. L()nt;leat' IMiie 
 21 
 
22 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 into a dense, luxuriant forest of mixed growth in which 
 ash, oak, basswood, cedar, and cypress are often mixed 
 with scattered cabbage pahns and yuccas. Evidently it 
 is the effect of soil. 
 
 In North Wisconsin we might see almost the same 
 results. The heavy clay soils are covered with a good 
 growth of hardwoods, especially birch, elm, and maple, 
 with a goodly sprinkling of conifers, pine, and hemlock ; 
 but as soon as we enter any of the large, sandy districts a 
 regular pinery, almost pure stands of pine, meets our eyes, 
 and wherever the sand is unusually poor, stunted forests 
 of jack pine replace the stately white and Norway pines. 
 
 At the border of the forests, against the prairies, where 
 drought and sand conspire to make forest growth more 
 difficult, the sands are not covered with grasses but with 
 scrub woods of jack pine and scrub oaks. Similar scrub- 
 oak woods cover the Cross Timbers of Texas and j)ortions 
 of other western states. 
 
 From this sketch it appears that fertile loams and clays 
 bear mixed forests composed largely of a variety of trees, 
 mostly hardwoods ; while sandy soils are usually covered 
 with monotonous pineries, composed of one or few kinds 
 of trees. We also note that this distinction is very sharp; 
 that in most sandy regions, whether north or south, the 
 hardwoods are generally unable to replace the pine, and 
 that wherever they attempt to do so the oak alone is 
 partially successful. 
 
THE WILDWOODS 23 
 
 Having seen what the soil does in determining the com- 
 position of the woods, we might also inquire whether the 
 forest can do anything to alter the soil. 
 
 As we have learned in our former studies, the tree gets 
 from the soil only water and certain useful salts, while 
 the rest of the material of the tree comes from the air. 
 The salts which it gets from the soil are its soil-food, and 
 when these salts are lacking in a soil we call it poor and 
 say that it needs fertilizing; i.e., it needs to have these 
 salts replaced to make it fertile or enable it to sustain 
 plants. The salts which the tree uses, reappear as ashes 
 when we burn the leaves, twigs, or wood. 
 
 Now when a beech tree takes up twenty pounds of such 
 salts in a season, and perhaps fifteen pounds find their 
 way into the leaves which are shed in the fall, these 
 fifteen pounds may be taken up again by the tree, or its 
 neighbor, as soon as the water has leached out and carried 
 the salts down among the roots. In this ay ay the trees 
 take and give all the time. But besides these mineral 
 salts the soil also needs decayed plant matter; it needs 
 mold or humus to make it really fertile. This is sup- 
 plied by leaves and twigs which are shed by the forest 
 trees, and these tend, therefore, to enrich the soil. It is 
 due chiefly to this mold that ^^new-cleared" land is so 
 fertile. In many districts people clear land, use it for 
 some time, and then restock it with forest growth, which 
 in due time reestablishes the former fertility. 
 
24 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Thus, we see that the soil determines the character of the 
 forest, but that the forest also has the power to modify 
 and improve the soil^, and so enables the soil to grow 
 more trees and better trees. 
 
 But this also teaches us that in all poor, sandy soils 
 the permanent removal of the forest and, especially, the 
 burning over of the sandy lands must needs injure the 
 land by diminishing its fertility ; and that, therefore, it 
 is harder to start a forest, and the forest will grow much 
 less vigorously on such maltreated lands. 
 
 What Moisture does fok the Woods 
 
 On a trip along the Texas Pacific Railway from the 
 eastern boundary of Texas westward we first' pass through 
 long stretches of pinery, then many miles of mixed for- 
 ests, which, on nearing the Trinity River, change into 
 more and more open woods composed almost entirely of 
 oak. From the Trinity westward these oak woods grow 
 more and more scrubby; the finest lands are prairies, 
 and the forest is restricted to the stretches of sandy lands 
 known as the Cross Timbers. 
 
 After crossing the Brazos River, west of Graham, the 
 forests are reduced to patches in the river bottoms, and 
 the broad fertile lands are either treeless prairie or mes- 
 quite openings, where scattering bushes of the thorny 
 mesquite help to relieve the monotony. 
 
Fig. 13. Too Dry for Forest 
 
 Chaparral of scattering scrub or scrub woods in San Jacinto Reserve, California 
 
 (After Gannett) 
 
 2r, 
 
26 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 The sandy ridges following the Brazos, Wichita, and other 
 rivers are either bare or scantily dotted with thickets or 
 clumps of the shrublike shin oak, while scattering, bush- 
 like trees of red cedar dot the bluffs of the rivers. 
 
 Reaching the high and dry plateau of the Staked 
 Plains we find that tree growth ceases; the mesquite no 
 longer decorates the prairie, and the sand hills of these 
 plains are desolate wastes. 
 
 We have made a long journey from a humid country 
 to an arid one, passing through many intermediate stages. 
 Neither soil, altitude, nor the temperature factor of the 
 climate has changed materially, and yet we have passed 
 from a dense and stately forest of pine through oak and 
 mesquite openings into bare prairie and sand waste. 
 
 The great difference in the amount of moisture alone 
 is responsible for these remarkable changes. Had we 
 started from Duluth, Minn., and gone west or southwest, 
 our experience would have been similar. First, long 
 stretches of pineries, in which white and Norway pine 
 often predominate ; then, rather suddenly, oak, or else 
 poplar and oak openings ; and, within a few hours' ride 
 by train, the open treeless prairies. 
 
 This transition from the humid forests to the drier 
 prairie regions is very similar from Texas clear to our 
 northern boundary, and everywhere it is caused by the 
 lack of rain and snow, which appears to be the principal, 
 if not the only, cause of the fading out of the forest. 
 
THE WILDWOODS 
 
 27 
 
 At first it culls the forest and reduces the number of kinds 
 of trees, — the elm, the ash, the basswood, etc., drop out, and 
 the forest is finally reduced to open stands of scrubby oak. 
 Where the moisture becomes scarcer still these scrub woods 
 become more dwarfed, and soon the forest ceases altogether. 
 Lack of moisture then reduces the number of species ; it 
 stunts and, if extreme, it prevents forest growth altogether. 
 
 Fig. 14. Too Much Water kills 
 Timber killed by water backed up by state dam in Adirondacks. (After Fox) 
 
 Thus, a lack of moisture acts like a poor, sandy soil, and 
 wherever these two combine the effect is all the greater. 
 Let us now see what too much moisture does. When 
 the lumbermen in our northern forests dam up a stream 
 to store water for driving purposes, they select some large 
 flat, where a pond of considerable extent is produced by 
 the dam. In such a place large numbers of trees, which 
 
28 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 SO far have been growing on dry land, are now made 
 to stand in water ; and in almost all cases they die, even 
 if the dam is closed for but a few months of the year. 
 Evidently these forest trees do not endure immersion of 
 their roots ; too much water kills them. 
 
 In the valleys, or "bottoms," of the Santee and other 
 rivers of the South, floods or freshets are produced by 
 heavy rains in the mountains at the heads of these 
 streams. Where we can walk dry-footed to-day we can 
 boat on ten feet of water to-morrow. These freshets last 
 from one to three weeks and, during this time, cover 
 entirely all young trees not tall enough to project above 
 the water. And yet the forests of these bottoms are 
 among the most luxuriant ; there are many kinds of 
 trees, and the trees grow to large size. 
 
 It would seem, then, that in these fertile bottoms of the 
 South many different kinds of trees and shrubs have 
 learned to endure periodical, complete or partial immer- 
 sion of several weeks duration. 
 
 The hundreds of large and small swamps of our north- 
 ern forests are generally stocked with forests of tamarack, 
 cedar, and occasionally spruce. Generally these cedar and 
 tamarack swamps are monotonous ; the trees are small, 
 the stands dense. The cedar swamps of New Jersey, the 
 numerous cypress swamps of the Carolinas, Florida, and 
 the Gulf States resemble our northern swamps, except that 
 we have here a different set of trees and trees of larger 
 
THE WILDWOODS 
 
 29 
 
 size. In some of the ''greenings '' or white cedar swamps 
 the soil is a soft mud, and the trees gain a support or 
 hold chiefly from the general network of roots. In the 
 Dismal Swamp and the great Okefinokee a large portion 
 
 Fig. 15. Used to Water (Cypress about Lake Norris, Florida) 
 
 of the land is constantly under water, and these swamps 
 have more the appearance of grassy lakes. 
 
 Stretches of these swamps are entirely bare of trees 
 and take on the regular lake character, while other por- 
 tions appear like overflowed marsh lands, dotted with 
 so-called '' houses," or small clusters of gnarly cypress 
 festooned with long streamers of Spanish moss, whicli 
 help to emphasize their weird, fantastic appearance. 
 
30 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 In swamps like the Chessahowiska of western Florida, 
 where a warm climate and a supjDly of lime in the water- 
 soaked earth assist the plants in withstanding the diffi- 
 culties of too much water, the forest is often one of great 
 variety, consisting of a mixture of red cedar, oak, bass- 
 wood, yellow poplar, and ash, together with palm and 
 yucca, and the trees display a considerable degree of thrift. 
 
 These facts lead us to believe that wet soils, like dry 
 soils, tend to reduce the number of kinds of trees, and that 
 this effect is greater wherever a cold climate adds to the 
 difficulty. It also indicates that in colder countries the 
 monotonous woods of the swamj^ lands are simpler in 
 their make-up, and stunted in their growth; but that the 
 swamp forests of warmer districts do not generally share 
 this stunted character, since, for instance, the cypress of 
 the southern swamps is among the largest timber of the 
 eastern half of our country. 
 
 In the Puget Sound country, where it rains the greater 
 part of the year, and where clouds, fog, and mist shut out 
 the sun and prevent the trees from giving off much water 
 from their leaves and twigs, we find some of the densest, 
 stateliest forests of the world. They are composed of 
 red fir, hemlock, cedar, and balsam ; the trees grow rapidly 
 and reach unusual size. A well-drained, porous soil and 
 a very moist, cool atmosphere are evidently conducive to 
 the best tree growth. But even here it is rather remark- 
 able that the conifers prevail. 
 
THE WILDWOODS 
 
 ol 
 
 On the whole, then, we see that most of our trees require 
 a moderate amount of moisture in the soil and in the air, 
 
 Fig. 1G. Cypress Swamp 
 
 The short stumplike structures projecting out of the water are the 
 "cypress knees," peculiar outgrowths from the roots of these 
 trees, apparently dependent on the wet surroundings 
 
 and that too much as well as too little water is fatal to 
 most of them. It seems also that drought is best endured 
 
32 FIllST BOOK OF FOHESTHY 
 
 by cedar, pine, and oak, while the swamp lands are occu- 
 pied mostly by conifers, — cedar, tamarack, and sj^ruce in 
 the North ; cedar and cypress in the South, — and that the 
 swamp forests of cold countries are more monotonous and 
 more stunted than those of warmer districts. 
 
 Having seen of how much importance moisture is to 
 the tree, it would be of interest to learn how far the tree 
 can correct any deficiency, — to what extent it can drain 
 the soil of surplus water or induce a dry soil to take up 
 and hold more moisture. Experience and observation 
 seem to indicate that it does both. 
 
 What Heat and Cold do for the Woods 
 
 Let us make a trip from the northern boundary of our 
 country to the Gulf of Mexico and see how the forest 
 differs in different places along our route, keeping in mind, 
 however, that we must compare only such forests as are 
 stocked on well-drained lands of similar soils. 
 
 Along the south shore of Lake Superior, where long 
 snowy winters and short frosty summers restrict farm- 
 ing to the raising of grass, oats, and potatoes, the forest 
 of the fertile loam and clay lands consists of a mixed 
 stand of inferior hardwoods and conifers. The hard- 
 woods are principally birch, maple, elm, and basswood ; 
 the conifers, white pine and hemlock. Generally there 
 are more of the hardwoods — they lyredo'tninate ; but 
 
Fk;. 17. I*;ilm(*tt(> 
 (After Pinchot) 
 
 33 
 
34 FIE8T BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 occasionally the hemlock, more rarely the pine, forms the 
 body of the forest. The hardwoods are few in kind 
 and inferior in size and quality; the most valuable trees 
 of the forest are the conifers, pine and hemlock. 
 
 A piece of virgin forest in Indiana, where abundant 
 crops of apples, grapes, and peaches indicate a milder 
 climate, is nsually an oak Avood, heavily mixed with a 
 great variety of other broad-leaved trees, but entirely 
 without coniferous timber. Here we meet several kinds 
 of oak, hickory, and ash, both black and white wal- 
 nut, cherry, basswood, elm, yellow poplar, sycamore, and 
 beech. Moreover, the trees are tall, with long, clear, 
 heavy shafts, furnishing the choicest lumber. 
 
 In eastern Tennessee or western North Carolina the 
 warmer climate again changes onr forest picture. The 
 yellow poplar and chestnut come to the foreground; 
 the several oaks and hickories, a few magnolias, the 
 locusts, catalpa, mull^erry, red gum, and others swell the 
 list of common species, and in addition the conifers reap- 
 pear ; the forest again has its sprinkling of pine. 
 
 Although the number of different kinds of trees has 
 thus been increased, the forest retains its general appear- 
 ance ; it is a fine, stately forest of hardwoods, and many 
 an acre of this forest could not l)e distinguished from 
 similar acres of our Indiana woods. 
 
 Going through one of the hue " hummocks " of Florida, 
 the land of cotton, tlie orange, and pineapple, where snow 
 
THE WILDWOODS 35 
 
 and ice are hardly known and where a fro.st is a general 
 calamity, we are struck with the radical change in the 
 appearance of the forest. It is still a forest of hard- 
 woods, — there are live oak, red and white oaks, ash, and 
 gum, — but among them is that peculiar tree of the torrid 
 lands, the palm tree. And to have a few of these jDalms 
 to each acre is enough to alter entirely the aspect of the 
 forest. Usually this hummock land has some cypress 
 and red cedar with a few scattering pine ; and everywhere 
 the yucca and dwarf palms are conspicuous among the 
 undergrowth. Our forest has changed, and changed 
 radically ; it possesses an entirely new form, a new 
 order of trees. 
 
 Let us review our trip. In the icy Lake Superior 
 region the forest is made of few kinds; the conifers 
 are an important mixture and the hardwood trees are 
 stunted. In mild Indiana it is composed of hardwoods 
 alone ; the variety is great ; the trees are large. In the 
 warm districts of the southern Alleghenies the variety 
 is still greater; size and quality are equally fine, and 
 conifers reappear; while in the hot climate of Florida 
 the variety is still greater, and the forest takes on a 
 subtropical aspect by adding the palm. 
 
 If our comparison had been for the sand lands or tlie 
 swamps, the difference would have been much less ; 
 the pinery of Florida is as monotonous as that of 
 Minnesota. 
 
36 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 We see that cold affects the forest just as do a poor 
 soil and too much or too little water. It simplifies 
 the composition of the forest and, in extreme cases, 
 stunts its growth. But we also ojjserve tliat this 
 effect is not very serious within the borders of our 
 land ; that our most important hardwood trees extend 
 far north and south ; and that the effect is less important 
 for our sandy or poorer lands than for more fertile 
 districts. 
 
 Were we to inquire into the growtli and behavior of 
 our forest trees along the same route of travel north and 
 south, we should find the eff'ect even more important. 
 We should learn that oak and maple in Tennessee sprout 
 well ; in the Lake Superior country, with difficulty ; that 
 most trees bear seed oftener and more abundantlv, and 
 that young growth starts more easily, grows faster, and 
 stands more shade in warm districts than in cold. Here 
 and there, to be sure, there would be some exceptions to 
 this rule, but they would be just enough to emphasize its 
 general truth. 
 
 Having learned the importance of warmth and sun- 
 shine, we realize why, in our northern states, the forest 
 on the south side of a ridge often diff'ers so radically from 
 that on the north side. It is the warmth and light of the 
 sunny south exposure which permits a greater variety of 
 trees and banishes the frugal conifers to the colder, darker 
 north side. 
 
THE WILDWOODS 37 
 
 Had we extended our journey northward, far into the 
 Dommion of Canada, we should have first passed through 
 long stretches of pineries and woods of spruce, and finally 
 landed in openings of birch, willow, and alder, which fade 
 away gradually into the treeless wastes of the ever-frozen 
 North. 
 
 Woods and the Mountains 
 
 We have all read and heard, and some of lis have had 
 the opportunity to witness, that the climate grows colder 
 as we ascend a mountain ; so that if the mountain is very 
 high it may bear ice and snow all through summer, though 
 it be located beneath the tropical sun of Mexico or Peru. 
 
 From what we have learned concerning the influence 
 of cold on the forest cover we should at once infer that 
 the forest differs at different points from below upward 
 and that it becomes more and more simple in its compo- 
 sition ; more and more stunted toward the top of any high 
 mountain range or peak ; and also that the forests of 
 higher mountains, like those of the colder northern dis- 
 tricts of our country, are composed most generally of 
 coniferous trees. 
 
 A few excursions will test and verify these conclusions. 
 
 If we start on the Raquette River in the Adirondack 
 Mountains of New York to go up to the top of Mount 
 Seward, we are at first about fifteen hundred feet above 
 sea level, and in the midst of a sandy old wliite pine 
 
38 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 " sla>sh/' surrounded by a rather inferior mixed growth of 
 hardwoods and conifers. Yellow ]jirch and maple predom- 
 inate, and spruce, balsam, cedar, and hemlock make up 
 the coniferous portion. Climbing to an altitude of about 
 twenty-four hundred feet, we find that yellow birch is 
 largely replaced by white birch; the maple is a scrub; 
 and the spruce, together with cedar, forms the body of the 
 forest. As we ascend farther the forest becomes more 
 and more a 23ure stand of conifers ; and, finally, on reach- 
 ing the top, at an altitude of al)out forty-five hundred 
 feet, we pass through thickets of dwarf balsam, from two 
 to five feet in height, which, in many places, form such 
 dense mats that it is possible to use the canopy of this 
 pigmy forest for a seat. 
 
 Ascending the Alleghenies of North Carolina, beautiful 
 hardwood forests accompany us up to an altitude of about 
 five thousand feet ; but the summits of all the peaks 
 above fifty-five hundred feet are clad in somber forests of 
 spruce, together with some scattering balsams. 
 
 Fully as interesting and instructive is a trip u]) to the 
 crest of the Cascade Mountains of Washington from the 
 west side. Following up the valley of the Cowlitz River 
 we pass through dense forests of the giant red fir, cedar, 
 and hemlock. Reaching an altitude of about two thou- 
 sand feet, we find the hemlock becomes more abundant, 
 and the red fir recedes and is replaced by the mountain 
 balsam. At an altitude of about thirty-five hundred feet 
 
39 
 
40 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 the red fir disappears, and the forest is one of balsam and 
 hemlock with cedar. As we reach a height of five thou- 
 sand feet the complexion of the forest changes entirely ; 
 the dense forest of tall mountain balsam and hemlock 
 suddenly gives way to open, more or less interrupted 
 alpine park woods, composed of short, limby trees belong- 
 ing to entirely different species, the alpine balsam and 
 hemlock. 
 
 Thus, we see that our inference was correct : the high 
 mountain woods of our country are generally conifers, 
 composed of few species, and are usually more or less 
 stunted at higher altitudes. Similarly these woods change 
 from below upwards, decreasing in complexity of compo- 
 sition as well as in size and quality of the timber ; and 
 their vigor, or rate of growth and capacity to maintain 
 and renew themselves, also decreases. 
 
Part II 
 
 FORE sill Y 
 
 RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 We have learned something of different woods, of their 
 appearance and composition, and how they are modified 
 by different climates, soils, and other conditions. We are 
 now ready to see what man does with the forest. 
 
 When the pioneer settler in the backwoods clears his 
 farm he is anxious to destroy the forest as fast as possible, 
 for every acre of " clear land " is a big step toward inde- 
 pendence. In many places, especially of hxte years, he 
 has been able to sell at least the better kinds of logs ; but 
 in the most cases, now as formerly, the wood is wasted. 
 The trees are cut into pieces small enough to handle and 
 the neighbors are invited to a "log rolling"; they pile 
 up the logs and branches into " log heaps," and when the 
 weather is suitable these log heaps are set afire. Fire 
 and plow prevent the return of the forest. 
 
 This is not forestry; it is proper forest destruction, 
 such as goes on in the settlement of every forest-covered 
 country. The forest gives way to the field. 
 
 41 
 
42 
 
 FIEST BOOK OF FOEESTRY 
 
 When the kiiiibermen cut the spruce in many parts of 
 our eastern states, or the white pine in the hardwoods of 
 Michigan or Wisconsin, they disturb the forest so httle 
 that only the experienced eye notices the fact that the 
 
 Fm. li) a. Co].)pice Woods 
 (After Graves) 
 
 land has been " logged over." On the sandier " pinery " 
 lands, where the forest is nearly all pine, the case is 
 quite different. Here the lumberman usually leaves a 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 43 
 
 " slash." Most of the forest is gone ; a few young trees, 
 some worthless cripples, and a small number of isolated 
 stunted hardwoods still maintain the semblance of woods ; 
 while the ground is densely strewn with the tops of the 
 
 Fig. 19 h. Coppice Woods 
 (After Graves) 
 
 fallen pine. In one or two seasons these tops are dry ; 
 they take fire from some cause or other, the slasli burns 
 over, and instead of the former forest there is now a 
 waste, which may remain in this unproductive condition 
 
44 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 for many years. Generally the lumberman does not con- 
 cern himself in either case about the forest or slash he 
 leaves behind; his business is to get out of the forest 
 whatever he can utilize or sell ; he treats it as a ripe 
 field; he harvests, — but he does not sow. He does not 
 intentionally destroy any forest ; he merely harvests, but 
 does not care for and protect it, and thus make an effort 
 to keep up the forest and to grow a new crop of timber. 
 For this reason, and to the extent that he fails in this, he 
 is not a forester. 
 
 On the other hand, the farmer who has a jiiece of wood- 
 land, where, during the winter months he cuts his firewood 
 and fencing and a few logs for the repair of buildings and 
 implements, and during certain years, when prices are 
 high, cuts some logs for the neighboring sawmill, but, at 
 the same time, looks after the piece of woods, cleans it 
 of dead timber and other rubbish, thus keeping out fire 
 and insects, and otherwise makes an effort to keep the 
 land covered with forest, — such a man practices /or es^r^. 
 His forest may be small or large, his ways of doing may 
 be simple and imperfect, so that his woods do not contain 
 as many trees as they should ; the trees may not be the 
 best kinds for the 23articular locality and soil ; they may 
 not be as thrifty as they should and could be ; but never- 
 theless here is a man who does not merely destroy the 
 woods, nor content himself witli cutting down whatever 
 he can sell, but one who cares for the woods as well as 
 
EAISmG OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 45 
 
 uses them, one who sows as well as harvests. He is a for- 
 ester, and his work in the woods is forestry. Since his 
 forest is small, the work is simpler, and it will be a good 
 opportunity to learn how he cares for the woods ; for 
 trees start and grow in just the same way, whether in 
 small or large forests. 
 
 Coppice Woods 
 
 Here is a piece of wildwoods in one of the picturesque 
 valleys of northern New Jersey. The soil is loam, very 
 rocky, and with too many large rocks on top of the ground 
 to encourage its use for plowland. The woods, mostly 
 chestnut and oak, appear rather scrubby, and we miss the 
 large stately trees of the virgin forest ; there appear to be 
 no old trees, and nearly all trees seem to be in clusters 
 about old and much disfigured stumps. Evidently they 
 started as sprouts — but here comes a native who can tell 
 us more about this : 
 
 " Yes, this is an old settled district, and the old woods 
 were cut down more than a century ago. Since then 
 these woods were cut over several times. Formerly, 
 when firewood was much in demand for iron furnaces, 
 the woods were cut over about every twenty years, but of 
 late we leave the trees to grow larger, so that they make 
 good railroad ties and telegraph poles, besides firewood, 
 and this requires that they be at least thirty-five or forty 
 
46 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 years old. But still this does not make large trees, and 
 thus our coppice woods look young and small compared 
 with old virgin woods. 
 
 " Yes, we use chestnut and oak mostly, but that is only 
 because they were here and nobody cared to try any 
 others. We cut usually in winter, the best time being 
 about February or just before spring opens, because then 
 the stumps make the best sprouts, and sprout immediately, 
 so that a good growth takes place that very season. If 
 we cut in the fall or early winter, many of the stumps 
 suffer from the weather; and before they are ready to 
 sprout are injured and, therefore, make fewer and weaker 
 sprouts. 
 
 '^ How much do we get per acre? That of course 
 depends on the age and condition of the woods and the 
 quality of the site [soil, exposure, etc.]. 
 
 " Generally we count on a cord per acre and year, 
 so that a thirty -year-old stand should furnish thirty 
 cords 23er acre. From such a stand we should get about 
 a hundred good telegraph poles, or else about three hun- 
 dred railroad ties, besides about fifteen cords of firewood. 
 For the poles we get four to five dollars, and for ties 
 perhaps fifty cents each; but firewood brings only about 
 three dollars per cord delivered." 
 
 Let us now walk into the woods and see what we can 
 learn. Everywhere we see that both oak and chestnut, 
 but particularly the latter, are excellently well suited to 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 47 
 
 this kind of treatment ; that their stumps furnish an 
 abundance of sprouts ; that the sprouts grow fast, and 
 always much faster than young trees 
 started from the seed. Of seedling 
 trees we see but few, and none at 
 all in the denser parts of the woods. 
 
 But, though the woods are fairly 
 good, there are several things here 
 which might be improved by a little 
 more care. In the first place, we 
 notice open spots ten or fifteen yards 
 across, where grass and weeds cover 
 the ground together with a few iso- 
 lated trees of red cedar. Apparently 
 the forest gave out and the stumps 
 ceased to sprout. Perhaps they were 
 too old or else had been burned, or 
 possibly cattle kept the sprouts down 
 by eating off the leaves and thus 
 killed the stumps, for, as we have 
 learned before, the stump can live 
 only if it has leaves to prepare 
 food for its cells. Such spots are 
 unproductive ; they are neither good ^Dasture nor forest. 
 
 In the woods we notice that some of the stumps have 
 too many sprouts, that these crowd each other, some are 
 dead and others are stunted by their neighbors. Evidently 
 
 Fig. 20. , Stump and 
 Sprouts 
 
48 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 cutting out tlie weaker would have helped the better trees, 
 for tlie i^oor cripples use up water and soil-food and yet 
 are unable to make trees. 
 
 The stumps, we see, were not always cut with care. 
 Many of them are too high ; part of the bark has dropped 
 off, and the stump is partly dry. Others are flat on top, 
 some even slant in (see Fig. 21), and many are rough, all 
 holding the rain water, and with this the spores (seeds) of 
 fungi, which will cause decay. 
 
 Note also that many of these stumps are too old to make 
 good sprouts ; they are much decayed, and the few young 
 trees they produce have a poor support. They should be 
 replaced ; there is need for new stumps. 
 
 Let us think over what we have learned about coppice 
 woods. Since we can use only trees which sprout well, 
 we cannot raise pine, spruce, and other conifers in this 
 way. As most trees in coppice woods should be cut before 
 they are forty years old, preferably when twenty or thirty 
 years old, these woods cannot furnish large trees, such as 
 would be needed for saw-logs to make boards for houses 
 and furniture. As to the work itself, we see that it is 
 quite simple. If a man had sixty acres of coppice woods 
 and wanted to cut some fuel and other timber every 
 winter, he might cut two acres every year, and in this 
 way cut the entire sixty-acre tract in thirty years. By 
 that time the two acres first cut would be thirty years old 
 and ready for the ax, and thus the cutting might go on 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 49 
 
 indefinitely. In his work he should take care to cut at the 
 right time of the year (late winter) ; to cut the stumps 
 low and smooth, with the slant to the outside ; to leave 
 some of the smaller useless trees for the protection of the 
 
 Fig. 21. Tlie Wrong Way lo cut the Stumps 
 
 Fk;. '22. The liiglit AVay to cut tlie Stumps 
 
 ground and young shoots. He would naturally fill all 
 bare spots with young trees, and would thin out the 
 poorer sprouts when the stand is about ten years old, 
 using the material thus cut for firewood. The old 
 
50 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTEY 
 
 stumps, after they had furnished three crops of trees, 
 would be replaced by young trees, which he would start 
 by planting from a little nursery in his garden, or by sow- 
 ing acorns and chestnuts on the newly cleared parts of 
 this woodland. In this way he could cut at least two 
 hundred dollars' worth of ties and poles each year, and 
 have more firewood than he would need on his farm. 
 
 Looking over the list of trees which have been used as 
 coppice, we find that it is not large and that the following 
 are the important ones : chestnut, oak, black locust, ash, 
 elm, maple, beech, birch ; and where a light wood is used 
 for paper pulp, etc., basswood, poplar, and willow may be 
 used. This list would also indicate that a good coppice 
 growth is possible in the greater portion of the eastern 
 United States ; that it fares well only in temperate and 
 warm climates, and on fairly good soil. 
 
 In Europe, especially in France, the coppice system is 
 very common, and rather preferred in the smaller forests 
 of private owners and villagers. Generally the trees are 
 cut when fifteen to twenty-five years old. The trees of 
 oak coppice are cut in summer and the bark is peeled, 
 dried, and sold to tanners, so that these woods are raised 
 really as much for the bark as for the wood, and are 
 called tan-hai'k coppice. 
 
 When the cutting in coppice woods is so regulated 
 that the trees are about thirty years old when cut, we call 
 this period of thirty years the rotation^ and we say that 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 51 
 
 the coppice is managed on a thirty-year rotation. Rota- 
 tion in this sense simply means the age of the trees wlien 
 the woods are cnt down, and does not mean, as in farming, 
 a certain succession of different kinds of crops, such as wheat, 
 corn, oats, and clover, to be repeated in the same order. 
 
 The fact that in the northern pineries the burned-over 
 slash lands are commonly covered by a growth of young 
 jDoplar or aspen, and not by pine, has led some of the 
 woodsmen of those regions to believe that there existed a 
 natural rotation of forest crops resembling the rotation of 
 farm crops ; that pine could not follow pine, but that 
 poplar and pine always alternated with each other. As 
 a matter of fact, the poplar covers these ^^ burns" because 
 all through these pineries there is produced every year an 
 abundance of poplar seed. Being extremely light, it is 
 carried by the wind for miles and thus covers the burns. 
 Moreover, the seeds of poplar and birch are the only tree 
 seeds which are at once strewn al^undantly over the burns, 
 and both, especially that of the poplar, do well on this 
 freshly burned-over land. Thus it comes that the poplar 
 and birch thickets are the first to reclothe these burns. 
 
 We have learned that in European coppice woods the 
 rotation is generally about fifteen to twenty-five years, 
 and, therefore, shorter than that of the ordinary New 
 Jersey coppice, which is usually thirty or forty years ; and 
 that it is generally not advisable to make the rotation in 
 coppice much longer than forty years, even for oak, which 
 
52 FIPvST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 endures longest ; while for poplar, birch, and willow it 
 should not be over twenty-five years. 
 
 Since large trees are not furnished hj the coppice woods, 
 and since it is often desirable and profitable to raise larger 
 trees for timber and lumber, many people have modified 
 their coppice in this way. 
 
 Suppose our farmer has sixty acres of coppice and cuts 
 about two acres each year. Instead of cutting all trees 
 he leaves standing on each acre from fifty to a hundred 
 of the very best trees. These trees go on growing and 
 are cut thirty years later, so that they live through two 
 rotations of the coppice woods. By that time they are 
 sixty years old and of considerable size. These we call 
 standards and this kind of coppice woods a standard co^- 
 'pice. Sometimes the standards are not all cut down at 
 the end of the second rotation, but some are left for a 
 third or even a fourth rotation, and thus get to be quite 
 large. But it is usual to cut part of the standards each 
 time the particular piece of woods is cut over. 
 
 Since too much shade w^ould hinder the starting as well 
 as the growth of the sprouts, the trees left over for stand- 
 ards at any one time should not shade more than about 
 one third to one fourth of the ground. Usually a thirty- 
 year-old tree in good coppice woods has a crown covering 
 about fifty to a hundred square feet, and it nearly doubles 
 this every thirty years. Since an acre has 43,560 square 
 feet, and about a fourth may be covered by the standards, 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 5 
 
 o 
 
 we might leave about a hundred thirty- jear-old trees of 
 the laro^er size. 
 
 In an oak and chestnut cop]3ice it is well to use largely 
 these two kinds for standards, since in this way they will 
 seed the ground and thus furnish new stumps. Generally 
 it is better to use trees which have started from seed or 
 have been planted to fill out gaps or fail places ; but good 
 trees from young stumps answer very well. Among the 
 broad-leaved kinds chestnut, oak, elm, ash, hickory, and 
 walnut make good standards ; but beech and maple make 
 too dense a shade. 
 
 The Ordinary Timber Forest 
 
 In southern Michigan we see many tracts of the ordi- 
 nary broadleaf forest, such as formerly covered Indiana, 
 Ohio, and a large portion of our eastern states. The 
 climate of southern Michigan is temperate, even mild ; 
 the grapevine and peach tree thrive ; the soil is largely 
 drift material, — earth and stone believed to have been 
 carried by ancient glaciers ; while fertile, it is sometimes 
 very stony, being generally strewn with bowlders. The 
 forest is composed of oaks, — both red oaks and white 
 oaks, — elm, ash, hickory, basswood, beech, and other 
 broad-leaved kinds (hardwoods) in irregular mixture, with 
 the oaks usually predominant. Most of the trees seem 
 to Ije large, old veterans. 
 
54 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Here is a piece of woods with a beautiful border of 
 beech, low-crowned blue beech, mixed with elm, and 
 maple, and a fringe of hazel, dogwood, and other shrubs. 
 The whole border is so dense that it seems as if it might 
 shut out all visitors, as well as the injurious drying winds. 
 Let us enter. They are very stately old woods and remind 
 us of the virgin forest we visited some time ago. But 
 there are many things changed after all, and the hand of 
 man is clearly visible. There is no dead and fallen tim- 
 ber; it is all cleared away, evidently taken home for 
 firewood. Nor do we notice here any old crippled trees, 
 nor any of the greedy spreading ones which want a whole 
 acre to themselves. No doubt they were here at one time, 
 l)ut all have been cut out and used up. Right here we 
 see a fine old mixed stand of mature timber, probably 
 every tree over a hundred years old. They are still 
 thrifty, but their shade is too dense for any young trees 
 to start. Let us walk on. Why, here is a park ! Every- 
 thing looks clean and neat, the stand is rather open, 
 nearly everything except the maple has been cut out, and 
 there are regular paths in all directions. Note the many 
 auger holes in the trees ; this is a " sugar bush." The 
 farmer, finding the maple predominant in this part of his 
 woods, cleared out much of the elm, oak, and other kinds 
 to give the maple more room. He also cleaned up more 
 perfectly to make his work in sap-gathering time more 
 convenient. 
 
55 
 
56 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 There are a good many small saplings of maple ; evi- 
 dently this opening up of the dense woods stimulated 
 reproduction ; the trees bore more seeds, and young trees 
 found light and air to live. Some. of the young stuff he 
 has cut out and has left only the best. They Avill l)e 
 fine sugar trees when his son takes the farm. 
 
 Here we come into a different stand. The trees are 
 mostly poles (less than twelve inches in diameter), and 
 must have started some thirty years ago. The large 
 stumps of the old mother trees are rotten and covered 
 with moss. Notice the many small stumps ; evidently 
 there has been some thinning done. 
 
 Here is a thicket of bushy young trees, three to ten 
 feet high and standing rather crowded. The old stumps, 
 just beginning to decay, seem about ten or twelve years 
 old, and a few old trees are still left here. They need 
 cutting out, for the young trees need the light. 
 
 Here is a piece where the owner has cut timber during 
 the last few years. He seems to have picked out (selected) 
 the largest trees or those which stand too close to others 
 and thereby hinder them in their growth. He has not, 
 however, cleared out any large piece, but merely picked 
 out a tree here and there, and thus kept the forest intact 
 and the ground nearly all covered or sliaded, so that grass 
 and weeds rarely get a chance to start. Going over the 
 entire sixty-acre piece, we find that the man has cleared 
 up and cut and thinned out everywhere ; that he cut 
 
KAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOPvEST 57 
 
 considera1)le timl)er about ten or twelve years ago, but 
 that he has smce then been more frugah Let us go over 
 to where he is plowmg and ask him something about it. 
 
 " Am glad to tell you all I can. I came here about 
 thirtj^-five years ago ; the farm was in bad shape, and the 
 first winter I cut a lot of logs for fencing, where you saw 
 that young growth you speak of. Since then 1 have been 
 cutting wood and timber for my own use every winter, 
 and now and then a little to sell. Ten years ago I cut a 
 large amount for the sawmill ; sleighing was good and 
 prices rather high. For firewood I cut everything, and 
 if it does not make four-foot wood, it is cut sixteen to 
 twenty-four inches long and split to suit the people. In 
 this way I have cleaned up pretty much all through the 
 piece. For the rest I merely pick out where the timber 
 stands too close. 
 
 " Of course I can raise all kinds of timber, for the 
 trees do not have to sprout and I can cut them at what- 
 ever age I choose. So far I have been careless. Except 
 in my sugar bush, where I \vant as pure a stand of maple 
 as possible, I have let them come in as they would. 
 
 " In the future I am going to do differently and cut out 
 more of the kinds I wish to get rid of, thus favoring 
 those kinds, like oak, which are of more value to me. 
 I intend also to plant some conifers, most likely some 
 white 23ine, as this does well hereabouts. How do I get 
 a new growth started ? Well, so far I have done nothing 
 
68 FIllST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 but to let it start as it would. The large tree is cut down 
 and removed ; this gives a small opening in which young 
 growth starts, the seed, of course, coming from the trees 
 left behind. In this way I open up new spots every year. 
 How old do I let them grow ? No particular age ; I take 
 them whenever it suits me ; but, on the whole, I like to 
 let the sound, thrifty trees (dominant trees) reach a good 
 size, say about eighteen inches in diameter or more, before 
 I cut them down. Just how much wood is growing per 
 acre on my land I could not tell you, nor do I know 
 whether I am cutting more or less than is growing here. 
 Of course if I cut more, I reduce my wood capital ; if I 
 cut less, I increase it. So far I have probal^ly cut less 
 tlian the growth." 
 
 We have here, then, a timher forest ; one in which the 
 trees usually start from seed and not as sprouts, where 
 all kinds of trees may be raised which the climate and 
 soil permit, and where the trees may be cut at any age. 
 The procedure is quite simple. Every year the farmer 
 goes over part of the woods and selects such trees as suit 
 his purpose and such trees as need cutting out to better 
 the woods. It is a process of selection, and the woods so 
 managed is a selectioji forest . 
 
 Since it furnishes many different kinds and sizes, and 
 since it is so simple and natural a way of using and treat- 
 ing the woods, this selection method is well suited to many 
 forests. It is the best and often the only safe way for 
 
RAISING OPv KEEPING UP THE FOREST 59 
 
 mountain woods, where forests are ditiicult to start if 
 once cleared away ; it is the l)est way of treating the for- 
 est border to keep it close and dense ; and it is an excel- 
 lent way wherever the forest is small and the owner can 
 go over it often, so that he knows all parts and can pick 
 out, or select, with proper care and knowledge. 
 
 In all cases he should see to it that the ground is cov- 
 ered with the right kinds of trees; he should cut out 
 those kinds which do not sell, or grow too slowly, or 
 never grow large. What the right kinds are depends 
 on the land. On the better kinds of soil in a temperate 
 and warmer climate most of our broadleaf trees do well, 
 and in many places a mixture of these with pine and 
 spruce would be profitable. At present oak sells better 
 than elm, ash better than maple, and any of these better 
 than beech, while logs of white pine and spruce sell best 
 
 of all. 
 
 Since such kinds as the oak are quite intolerant or 
 sensitive to shade, they must be mixed with others that 
 can stand more shade. Of these the beech and maple 
 are good. Often it pays to plant them under the older 
 oaks when these no longer shade the ground and there 
 is hght enough to encourage grass and weeds. 
 
 One of the chief difficulties in this way of treating the 
 forest lies in the danger of damaghig the young growth 
 in felling old timber, and in cutting and barking young 
 groAvth and trees in dragging out the larger logs. 
 
60 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Besides having the right kinds of trees, the forester 
 should also see to it that there is no land idle, and that 
 all trees are in a thrifty condition, growing in size and 
 value. The amount of wood which grows each year per 
 acre varies very much with the nature of the soil and 
 with the kind, the number, and the age of tlie trees. 
 For better lands about one cord per acre and year may 
 be expected ; on j^oorer lands or from more neglected 
 woods the amount may fall to only about one half cord. 
 
 The selection forest is the oldest form of properly 
 tended woods and has been in use in some European 
 states for more than seven centuries. In our own coun- 
 try it is practiced with njore or less skill by many hun- 
 dreds of farmers ; and even some of our large forests are 
 lumbered on the selection principle. Thus, in the pineries 
 of North Carolina, the home of the '-tar kiln," farmers 
 are selling the timber of their large woodlands to lumber- 
 men, and many of these pieces are logged over for the 
 third or fourth time in a century, each lumberman cut- 
 ting only the larger trees and leaving the smaller for a 
 future crop. 
 
 The same is true of a uTunber of tracts of spruce 
 lands in Maine, where some men introduced this method 
 many years ago. Generally these large woods liave not 
 received much care. In cutting^, the men often cleared 
 large patches, which remained uncovered a long time. 
 Commonly fire gets into these larger slashes, since it 
 
iiaisi:n^g or keeping up the forest 61 
 
 is unprofitable to remove the tops, and thus much dam- 
 age is done to the remaining trees. Furthermore, the 
 dead and fallen timber and all useless and crippled trees 
 are always left in the woods and hinder the good trees, 
 serving as breeding places for fungi and insects, and 
 increasing the danger of fire. 
 
 Wliy do these lumbermen and holders of large forests 
 treat their woods with less care than our farmer forester ? 
 Let us examine into this a little more closely. When the 
 farmer wants to cut some wood he can step out any day 
 with his men, utilizing good weather and spare time, if it 
 be but half a day ; he can cut as carefully as he wishes, 
 since his crew is small, usually interested, instructed, and 
 satisfied with whatever wages the work may bring. 
 
 When the lumberman goes out to log in our nortliern 
 states, for instance, he must start in summer, must build 
 camps, cook house, men's quarters, stables, storehouse, 
 and smithy ; a crew of fifty or more men must be hired, 
 and supplies hauled for all his outfit. He must work 
 systematically, so that everybody shall be kept busy, 
 and in good weather or bad he must pay his men defi- 
 nite wages. 
 
 The farmer can draw home his logs, firewood, and 
 fencing or other material whenever the weather and 
 roads are good. His firewood he may pile near the 
 house to season ; liis logs and his old seasoned wood he 
 takes to mill or to town whenever hauling is good. His 
 
62 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 roads are all made, and, just as he cuts, so he hauls when 
 it is convenient, utilizing weather and time to good advan- 
 tage. If the winter is too open or otherwise unfavorable, 
 he does no more than he is obliged to do. 
 
 Once in the woods the lumberman must build roads, 
 clear a landing, and make sure that he has a brook or 
 river capable of floating his logs; otherwise he must 
 build a railway to haul them out. In all cases this 
 item of railway building is very great, amounting gen- 
 erally to twenty per cent and more of all expenses. 
 Then, when once the crew is felling and skidding or, 
 as in the Adirondacks and many of the spruce woods, 
 when once the logs are all skidded, he must haul them 
 out whether there is too much or too little snow, whether 
 the weather is good or bad. If the logs are to be driven 
 down a brook or small stream, a broken dam or a dry 
 season may cause lack of water and prevent the driving, 
 and thus the logs will remain in the woods, involvilig 
 great loss to the owner. 
 
 Again, the farmer forester lives in a settled country, 
 near mills and towns where he can sell his wood, and 
 not an inconsiderable part of his market is in his own 
 household and farm. His market is at home or near by, 
 and transportation to market is practicable for nearly all 
 kinds of his wood materials. 
 
 In many parts of our country the lumberman's logs 
 travel more than a hundred miles before they reach the 
 
RAISmG OPv KEEPING UP THE FOREST 63 
 
 sawinilLs or any settlements where any of the material 
 may be used ; and the greater part of his wood travels 
 several hundred miles, some of it more than a thousand 
 miles, before it reaches the man who is to use it. 
 
 To ship cord wood out of the woods a hundred miles 
 without a railway would, in most cases, cost much more 
 than the wood could be sold for. For this reason the 
 lumberman can often take only the best kinds of logs, 
 and of these only the lighter, which may be floated, like 
 pine in Wisconsin, and must leave hemlock and all hard- 
 woods where they are, to say nothing of dead material, 
 crippled and worthless trees, small poles from thinnings, 
 and the like. 
 
 It seems, then, that the proper care of a small forest in 
 a settled country is quite easy, but that it is very diffi- 
 cult to bestow the proper care upon a large forest in 
 out-of-the-way districts, and that often only the simplest 
 improvements are possible. Of course there must be 
 intermediate cases, and so there are also different degrees 
 of care which can be given to the woods. 
 
 This also teaches us another useful lesson ; it is this : 
 Since cord wood and other cheap material cannot profit- 
 ably be shipped far, and since they cannot be used up to 
 good advantage in unsettled districts, such forests should 
 be made up chiefly of soft woods, pine, spruce, etc., which 
 furnish a small amount of tops and a large amount of 
 light, valuable log material, which pays for long-distance 
 
64 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 shipment. Of old maple, birch, oak, and other hardwoods, 
 only about thirty per cent of all the wood is in valuable 
 logs, and seventy per cent is cheap firewood, while in 
 good pine or spruce over seventy, per cent is usuall}^ cut 
 into valuable logs. 
 
 In managing large pieces of selection forest it is JDCst 
 to treat one part after another, and not to pick all over 
 the tract. Thus, if a man has sixty acres of such forest, 
 he would best cut over about five acres this year, five the 
 next, and so on, and in this way get over the entire sixty 
 acres every twelve years. This would give twelve years' 
 rest to the five acres first cut, during which time there 
 would be no cutting and dragging of logs and other mate- 
 rial, and at the same time the cutting would recur often 
 enough to keep the woods properly thinned and cleaned. 
 
 Starting the Young Grow^th under Seed Trees 
 
 In the selection forest old and young trees are mixed 
 in such an irregular way that it is difficult to know how 
 many trees there are a hundred years old, eighty years 
 old, etc. This makes it difficult to regulate the business 
 of the forest, to know how much is growing, to cut about 
 the same amount of the same kinds and of similar sizes. 
 Moreover, many a fine young tree thirty or forty years old 
 is damaged by the felling of a large neighbor, and many 
 good trees have to be taken out before their time because 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 65 
 
 they were injured in logging. For this reason many 
 foresters have changed this method as follows : 
 
 Suppose a ten-acre stand of spruce or beech has reached 
 the age at which the owner wishes to cut it (maturity, or 
 age of rotation). Instead of cutting only a tree here 
 and there, he thins out the entire stand, taking out about 
 twenty per cent of the trees. After a few years more, 
 when he expects a seed year (a matter which every for- 
 ester watches closely) or when an abundance of seed has 
 been produced during the summer, he cuts out more of the 
 trees, leaving only about fifty to seventy per cent of the 
 original stand, so that the crowns of these trees, which 
 are so tolerant of a great amount of shade, would be sepa- 
 rated by about two or three yards, thereby allowing con- 
 siderable light to get to the ground. The marking out for 
 this cutting (for every tree is marked by the forester) is 
 done in the early fall when the foliage is still on the broad- 
 leaved trees, and the cutting is done the following winter. 
 In the spring the seedlings spring up and grow under the 
 protection of the mother trees, which shield them from sun, 
 wind, and frost. After three years, when the seedlings 
 are well started and are in need of more light, about half 
 of the old trees are cut out ; and a few years later, when 
 the young plants are about one or two feet high, the 
 remaining seed trees are removed, and any spots which 
 have no young plants are stocked with plants from a 
 nursery. In this way the forest is harvested, and a new 
 
66 FIRST BOOK OF FOEESTRY 
 
 growth started under seed trees in the period of about 
 ten or fifteen years, which makes this new crop of trees 
 covering our ten-acre lot near enough of an age to be 
 treated ahke and harvested together, producing a stand of 
 uniform age. Some twenty or thirty years later the stand 
 is thinned for the first time. 
 
 Where the forest consists of a mixture of oak, ash, elm, 
 maple, etc., the method is about the same, only the seed 
 trees are fewer, representing only about half or less of the 
 original stand. Moreover, it is well in these mixed stands 
 to give the young plants more light and remove the last 
 of the seed trees earlier, since the young plants need more 
 light and care less for protection. 
 
 In pine, only about twenty-five to thirty per cent of the 
 trees need to be left for seed trees. Some men leave only 
 about a dozen trees per acre. The seed trees should be 
 removed when the young plants are two years old, since 
 the young pine does not tolerate much shade. 
 
 All kinds of trees can be reproduced in this way, but 
 the success varies considerably with different kinds and in 
 different localities. In Europe, where this method has 
 been tried a long time, it is commonly used for beech and 
 balsam, less often for spruce, seldom for pine and oak. 
 
 In our own country, where land is cheap and labor dear, 
 this method will give good results in all our large pineries, 
 East and West, in the spruce forests of the eastern states 
 and Canada, and in the majority of our hardwood forests. 
 
67 
 
68 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 In our nortliern states, where the oak is more sensitive 
 to shade, it will need to be given a little advantage in order 
 to kee23 elm, maple, etc., from crowding it. Other sensitive 
 trees, like hickory, chestnut, and walnut, need watching 
 and should be planted before the other kinds get started. 
 
 The age at which the trees should be cut — the rotation — 
 naturally varies for different places; it is longer for cold 
 districts and slow-growing trees than for warm localities 
 and rapid growers, and of course it depends also on the 
 size of trees to be raised. In our temperate region and on 
 better soils most of our hardwoods make good-sized timber 
 in an eighty- or one-hundred-year rotation; on poorer 
 lands — mountain districts such as the Adirondacks and 
 Alleghenies — one hundred and fifty to two hundred years 
 are needed. The white pine makes salable material at 
 sixty years, good lumber at one hundred ; the red fir, white 
 cedar, and redwoods of the Pacific will do the same, while 
 spruce and balsam for pulp purposes may be managed on 
 a still shorter rotation. 
 
 In carrying out the method of starting the young growth 
 under seed trees several things should be kept in mind. 
 The pieces of forest which are taken in hand at any one 
 time should not be too large. Thus, if a man had a forest 
 of a thousand acres, worked on a hundred-year rotation, 
 and wished to have it in such order that a fifth of all his 
 woods were between eighty and a hundred years old, a 
 fifth between sixty and eighty years, etc., then he might 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 69 
 
 take two hundred acres in one piece and thin for seed 
 trees, get a new crop started, and harvest everything on 
 the two hundred acres ; then take up the next two hun- 
 dred acres ; and in five twenty-year periods he w^ould 
 have harvested and renewed the woods on the entire 
 thousand acres. But this would not be good ; most likely 
 his large open stand of seed trees would invite the winds ; 
 the old trees would blow down, and the young trees 
 suffer from drought. For this reason it would be much 
 better to pick out five forty-acre or ten twenty-acre 
 pieces, and treat each by itself. To pick these cuttings, 
 or, as they have been called, '' felling areas," is not always 
 a simple thing and requires good judgment as well as a 
 knowledge of the woods and the lay of the land. 
 
 Generally it is better in our country to work from east 
 to west, to prevent the regular west and northwest winds 
 from throwing the trees ; but in a hilly country tliis must 
 be modified. In picking out the cuttings it is but natural 
 that pieces where considerable young growth exists come 
 first ; and also that a really thrifty stand of timber is left 
 and a less thrifty one taken instead, since the latter is 
 not growing as much timber as it should, and, therefore, 
 is not earning so much rent. 
 
 On all points where the wind is likely to do much dam- 
 age, and also in the Ijorder of the woods, it is better to use 
 the simple selection method by which the woods are left 
 more intact, and are, therefore, more resistant. 
 
70 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Wherever it is possible, as in all small woods in settled 
 districts, care should be taken not to leave fail places or 
 empty spots, and if the young growth has not started 
 well or evenly, planting from a nursery should help out. 
 
 Where this method is to be introduced in our own wild- 
 woods of mixed stands the work must be suited to the 
 case. If, for instance, we have a sixty-acre piece of 
 woods, there would most likely be some parts stocked 
 with old trees, some other parts where old and young 
 are mixed, and some pieces where the ground is covered 
 largely with young trees. 
 
 In this case it would be best to begin on the pieces of 
 old timber. But since the crowns of our old trees are so 
 very large, the directions about having the crowns three 
 to five yards apart for seed trees could not easily be fol- 
 lowed. The cutting of a large oak would often separate 
 the neighbors by twelve yards or more. For this reason 
 the large trees would be picked over, so that a selection 
 system would be applied at the start. But instead of 
 coming back at long intervals, the selection here would be 
 repeated as often as the gaps are restocked with young 
 growth. In this way one piece after another is renewed. 
 If it were desirable to have the woods in a regular shape, 
 and have it renewed in five twenty-year periods, of course 
 one fifth, or twelve acres, would have to be cut over and 
 renewed during twenty years. At first this would not be 
 very strictly adhered to, and if the regular cutting does 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 71 
 
 not furnish enough timber, or if any of the other parts of 
 this piece of woods are in need of thinning or cleaning, 
 the cutting would be extended to these parts. 
 
 In large woods the forester would need a map wherein 
 he could readily see just what condition every acre is in, so 
 that he might study and plan the work at his house. In 
 carrying out the plans the cuttings would be marked out 
 in the woods as well as on the map. 
 
 To make this map requires not only a survey in which 
 boundary lines are run, as in ordinary surveying, but 
 it needs an examination and an estimate, or better, a 
 measuring of the trees, — all of them, if they are very 
 valuable, or at least of sample pieces or stands ; and it 
 also requires a careful noting of any young growth, and 
 a description of the land, the slope, the soil, the drainage. 
 Whether the ground is covered with grass, weeds, and 
 shrubbery, or is bare, should also be indicated, for all 
 this knowledge is helpful and even necessary to a proper 
 planning of the work. 
 
 Starting the Young Growth by Seeding from 
 
 THE Side 
 
 Along the Potomac, in Maryland, many old fields which 
 were cleared and tilled in the time of George Washing- 
 ton are covered to-day by dense stands of jack pine. In 
 the same w^ay numerous old, abandoned fields in North 
 
72 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Carolina and Virginia are covered with pine. In this 
 case the pine is a iine tree, called by the people of those 
 districts shortleaf pine, and on account of its disposition 
 to cover old fields it is also called old-field pine. It is 
 cut in large quantities for saw-logs, and it is not an 
 unusual sight to see men log this pine on land where the 
 old corn rows are still visible. Evidently the seed from 
 which these pine trees sprang came from the neighboring 
 forest and was blown across the fields. Being so success- 
 ful in many cases, this way of reproducing the forest has 
 been used by the forester, and since the seed comes from the 
 neighboring forests, the ground is seeded from the side and 
 not under the seed trees, as in the method described before. 
 In using this method it is customary to fell all trees on 
 a strip fifty to seventy-five yards wide, or about twice as 
 wide as the trees are high, and then to wait until the 
 strip is fairly covered with young seedling growth ; then 
 to cut another strip, widening the original strip by another 
 seventy-five yards, and so on, until the entire piece is cut 
 over. Of course any young growth is saved as much as 
 possible in cutting the timber, and in valuable forests any 
 places which are not covered within a reasonable time, 
 say three to six years, are filled by planting. Since the 
 seed is carried by the wind, it is well to extend the strips 
 north and south, and begin on any particular piece along 
 the east line, so that the prevailing westerly winds will 
 carry the seed over the strip. 
 
RAISING OR KEEPINa UP THE FOREST 
 
 73 
 
 Where the forest is large there are as many strips 
 worked at once as is necessary to cover the entire forest 
 within the time of rotation. Thus, if we want the pine to 
 be cut when eighty years old, and always allow each strip 
 
 Fi<;. 25, Xatural Seeding from the Side 
 Young pine encroaching on cleared land. (After Bureau of Forestry) 
 
 five years' rest to seed and start a young growth, the 
 forest might be divided into a number of parcels such that 
 each parcel would be about sixteen strips wide, and this 
 could be cut in eighty years' time. 
 
74 
 
 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY' 
 
 Where the wood is still in the ordinary irregular mixture 
 of old and young trees the larger trees on the western 
 half of each parcel would grow old and produce too little 
 wood before the time for cutting, and it is better to take 
 out the oldest timber all over the parcel from time to time 
 whenever convenient, independently of the regular cut- 
 ting on the strips. If it is desirable to cut about the same 
 amount of timber every year, as, for instance, where a pulp 
 mill or sawmill is dependent on such regular supply, it is 
 necessary with this, as with all methods, that the yearly cut 
 should not be greater than the yearly growth. In woods 
 where too much timber is young sapling stuff the cut must 
 at first be kept proportionately below the normal amount. 
 Just what this cut should be can only be found by making 
 such a survey as was indicated in the previous chaj)ter. 
 
 What this growth should be can be learned from the 
 following table : 
 
 FOR PINE 
 
 NuMBEK OF Cords of "Wood (Logs and Cord Wood) which may be expected on 
 One Acre of Land if properly covered 
 
 When the Stand 
 is Old 
 
 On Site JVb. 1, or Good 
 Pine Land 
 
 On Site No. 3, or Inferior 
 Pine Land 
 
 Years 
 
 Cords 
 
 Cords 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 80 
 
 100 
 
 40 
 
 70 
 
 95 
 
 110 
 
 25 
 40 
 55 
 65 
 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 75 
 
 Since much of this wood in our forests is wasted, the 
 entire top being left in the woods, the slab and sawdust 
 being usually burned as rubbish, it requires about three 
 cords, or about two hundred and seventy cubic feet (solid), 
 to make one thousand feet board measure. 
 
 Thus, even on the poorer land, our stand of pine would 
 cut about thirteen thousand feet board measure per acre 
 when sixty years old. In most of our Virginia and North 
 Carolina pineries it would do much better. Generally, 
 however, even well-kept woods are not fully stocked, and 
 if a fully stocked wood cuts a hundred cords, a forest in 
 which only seven tenths of the ground is covered with 
 trees would cut only seven tenths of that amount, or 
 seventy cords. 
 
 Dense woods of beech or spruce, or both in mixture, cut 
 more than pine, and most of our mixed hardwoods grow- 
 ing on better soil could be made to cut at least as much 
 as the pine. 
 
 Seeding from the side can, of course, be expected to 
 succeed only with trees like tJie pine, spruce, red fir, cedar, 
 birch, poplar, elm, and others the seed of which is light 
 enough to be blown some distance. 
 
 In Europe, where it has been tried, this method has not 
 given general satisfaction ; the soil is exposed too long to 
 sun and wind and thus loses of its fertility ; grass, weeds, 
 and bramble cover the suimy eastern edge of the strip, 
 and often the seeding is too imperfect for those countries 
 
76 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 where land is very valuable and must never be left idle. 
 In our own country Nature indicates the use of this method 
 for a large portion of the pineries of the South, and parts 
 of the Rockies, and also in the red fir forests of the 
 Pacific coast, where millions of acres of burns have been 
 most beautifully restocked in this manner without any care 
 on the part of man. The chief advantages of this method 
 are that it does away with the tedious marking ; that, in 
 felling, the men are not hampered by the fear of injuring 
 young growth or standing timber ; and that the skidding 
 and hauling is not interfered with by standing timber and 
 young growth, and therefore can be done much cheaper. 
 
 Starting the Young Growth by Artificial 
 Planting or Sowin(^ 
 
 On many of the old farms in Massachusetts, New 
 Hampshire, and other eastern states, portions of the land 
 have become worn out by long tillage and use. They 
 became pastures and, finally, almost useless brush lands. 
 Some of these were planted or sowed to white pine, and 
 land which sixty years ago was worth almost nothing to 
 its owner, since it could earn no rental worth mention, is 
 now covered with a forest of white pine worth one hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars and more per acre. 
 
 This way of dealing with the forest, to cut clean and 
 then replant, is a common method in European countries 
 
Fig. 26. White-Pine Cone, Seed, and Seedling 
 
 a, cone: b, seed with wing; c, d, e, plant of first season : /', plant two years old 
 
 (After Division of Forestry) 
 77 
 
78 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 and much used in the pineries of North Germany, and in the 
 spruce forests of Saxony and other districts. In our own 
 country this method has not yet been used systematically 
 in the care of forests, but many thousands of acres of 
 what was formerly forest lands and large areas of prairie 
 land have been planted and converted into useful forests. 
 
 The method is the simplest ; the logging can be done at 
 any time, in the cheapest manner, and the reproduction or 
 starting of a new growth is simple and satisfactory. 
 
 With the natural seeding under seed trees or in clear 
 strips one spot has thousands of seedlings on a few square 
 rods, so that not one plant in a hundred can ^^ossibly hve ; 
 and the next spot is left without any growth and must 
 either be left idle or be replanted. All this is avoided by 
 planting, for if done well it is usually successful, and the 
 plants are sufficient in number and yet do not crowd each 
 other. They therefore grow fast and symmetrically, with 
 good healthy crowns, and the sticks are not so slender as 
 if grown in dense thickets. 
 
 Since this method requires a large number of plants, 
 we shall have to learn something about tree seeds, where 
 and how to get them, how to raise plants, and how to 
 plant them. 
 
 Nursery and Planting. — The seeds of most of our forest 
 trees are still so high in price at seed stores that it is 
 well to collect them whenever possible. Thus, the seed of 
 our pines, spruces, and cedars costs from two dollars to 
 
RAISING OK KKKPING VV 'raE FOREST 79 
 
 five dollars per pound : that of ash, maple, and birch 
 from one dollar to two dollars, and even acorns cost 
 twenty-five cents and more per pound. It pays, there- 
 fore, to gather our own seed ; for, besides being cheaper, 
 the "seeds we gather are fresh and, being matured in 
 our own locality, are apt to furnish plants well suited to 
 
 our climate. 
 
 There are a few kinds like the elms, the willows, the 
 poplars, and also the silver and red maples which ripen 
 their seeds in spring and early summer ; Init most trees 
 ripen their seed in the fall, the majority in September and 
 October. Some kinds bear seed nearly every year ; most 
 kinds bear every two or three years with a specially good 
 seed vear at longer intervals. 
 
 Large seeds, like those of oak, beech, chestnut, hickory, 
 and walnut, can be picked up when they fall, and the 
 same is true of the pods of locusts and catalpa. The seeds 
 of basswood, maple, and ash may be beaten off the tree 
 and caught on a sheet spread out on the ground ; or they 
 can be gathered by cutting the best bearing twigs witli 
 shears, either from the ground or from a ladder. 
 
 This way of cutting the twigs or picking off seeds is 
 the best also for elm and for trees where the seeds are 
 in cones or balls, as with the yellow poplar (tulip poplar), 
 sweet gum, sycamore, birches, and conifers. The seed of 
 willows and poplars rarely needs to be gathered, as these 
 trees are easily grown from cuttings. 
 
80 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 The seeds which ripen in spring and early summer, 
 as those of elm, poplar, and willow, must be sown as 
 soon as ripe, for they do not retain their vitality very 
 long. 
 
 The small cones of birch, yellow or tulip poplar, and 
 balsams fall apart easily when dry, and then the seeds 
 and scales (chaff) may be separated ; but the cones of 
 pine, spruce, larch or tamarack, hemlock, and white 
 cedars remain intact and have to be dried, preferably 
 in a warm room, until the scales open and let the seeds 
 drop out. 
 
 After we have gathered the few kinds of seeds from 
 which we wish to raise plants we have to take care of 
 them, for seeds are not only eagerly eaten by mice, but 
 they spoil by drying out or by heating and molding. 
 
 Different seeds jjehave very differently in this respect. 
 The seeds of pine, spruce, and other conifers may be kept 
 in bags hung up in a dry, cool shed, but the majority of 
 seeds of broadleaf kinds, especially all the fleshier ones, 
 are best kept in sand. 
 
 For this purpose the bottom of an ordinary box is cov- 
 ered with a two-inch layer of sand (not dry, but moist 
 like ordinary earth); then a layer of seeds one half to 
 one inch thick is spread out on the sand ; this is covered 
 with a two-inch layer of sand, then a layer of seed, and 
 so forth. When filled the box is nailed up and may then 
 be placed in a cool cellar or else put into a pit dug in the 
 
KAISING OR KEEPING UP THE EOKEST 
 
 81 
 
 garden, deep enough to receive the entire box. After the 
 box is set in, earth is shoveled over it to cover it at least 
 six inches deep and make a small mound to shed the 
 water. This should be still further guarded by a covering 
 of boards or slabs. The seed thus kept should be sowed 
 immediately after it is taken out in the spring. 
 
 To save the trouble of keeping the seed over till spring, 
 it is often better, where mice ai'e not too numerous, to 
 
 Fm. 27. Drill Board 
 a, board ; b, cleat to make the drill : c, upright hoard with handle, d 
 
 sow the seeds in the fall. This may well l)e done with 
 all fleshy seeds, like those of oak, beech, chestnut, hickory, 
 walnut, maple, ash, etc., l)iit seeds of conifers and most 
 seeds which can stand only a very thin covci' of eartli 
 should be kept till spring. 
 
82 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Seed Bed. — To raise plants of broad-leaved trees any good 
 garden beds will do ; for pine and other conifers most gar- 
 dens have too mnch stable manure^ and a small spot in the 
 woods is often better. Broad-leaved kinds need a good 
 loam, bnt can stand qnite heavy clay ; but the conifers 
 fare better on a sandy soil. All seed beds should be 
 plowed or spaded deeply to loosen the soil for the roots, 
 and the land should be well fertihzed with phosphate 
 of lune, well rotted compost, or forest mold. All this 
 is easily done where only a few thousand plants are to be 
 raised ; for a bed four by twelve feet is capable of producing 
 a thousand or more of such plants as pine and spruce. 
 
 For this reason some prefer raising tree seedlings in 
 boxes in the house, or under glass, and in many cases 
 this way is the cheapest and most convenient. Of course 
 where a large forest has to be supphed every year with 
 plants it is necessary to have a large nursery. 
 
 Solving. — In sowing large seeds it is generally better 
 to plant in drills, which may be made with a narrow gar- 
 den hoe; but for small seeds the drills should be pressed 
 into the ground with a drill board, shown in Fig. 27, where 
 the two cleats make the drills. In boxes and wdiere space 
 is valuable broadcast sowing may be employed. With 
 most of the l)road-leaved kinds the drills should not be 
 closer than twelve inches ; for conifers six inches suffices. 
 
 As soon as they are in tlie ground, conifer seeds should 
 be covered about one half inch ; maple, ash, etc., about 
 
83 
 
84 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 one iiicli; oak, hickory, walnut, and also black locust, 
 about two inches. An old rule says that tree seeds 
 should have a cover tliree times as deep as the seed is 
 thick. After covering, it is well to roll or press the sur- 
 face of the ground with a board or roller. To prevent the 
 drying out of the ground it is best to give the seed bed 
 a cover of brush or else cover it with a screen. (See 
 Fig. 28.) This screen is placed on the ground until the 
 seedlings push out of the soil ; then it should be raised, 
 at first four inches, later on twelve inches for conifers, 
 and for broad-leaved trees two feet, so as not to hinder 
 the plants in their growth. This screen protects the 
 plants against sun and wind, and thus keeps them from 
 drying out. 
 
 Some broad-leaved trees and also the pine can some- 
 times be raised without the screen, but all kinds do better 
 if thus protected ; while some kinds, like spruce and bal- 
 sam, do not get on well without it, and should have it all 
 of the first and at least part of the second year. 
 
 Many seeds will germinate within a few weeks after 
 sowing ; some few, like ash, basswood, larch, and even 
 white pine, often ^' lie over," ^.e., a j)art of the seed does 
 not come up until the second year. To prevent this the 
 seed should be soaked for several days before sowing. 
 
 The majority of fresh or properly kept tree seeds are 
 good, and from sixty to eighty per cent of all seeds may 
 be expected to germinate ; Imt of those of balsams, birch, 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 85 
 
 elm, asb, and maple generally less than half are good, 
 while of yellow poplar seed ninety per cent is commonly 
 worthless. 
 
 The number of plants which are obtained from a pound 
 of seed depends, of course, on the number of seeds in a 
 pound, on the per cent of good seeds, and also on the 
 vigor of the seedlings. 
 
 The number of seeds in a pound varies within wide 
 limits. In the light and winged seed of birch there are 
 over four hundred thousand grains to the pound ; in Nor- 
 way, shortleaf, and Scotch pine, red fir, and spruce, about 
 seventy thousand ; in white pine, about thirty thousand ; 
 in white ash, about ten thousand ; in basswood and sugar 
 maple, about seven thousand, while in walnuts there are 
 only about thirty nuts per jDound. In sowing, the seeds 
 should be well spaced so that about three to five grains 
 of coniferous seeds come to one linear inch of the drill. 
 Acorns and nuts are dropped about two to three inches 
 apart, and in the case of most of the smaller seeds of 
 broad-leaved trees one to three seeds are sown to each 
 inch of drill. 
 
 Seedlings. — If properly cared for, i.e.^ hoed, weeded, 
 and, if need be, watered, and carefully sheltered, the 
 little seedlings should take a firm hold of the ground 
 and become fully established during the first summer. 
 Pine, spruce, and other conifers generally remain small 
 the first season, usually growing to a height of only one 
 
86 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 and a half to three inches ; those of most of the broad- 
 leaved kinds in the temperate zone of our country grow 
 usually to a height of six to twelve inches the first year, 
 
 Fig. '29. Seedlings. (All two years old and about three feet high) 
 a, maple; b, box elder; c, aspen 
 
 and some of them, like catalpa, black locust, and the 
 walnuts, grow commonly to a height of twelve to twenty- 
 four inches. 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 87 
 
 During cloudy weather and in the fall the screens should 
 be removed or used sparingly, to give the seedlings suffi- 
 cient light. During the winter the tiny little plantlets 
 of conifers may be protected with a cover of branches or 
 leaves, but generally they do well enough without cover. 
 
 Fig. oO. Plaiitiuu' in Old Burned-over Shish Land in Adirondacks 
 
 For the taller, Ijroad-leaved seedlings a '' hilling iij) " is 
 usually desirable, and where tender kinds, such as hickory 
 and chestnut, are to be raised in colder localities a cover 
 of brush and straw is desirable. 
 
 Planting. — The plants of such ti'ees as the elm, catalpa. 
 and black locust, and most of our hardwoods may Avell 
 
88 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 be set out in the woods when one year old ; and even 
 beech and pine do well if set out at this age. Pine plants 
 do better if set out when two years old, and spruce and 
 balsam in their third year. When it is desirable to have 
 stout and hardy plants, as in planting on poor soil or in 
 places exposed to wind and sun, it is best to take the 
 plants from the seed bed when one, or even better, when 
 two, years old and set them in another bed in the garden, 
 giving them more space. This transplanting makes stout, 
 bushy, long-rooted plants, and is much used in raising 
 spruce, balsam, and oak. Generally it costs as much to 
 transplant a thousand plants as it costs to raise them in 
 the seed bed to the second year. 
 
 Where the trees are set out on forest soil with stumps 
 and small brush and rotten logs and other rubbish in the 
 way, they are placed wherever there is good space, but 
 preferabl}^ not closer than live feet apart. The planting 
 is best done by two men, one digging the holes with a 
 mattock, the other setting out the trees. 
 
 The plant should not be set deeper than it stood in the 
 seed l)ed ; the soil must be filled in neatly and firmly 
 about the roots, so that the plant cannot readily be lifted 
 out by the top after planting. In this w^ay two men can 
 plant eight to twelve hundred small plants per day. By 
 using the spadelike iron shown in Fig. ol,B, where the hole 
 is made by one thrust, the plant held in l)y a boy, and 
 the hole closed by a second thrust, the two men can plant 
 
KAISING Oil KEEPING VV THE FOHEST 
 
 89 
 
 as many as iifteen to twenty hundred per day. This 
 method does very well in sandy soil and with two- to 
 three-year-old conifers. 
 
 On prairies, where the land may first be plowed and 
 harrowed, the trees may be set in regular rows, and the 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ficr. :n. Plaiitiiiu- Tools 
 
 A, ax-mattock, one of the best tools used in the woods; B, planting dibble, 
 used in loose soil and for s)uall plants 
 
 larger plants of broad-leaved kinds may well l)e set out 
 in furrows. 
 
 In all kinds of planting, but especially with pine, 
 spruce, and other conifers, the greatest difficulty is found 
 usually in trying to keep the plants in a fresh, healthy 
 condition. If they are bought at a nursery, a thousand 
 
90 FIRST BOOK OF FOREST RV 
 
 or more miles away, they are apt to heat and mold if 
 |)acked too closely, and dry out if packed too loosely. 
 The best method is probably to ship them in large bas- 
 kets, packed in bundles and with the roots wrapped with 
 damp moss. Seedlings of pine, spruce, and other coni- 
 fers should never be allow^ed to dry at their roots ; in 
 fact, a few minutes of such drying in bright sunlight is 
 often enough to kill them. 
 
 During planting, the bunch of seedlings carried along 
 should not be held in the hand but kept in a pail with 
 wet moss and a little water, and in warm, sunny weather 
 the pail should have a cover of wet sacking. The broad- 
 leaved kinds are much more hardy, but in all cases success 
 in planting depends on keeping the plants fresh. Planting 
 in spring is universally preferred, though fall planting is 
 often equally good. 
 
 Sowing in the Forest. — Where seed is cheap and where 
 the soil is in good condition, as on newly clean-cut forest 
 land, many people prefer to sow the seed directly on the 
 land and thus save all the trouble of raising plants. 
 With the seeds of oak, chestnut, hickory, walnut, beech, 
 locust, maple, ash, and basswood this is a very good way ; 
 and even for pine and spruce excellent results are obtained 
 by this method. In sowing, the man hoes small spots 
 about twenty-four inclies square, scraping the ground a 
 little toward the center to make this part the highest ; 
 he then drops three to five seeds in about the middle and 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 91 
 
 covers them lightly, presshig the ground afterward with 
 the hoe. In this way he goes back and forth, sowing 
 wherever there is room, bnt so that the spots are at least 
 
 Fig. 32. Pine Grove from Planted Seed 
 (After Graves) 
 
 five feet apart. Where mice are numerous, and where 
 insects, sun, and wind, together with a poor soil, combine 
 to injure the seedlings, this method is not reliable. 
 
92 riEST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 Occasionally wild seedlings may be found in great 
 abundance in the woods. When these plants are still 
 small, i.e., from one to two years old, they usually thrive 
 if transplanted ; but older j^lants, especially if taken from 
 rather dark woods, are generally too spindling and rarely 
 do well. 
 
 Po|)lars and willows are best started by cuttings. These 
 are pieces of young shoots, one to two years old, gathered 
 in March and cut into twelve-inch pieces. These pieces 
 are bundled and then buried until spring o]3ens, when 
 they are set out either in the garden, if we wish plants, 
 or else at once in the woods, where they are to remain 
 permanently. In the garden they may be planted in a 
 trench made with spade or plow ; and in the woods they 
 are stuck into a slanting hole made with the spade, about 
 two inches of the cutting being left to project from the hole. 
 In both cases the earth is packed firmly by tamping. 
 
 In our prairie regions, of course, all trees must be 
 planted ; the forest is yet to be made. Here planting, 
 chiefly of broad-leaved kinds, has proved most successful. 
 Later on, when the woods exist, conifers may be added. 
 
 In our forest lands such trees as poplar, willow, birch, 
 elm, and even maple, basswood, and ash, need introduc- 
 tion here and there ; but in our hardwood forests they 
 will usually be numerous enough without special care. 
 
 Hickory, walnut, and even oak, chestnut, and beech 
 may well Ije started Ijy planting the seed ; thus, generally, 
 
RAISING OR KEEPING UP THE FOREST 
 
 93 
 
 the main object of forest nurseries is to produce conifers 
 and only secondarily to start such kinds as do not exist 
 in a given locality, or common broad-leaved trees for poor 
 soils and difficult waste lands. 
 
 The method of cutting clean and replanting, though 
 used successfully for many years and in many places, and 
 used in forests 
 which have paid 
 the highest yearly 
 rental of any in the 
 world, has, never- 
 theless, been criti- 
 cised by many for- 
 esters. Usually it is 
 claimed that it costs 
 too much ; that it 
 leaves the ground 
 bare for several 
 years and thus 
 exposes it to sun 
 
 and wind* and Pig. 33. An Oak Grove from Artificial Seeding 
 finally, that it (After Graves) 
 
 induces the people to grow forests composed of one kind 
 of trees, either spruce alone or pine alone, and thus 
 increases the danger from insects and disease ; for if a 
 spruce forest is attacked ])j a spruce-loving caterpillar, 
 the insect finds so much food tliat its lumibers increase 
 
94 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 all the more rapidly, and a whole forest may be destroyed. 
 Experience in Saxony, involving thousands of acres annu- 
 ally, shows that planting is not costly, for it costs there 
 only about two per cent of the total or gross income of 
 the forest. But even if it should not be well to clear oft" 
 large tracts of forest and then replant, it will be safe to 
 do so on better lands in a temperate climate and for small 
 areas ; and it is probable, also, that it will prove satisfac- 
 tory for larger areas situated near good markets, like some 
 of our spruce forests which supply pulp mills in their midst. 
 
 Aside from this it will always be found not only help- 
 ful, but even necessary, to assist Nature in restocking the 
 forest ; for, however carefully dealt with, mistakes produce 
 fail places, and tlierefore every one who cares for a forest 
 should know how to plant and sow and should at all 
 times be ready to do so. 
 
 It would be misleading, however, to infer that the 
 planting of forests is always profitable in the ordinary 
 sense of the word. Like the pioneer's clearing of forests 
 for plowland, and like the farmer's labor of raising the 
 bread and meat of the nation, so the planting and raising 
 of forests, though one of the most necessary of human 
 occupations, rarely produces those large returns which a 
 speculative age expects from a " paying " investment. 
 But like the conversion of the wilderness into productive 
 farms and pleasant homes, so the planting of the forest 
 is sure to reward in the end. 
 
RAISING or. KEEPING UP THE F0PE8T 05 
 
 Review of Methods of starting New Growth 
 
 IN Forests 
 
 We have now looked over the various ways which dif- 
 ierent ])eople employ to keep up ditierent kinds of forests. 
 Of course every one of these principal ways may be, and 
 actually is, modified or changed by different men to suit 
 particular cases. In this way there are a good many kinds 
 of coppice, using different trees and different rotations ; 
 one man leaves only a few trees in his standard coppice, 
 another holds over so many trees that the standard coppice 
 approaches the timber forest. In the same way one man 
 picks over his whole tract of selection forest every year ; 
 another works one fourth of it until this fourth is all cut 
 over and stocked with new growth, and then goes to the 
 next fourth, etc. In this way his selection forest becomes 
 more regular and approaches the common method of 
 starting the young growth under seed trees. 
 
 We have learned, too, that whatever the system of 
 management may be, the starting of a new growth — 
 the reproduction, the keeping up of the forest — is the 
 main feature in the mind of the forester, and his methods 
 are described, named, and compared with this chief object 
 in view. 
 
 The table on the following page will help us to fix in 
 our memory the principal methods of reproduction, each 
 giving rise to a particular form of forest. 
 
96 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FOHESTRY 
 
 THE SIX PRINCIPAL METHODS OF REPRODUCTION 
 
 Method 
 
 1. Coppice 
 
 2. Standard 
 Coppice 
 
 3. Selection 
 
 Under 
 Seed Trees 
 
 Natural 
 Seeding 
 from the 
 Side 
 
 a. 
 
 Artificial 
 SeediJif/ or 
 Planting 
 
 How THE Cutting 
 
 IS DONE 
 
 All trees are out off 
 
 Part of the trees are 
 held over to grow 
 to larger size, and 
 are cut at the end 
 of the second or 
 third rotation 
 
 The largest and old- 
 est trees and also 
 the worthless and 
 crowding younger 
 trees are picked out 
 
 The piece of land is 
 cut over two to four 
 times within 10-20 
 years ; the first cut 
 merely thins out, 
 the second leaves 
 only the seed trees, 
 the third cut gives 
 light to the young 
 growth, the fourth 
 cut removes the last 
 of the old trees 
 
 Strips 50-75 yards 
 wide are cut clean 
 and left until 
 seeded, when a new 
 strip is cleared 
 
 All timber is cut 
 
 The Trees 
 start ekom 
 
 Sprouts 
 
 Main crop from 
 sprouts, the 
 standards i)re- 
 ferably from 
 seed or plants 
 
 Mostly from 
 seed 
 
 Seed 
 
 Seed carried by 
 the wind from 
 neighboring- 
 forest 
 
 Seed, or nursery 
 plants 
 
 Where the Method 
 mav be used 
 
 Only for broad-leaved trees, 
 preferably oak and chest- 
 nut, on fairly good forest 
 soil and in mild climate 
 
 Same as coppice. For 
 standards use oak, chest- 
 nut, ash, also pine 
 
 For all kinds of forests, on 
 all kinds of land, and for 
 cold and warm climates. 
 The best way for difficult 
 mountain forests and 
 wherever it is hard to 
 keep forest growth 
 
 All kinds of forests, less 
 good in cold climate, on 
 l>oor soil, and in exposed 
 (storm-beaten) places 
 
 Only with trees which have 
 light seed, — pine, spruce, 
 red fir, white cedars, elm, 
 birch, poplar, etc., — and 
 only in warmer localities 
 and where seed falls 
 abundantly and regu- 
 larly, and where the soil 
 is not covered too badly 
 with grass and brush 
 
 All kinds of forests, good 
 and poor soil, cold and 
 warm climate. Simplifies 
 the business, makes cheap 
 logging, and prevents 
 useless crowding of young 
 plants 
 
CARE AND PEOTECTION OF THE FOEEST 97 
 
 CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 
 
 A piece of wildwoods, as we have seen, may do very 
 well without the care of man ; young growth will start up 
 where old trees die and fall ; in the dense thickets the 
 more vigorous choke out the weaker, the taller shade 
 down the shorter ; the tolerant crowd out the intolerant. 
 A gap made by the storm is filled in sooner or later by 
 trees starting as sprouts, or by trees whose seeds have 
 been carried there by the wind. Large openings made by 
 fire are restocked, here slower, there faster, according to 
 the circumstances ; and large areas of forest destroyed by 
 some caterpillar are gradually reforested by those kinds 
 which this particular insect does not feed upon. This 
 would seem to tell us that forests need no care. But this 
 is true only if we are satisfied with the small amount of 
 good growth which most wildwoods make. Where man 
 wishes the forest to produce a larger amount of wood and 
 wood of particular kinds and sizes, more or less care is 
 necessary. In the stately forests of red fir and cedar of 
 the Puget Sound country, where a good forest soil, mild 
 and humid climate, and excellent kinds of forest trees 
 combine to make a forester's paradise, a little care might 
 suffice ; but even in these districts the old trees hinder the 
 young, and the young trees crowd each other, and thus 
 the trees themselves call for help, for interference, for 
 improvement. 
 
98 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Besides this the farmer with his thirty acres of woods 
 is not satisfied with the philosophic view that, in the wild 
 state, forests gradually right themselves ; he must know 
 what he had better do to protect his woods against fire 
 and insects, and how to treat them to make them more 
 resistant against wind, snow, and frost. 
 
 Thinning and Cleaning 
 
 Going over a newly planted piece of young pine where 
 the little plants are five feet apart, we see that each of 
 these has more than twenty times as much space as it 
 needs. If we come back five years later, we find the little 
 bushy-topped trees beginning to touch each other. Ten 
 years later we find here a thicket of saplings, twenty feet 
 and more in height, the lower limbs mostly dead, and the 
 short crowns firmly locked. The struggle has begun, and 
 if no trees are taken out, the stronger choke the weaker ; 
 but, and this is the serious part, the weaker also hurt the 
 stronger by using u]) some of the much-needed water and 
 mineral food from the soil and hindering the growth of 
 both limb and root. 
 
 If we return again ten years later, we find a large 
 number of trees dead. Others are dying, and the living 
 trees have grown taller and their stems have fewer dead 
 limbs. The trees have " cleaned " more perfectly, but 
 they have grown but little in thickness ; th^y are a 
 
CARE AN]) PROTKCTIOX OK THE FOREST 
 
 09 
 
 spindling lot of thin poles with a little crown of green 
 limbs altogether too small for thrifty growth. A glance 
 shows that the stand is suffering and that help is needed. 
 
 
 1 4 2 5 3 
 
 Which should come outV 
 (After Kraft) 
 
 Here then would be our first thinning, and the question 
 arises, What shall we take out ? 
 
 A study of Fig. 34 will help us. Here the strongest trees 
 are marked No. 1 ; they represent tliose exceptionally 
 LofC. 
 
100 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 vigorous ones which project above the general level of the 
 canopy of the woods. The three next best trees are marked 
 as No. 2 ; they represent the tlirifty trees whose crowns 
 make up the body of the canopy. Let us call the trees 
 of class No. 1 and No. 2 the dominant trees. The trees 
 No. 3 are weaker ; they form a small part of the canopy 
 and give little promise of ever making good trees. Those 
 of No. 4 are being crowded out, and those like No. 5 are 
 dying or dead. 
 
 If our piece of forest were twenty-five years old and 
 the trees about thirty feet in height and we might thin 
 out every ten years, we should take out only trees of the 
 fourth and fifth classes ; and also such trees of the third 
 class, and even of larger size, as interfered evidently with 
 some better trees. This would be repeated in ten, in 
 twenty, etc., years, until the timber should be cut. 
 
 In places where the pole wood cut during the first and 
 second thinning could not be sold, this process would 
 cost some money; for the material cut in the thinnings 
 should really be taken out to prevent the development 
 of too many injurious beetles. For this reason a more 
 thorougli thinning would, in most cases, be better ; and 
 then most of the trees of even tlie third class would ])e 
 taken out. 
 
 Where the young growth starts from natural seeding, 
 so tliat often twenty and more trees start on one square 
 foot, the crowding begins very early and it would be 
 
CARE AND PEOTECTION OF THE FOREST 101 
 
 better if the majority of little plants were taken out or 
 destroyed before tliey are a foot high. To do this well 
 would cost too much, and the forester usually leaves the 
 thicket to itself until it is about twenty years old, when he 
 thins it out in much the same way as described above. 
 
 Fig. '35. Thinned, luit will need it again 
 
 To get a better idea as to how nmch ought to be cut 
 it may be said that for pine on good pine land there ought 
 not to be left more than ten trees on one square rod at the 
 age of twenty, four at forty, two at sixty, and one at a 
 hundred years, as tabulated on the following page. 
 
102 
 
 FIKST BOOK OF EORESTKY 
 
 THE NUMBER OF TREES ON ONE ACRE IF FULLY STOCKED 
 
 
 For 
 
 Pine 
 
 For Spruce 
 
 "When the Stand 
 IS Old 
 
 
 
 
 
 On a Good Site 
 
 On an Inferior 
 Site 
 
 On a Good Site 
 
 On an Inferior 
 Site 
 
 20 years , 
 
 1600 
 
 2000 
 
 
 
 
 
 40 '• . . . 
 
 700 
 
 1200 
 
 1000 
 
 2000 
 
 60 " . . . 
 
 300 
 
 600 
 
 500 
 
 800 
 
 80 "... 
 
 200 
 
 350 
 
 300 
 
 400 
 
 100 "... 
 
 175 
 
 250 
 
 250 
 
 300 
 
 120 "... 
 
 150 
 
 200 
 
 225 
 
 275 
 
 
 By. dividing these figures by 160 (the number of square 
 rods in an acre) we can readily find how many trees we 
 may leave on one square rod. 
 
 Many foresters are guided by the crowns and thin just 
 enough to keep the crowns from crowding. 
 
 Naturally enough, trees which, like spruce, balsam, 
 beech, and maple, can tolerate much shade, are thinned 
 later, and must be thinned less thoroughly, if they are 
 to clean themselves and grow smooth stems, than the 
 intolerant kinds, which clean more easily. On the whole, 
 thinning is one of the most difficult things the forester 
 has to learn, and much good sense and care, as well as 
 experience, are needed to do it well. 
 
 That injured and crippled trees and also those with 
 unduly spreading crowns should be taken out is self- 
 evident. After a thinning our woods should be evenly 
 and well stocked with as perfect trees as can be produced. 
 
103 
 
104 ElKST BOOK OF FOKESTKY 
 
 PeOTECTIOX xVGAlNST IXJUKY FROM THE ELEMENTS 
 
 Fire. — For our American forests, fire has been, and is 
 even now, the most dangerous enemy. When the white 
 man first came to this country he found an undisturbed con- 
 tinuous forest covering the eastern United States. When 
 the " cruisers " of forty years ago located timber lands 
 in Michigan and Wisconsin there were few extensive 
 "burns," or areas where the fire had converted the forest 
 into a barren waste. To-day many millions of acres are 
 burns; large ones are found in Maine, Canada, in the 
 Lake States, and the forests of the Rocky Mountains. 
 The Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges are fairly dotted 
 with unsightly burns ; and e^'en the ever-dripping, fog- 
 shrouded forests of red hr in Washington have suffered 
 extensive and most destructive fires. 
 
 Our hardwoods or broad-leaved forests have never been 
 ravaged by fires to any great extent ; fire is a danger 
 chiefly of the coniferous forest, particularly of the pineries 
 covering the large sandy districts of both the North and 
 South and the dry mountain forests of tlie West. 
 
 In our settled districts forest fires are rather uncommon 
 and the danger is steadily growing less ; but in our large 
 pineries, and wherever extensive lumbering is done in 
 coniferous forests, fires are of common yearly occurrence. 
 Now and then, during dry seasons, they are more numerous 
 and some of tliem become truly terrific. 
 
105 
 
lOG FIRST HOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 The Miramichi fire of 1825 in New Brunswick, the Pesh- 
 tigo fire of 1871 in Wisconsin, the great fires in Michigan 
 of the same year, and the great Hinckley fire of 1894 in 
 Minnesota destroyed several towns and hundreds of farms ; 
 they cost the lives of many hundreds of people and con- 
 sumed millions of feet of timber. 
 
 The behavior of fire differs very much in different kinds 
 of woods and even in the same woods at different times. 
 In Georgia and Florida pineries it may ])e merely a light 
 '' surface fire/' consuming the thin layer of long pine 
 needles, and usually traveling along at a very moderate 
 rate. In the denser parts of the mixed woods of the Adi- 
 rondacks it is a ground fire, eating along on the surface of 
 the earth and in the dry layer of the duff' so slowly that a 
 whole day's burning adds only an acre or two to the burn. 
 
 On the other hand, a fire in one of the large slashes, 
 especially in the drier lake countries and the West, may, 
 after it gets well started, travel by fits and leaps ; and the 
 draft is often so great that burning brands are carried 
 through the air for several hundred yards, lighting new 
 fires as they fall. Then it becomes a forest fire of the 
 dangerous kind, and if the lone settler and his family 
 have any great distance to run in order to reach a large 
 clearing or other point of safety, they are almost sure to 
 be overtaken and suffocated, if not actuallv burned. 
 
 To what extent the woods are destroyed by the fire 
 differs in much the same way. In the southern pinerj^ it 
 
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 107 
 
 may be only tlie litter and the little seedlings and young 
 plants which are cleaned up; in the mixed woods of the 
 Adirondacks a large part, often all the timber, dies w^her- 
 ever the hre has occurred (see Fig. 42) ; in the Hinckley 
 fire the forest was not only killed for miles, but in many 
 places almost everything was cleared ; all dry limbs, tops, 
 
 Vui. :i8. The Camp Fire as it should be 
 
 dead tim])er, standing or down, were entirely consumed. 
 In a dense stand of green pine, balsam, or spruce it is a 
 common thing for the fire, intensely hot as it is, not 
 merely to kill all the trees, but to burn a large part of 
 the limbs with their resin-filled leaves, fairly roaring as 
 it shoots up one tree after another, and often flashing 
 through the crowns of several dozen at a time. A few 
 years later these trees are all bare skeletons (see Fig. 36), 
 
108 riilST BOOK OF rORESTEY 
 
 ready to be tlirown down by the winds, and the forest is 
 changed into an impenetrable tangle, ready for another 
 and far more serious fire. 
 
 Fires usually start in the woods through the careless- 
 ness of man, for at least all of our eastern forests were 
 almost free from large barns until lumbering and settle- 
 ment began. A common cause is the camp fire left burn- 
 ing in the woods. To go away from a camp fire without 
 putting it out is gross negligence. 
 
 To have a camp fire under control, it should be built in 
 the right place. To build a fire against a large fallen 
 trunk, especially large rotten logs, to start it on a thick 
 bed of pine or spruce leaves, or on a thick layer of duff, is 
 a common mistake. Such a fire would often require more 
 than a hundred pails of water to put it out. A better 
 way is to pick out a clean spot — for a mere lunch or 
 dinner fire, a sandy or gravelly river bar or similar place 
 — and then to build the fire of two larger sticks and an 
 armful of small material, as shown in the picture. Such 
 a fire is convenient to cook by and easy to put out. 
 
 Fires are sometimes set intentionally ; more often, how- 
 ever, they start from clearing land, also from locomotives, 
 and even from lightning. 
 
 To fight fire in the woods is usually difficult. In most 
 cases it costs considerable time and effort merely to locate 
 it ; for though the smoke is easily seen at a distance, to 
 find the fire is often quite a task. 
 
CAKE AND PROTECTIOX OF THE FOREST 109 
 
 When finally it is located it may be half a mile from 
 the nearest water, and to carry water even a quarter of a 
 mile through ordinary Adirondack or similar wildwoods 
 to put out a fire covering only two acres of land would 
 often require ten men's service for several days, and the 
 fire would most likely grow beyond control instead of 
 being extinguished. For this reason water is rarely used, 
 except where a small fire is just starting, as when we wish 
 to put out the neglected camp fire. In fact, real forest 
 fires are not usually put out at all ; the men merely try to 
 check their spreading and thus restrict them to as small 
 an area as possible. After days of fighting and watching, 
 the fire will finally die out or else be extinguished by 
 rain. 
 
 In places where former fires have cleaned all the dead 
 and dry material on the ground, the mere beating out of 
 the fire at the edges and cleaning a strip twenty to thirty 
 inches wide with a rake does good service. 
 
 Early mornings and late evenings is the time to work, 
 for during the heat of the day the fire is usually so hot 
 that men cannot work near it. In heavy timber where 
 much ]jlack duff covers the ground the raking alone is 
 useless, and a trench must be made. Such a trench, if 
 only twelve inches wide, is a good barrier against a slowly 
 progressing fire. In any case the fire must be watched, 
 for it is sure to cross either line or trench. When once 
 the heat is such that the fire travels as fast as a man 
 
110 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 walks and begins to run even in the tops of the trees, as 
 well as on the ground, real fighting comes to an end and 
 only a '' back fire " is of any use. 
 
 A back fire is a line of fire set by the men to meet the 
 main fire. Thus, if the main fire travels eastward and 
 has a front of three hundred yards, the men run on ahead 
 to eastward and start a line of fires, so that the main fire 
 along this line finds most of the material consumed and 
 thus loses its force, and in favorable cases is stopped 
 entirely. Such a back fire should be started a good dis- 
 tance from the main fire, often half a mile or more away, 
 along some road, trail, creek, or raked fire line or trench. 
 The men watch the back fire to keep it from crossing 
 their line. If it is to succeed, the back fire should have a 
 good start, and burn fifty yards or more before it meets 
 the main fire. Trenching for the back fire is best done 
 early, as soon as daylight ; the fire had better be started 
 later, so that it will burn lively at once. 
 
 " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure " is 
 an old saying and applies to the forest fire. 
 
 Wherever settlement has opened large fields or clearings 
 between tracts of forest and thus divides the woods into 
 well-separated blocks, serious forest fires no longer need 
 be feared. 
 
 Even a moderate amount of such clearing, together 
 with the network of roads, has helped to protect the 
 pineries of the South ; and in New Jersey the opening of 
 
Ill 
 
112 FIRST BOOK OF FOREBTPvY 
 
 broad roadways, as fire lanes, through the larger pine 
 woods is contemplated, in order to prevent fires and to 
 help in fighting them. Such a system of fire lanes is 
 used in the larger forests of Europe, and even in British 
 India, and is probably the best means of protection for 
 many of our extensive coniferous forests. Since hardwood 
 forests do not take fire as readily as pine, etc., strips or 
 belts of hardwoods have been used along some of the 
 railways in Europe to protect the pine woods from the 
 sparks of the locomotives. For the same reason it is 
 recommended to use such belts of hardwoods to break up 
 larger bodies of pine, etc., and also to use a mixture of 
 hardwoods with conifers. In addition, it is necessary that 
 everybody in and about the woods should watch and help, 
 and for this reason should know the danger and the law. 
 
 To teach and to warn the public, the authorities of sev- 
 eral states and the United States, as well as many private 
 owners, are now distributing ^' fire notices " in conspicuous 
 places along roads, trails, and streams in all parts of the 
 forest. 
 
 Storms. — If we should look over the old maps of the 
 many townships of Wisconsin, we would see so many 
 " windfalls " marked by the surveyors that it would seem 
 as if Wisconsin were a regular storm state. This would 
 be an error, for a trip through the South would convince 
 us that storms have there been more frequent, covered 
 larger areas, acted with more force, and destroyed more 
 
113 
 
114 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FOPvESTRY 
 
 timber. Against storms the forester is helpless. Not 
 so with regard to ordinary winds. Against these, as we 
 have seen, he can protect the woods by the ordinary selec- 
 tion method so that no part of the forest is ever exposed ; 
 
 »*■■ 
 
 \ 
 
 m 
 
 ! 
 
 ■ ,:! 
 
 
 ^.<I''/- s?*&Miii»a^^ 
 
 
 ^'T-wirfHiy. 
 
 Asiessj&sil^SiiSf Br£^^ ' t , ''r 
 
 
 Fig. 41. The Fires have cleaned up 
 (After Bureau of Forestry) 
 
 and also by beginning with the cutting of any tract or 
 block of woods on the east side, and thus working in the 
 direction from which the prevailing wind comes. 
 
 In other ways the elements often damage forests. 
 Frost kills young plants; snow loads down the crowns of 
 w eaker trees and bends them low, often breaking them ; 
 
CARE AND PKOTECTION OK THE EOKEST Ho 
 
 in cold weather fog and rain lay a covering of ice on aU 
 the limbs ; twigs and leaves of conifers, and frequently 
 even large branches are broken off by the great weight of 
 
 this ice. 
 
 By selecting hardy kinds of trees for frosty places, and 
 by starting young growth either in the nursery or under 
 the protection of older trees the forester will avoid loss 
 from frost ; but, on the whole, he is rather powerless against 
 these injuries, which, in northern localities, do considerable 
 harm. 
 
 Protection against Animals 
 
 If we take a stroll in the woods during summer and 
 look for animals instead of trees, we shall see a few squir- 
 rels, perhaps a rabbit, and many little paths made by mice, 
 though probably few of the mice themselves. We may 
 also see a number of birds busily hopping and flying about 
 and finding food for themselves and their brood. But if 
 we sit down by an old stump, a dead or newly felled tree, 
 and begin to look for smaller things, we are soon convinced 
 that for every bird and larger animal we see dozens and 
 hundreds of the "little people," the insects. Troops of 
 ants are busily looking for prey, seizing any stray cater- 
 pillar, grub, worm, or other animal they can master, 
 carrying it off bodily or tearing it to pieces. Little hunt- 
 ing beetles go singly, exploring every crack and boring ; 
 and wee little brown beetles may be found boring in the 
 
116 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 bark and even the wood of the newly felled stem. Above and 
 around us we notice flies, wasps, millers, and butterflies, and 
 a world of smaller winged insects restlessly flitting about. 
 
 Insects. — Of all animals this vast army of the " little 
 people" are by far the most dangerous enemies of the for- 
 ests. Thus, the bark beetle, in the early seventies, ruined 
 over twenty-two thousand acres of spruce in Bohemia 
 alone ; the caterpillar of the nun moth devastated in East 
 Prussia, between 1853 and 1863, over two hundred and 
 sixty thousand acres, killing more than four and a half 
 million cords of timber. In our own country the gypsy 
 moth has become the terror of woodlands in Massachusetts, 
 and nearly a million dollars of state money alone has been 
 expended in fighting it. The bark beetles have destroyed 
 enormous quantities of timber in Maryland, in the Vir- 
 ginias, and in North Carolina ; the larva of a sawfly has 
 destroyed the tamarack in the Adirondacks ; the tent cater- 
 pillar is ravaging many of our hardwoods ; while tussock 
 moth and bagworm are ruining thousands of shade trees 
 as well as trees of the woodlands. 
 
 The " little people " accomplish these great feats of 
 destruction through their ability to multiply very rapidly 
 and thus to act in immense numbers. The mother bark 
 beetle of this spring may be represented by half a million 
 of her offspring before the end of the second season; and 
 even the leaf-eating moth may have four hundred thousand 
 descendants in a period of only three years. 
 
117 
 
118 FIRST book! OF FOKESTRY 
 
 The mischief done by forest insects is very varied. The 
 bark beetles kill nearly all kinds of trees by a queer process 
 of girdling; the moths operate through their larvae, the 
 caterpillars, and usually kill by eating the leaves and 
 buds ; the weevils destroy young plants ; the pruner beetles 
 injure by gnawing off the young tips ; gall gnats and 
 plant lice do damage by the production of galls ; scale 
 insects suck the juice, and thereby cripple the leaves and 
 injure the bark; while the mole cricket and other insects 
 gnaw young roots, and thereby often destroy the smaller 
 plants. But even after the tree is dead its wood is still 
 liable to be spoiled for most uses by some long-horned 
 beetles and their larvoe, the " sawyers," as well as the 
 regular timber beetles. Of all these the bark beetles and 
 moths with their larvse, the grubs, and caterpillars, are 
 by far the worst enemies of the forest. 
 
 Let us examine these more closely. In Fig. 46 we 
 have the bark beetle and its work. In the spring these 
 tiny beetles fly, usually in pairs, and hunt up some suitable 
 tree. After tliey have found what they want, usually 
 some large, old or injured tree, they bore through, the 
 bark, and the female soon begins to bore a passage or 
 gallery, either altogether in the soft bark or else partly in 
 the bark and partly in the wood, as shown in the figure. 
 
 Along this passage she lays from fifty to a hundred 
 eggs, distributing them along both sides. When the 
 eggs hatch the little grubs begin to bore in the direction 
 
Fig. 43. The Imported Elm Leaf Beetle (Cah'rKnlht hitfohi) 
 
 a, foliage of European elm, showing method of work of heetle and larva; h, adult 
 beetle; c, egg mass; d, young larv;e; e, lull-grown larva; g, pupa— all 
 greatly enlarged; /, mouth parts of full-grown larva — still more enlarged. 
 (After Howard) -.-.c^ 
 
120 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 away from the gallery of the mother beetle, and thus the 
 many little parallel galleries and odd patterns seen in the 
 figure are produced by this one family. After a few 
 weeks the grub, or larva, wraps itself up in the wood dust 
 made by its tunneling, and about three weeks later has 
 
 changed into a beetle. This 
 beetle may bore out at once 
 and hunt another tree and 
 thus repeat the cycle, so that 
 a second or, in some cases, 
 even a third brood is produced 
 during the same season. 
 
 Examining the figure, it is 
 evident that, if many such 
 families lived in this same 
 branch, the branch would be fairly girdled ; each little 
 gallery would hinder the water from going up, and also 
 hinder the food made by the leaves from coming down, 
 and the effect would be exactly as if the bark were stripped 
 and the tree girdled. As soon as these beetles appear in 
 large numbers, so that a hundred and more occur on,every 
 square foot of the trunk, the tree is doomed. It is generally 
 believed that these beetles prefer sickly or dying trees; but 
 it is certain that when once they are very numerous they 
 readily attack sound as well as injured trees. 
 
 Some bark beetles occur in our woods at all times ; but 
 it is only when their enemies are asleep, and when numerous 
 
 Fig. 44. Pine Weevil: Adult 
 
 Beetle, Pupa, and Grul), 
 
 or Larva (enlarged) 
 
 (After Packard) 
 
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 121 
 
 injured^ sickly, or dying trees make it especially easy 
 for beetles to get food and multiply, that they become 
 really dangerous. 
 
 From this it is clear that a well-kept piece of woods, 
 where all trees are thrifty and the puny, crippled, or over- 
 
 FiG. 45. Scale Insect on White-Pine Leaves 
 
 At 2a is a bunch of ordinary leaves for comparison; 2, twig and stunted leaves 
 covered by scale insect; 2 6, 2c, female, and 2d, male of scale insect (enlarged) 
 
 ripe trees, and also all dead timber, are regularly cut out, 
 is not likely to be infested by bark beetles. Should they 
 come from a neighboring badly kept piece of woods, the 
 
122 
 
 FIKST BOOK OF FOKESTKY 
 
 only elective way of fighting them is by cutting a number 
 of "trap trees." This is best done by girdling or felling 
 a number of the smaller, })oorer trees, about lifty yards 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 Fig. 46. Bark Beetles and theii- Work 
 
 A, Galleries on a block of wood, just beneath the bark ; B, the bark beetle Tomicus ; 
 C, the bark beetle Dendroctonus. Natural size is indicated by straight line 
 between beetles 
 
CAKE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 123 
 
 apart, all over the piece of woods, if it is small, or per- 
 haps only ill that part where the beetles have begun their 
 work. In the milder part of our country the first set of 
 
 Fig. 47. A Destroyer of Forest and Shade Tree : the White- 
 Marked Tussock Moth 
 
 a, larva ; b, female pupa ; c, male pupa ; d, e, male moth ; /, female moth ; g, same 
 
 depositino- eggs; h, egg mass; i, male coeoous: k, female cocoons, with moths 
 carrying eggs. (After Howard) 
 
124 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 trees should be cut about the middle of May ; in the South 
 this should be done earlier, in the North later. A fresh set 
 should then be cut each month until fall. Each set of 
 trap trees, with all twigs and smaller branches, should be 
 burned whenever a new set of trees has been prepared. 
 If the work is successful, the beetles are attracted by 
 the felled trees and bore into them in large numbers. 
 When the trees are taken out and the bark is burned 
 it catches the young brood, since they have not yet 
 changed into beetles and escaped. Generally these trap 
 trees catch a large number of other wood-boring vermin 
 besides the common beetles. 
 
 The second group of dangerous forest insects, the 
 moths, differ very much from the bark beetles in their way 
 of living and behavior. 
 
 Thus, the white-marked tussock moth, shown in Fig. 47, 
 in central New York, for instance, lays its eggs about the 
 middle of July. These eggs keep through the winter 
 and hatch the following spring, the young caterpillar 
 emerging about the end of May. The caterpillar feeds 
 on the leaves of whatever tree it may be on, and grows to 
 full size by the end of June. Then it " spins up," i.e., it 
 attaches itself to the bark on a limb or the trunk of the 
 tree and spins around itself a cocoon, in which it stays 
 as a pupa for about two weeks while it changes from a 
 caterpillar into a moth or miller. Soon after the moths 
 come out of the cocoons the female, which in this species 
 
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE EOREST 125 
 
 has only dwarfed wings and therefore does not fly, begins 
 to lay her eggs. These she lays in clusters, sometimes 
 
 Fig. 48. Fall Web worm 
 
 a, moth; b, pupa (out of cocoon); c, caterpillar; d, piece of web with caterpillar 
 hanging by its own thread ; e, moth and cocoon on board and twig 
 
 containing three hundred or more eggs, and covers them 
 with a white frothy matter which dries and protects the 
 eggs during the winter. After this the female moth dies 
 at once. In warmer districts, as in Maryland and Virginia, 
 
126 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 the eggs hatch much earher, and instead of having only 
 one whole generation of the insects in a year, as in the 
 North, there are as many as three, so that the number of 
 insects increases very rapidly. 
 
 With most of the moths that are dangerous to our for- 
 ests, both male and female are winged and fly. All of 
 them pass through the four distinct stages : egg, cater- 
 pillar, pupa, and adult or moth; and all are injurious only 
 in the caterpillar state. 
 
 Though some moths may be found in our woods every 
 season, it is only at long intervals that they become real 
 pests and cause great damage ; and even then the calamity 
 rarely lasts many years in succession. 
 
 Since the caterpillars live on green leaves and buds, 
 trees of all sizes and ages are liable to their attack. Some 
 kinds of caterpillars prefer hardwoods, some conifers ; 
 some eat all kinds, while a few of them eat leaves of only 
 one or a few kinds of trees. 
 
 Where the caterpillars attack a pure stand of spruce 
 or pine forest, so that every tree furnisher the most 
 desirable kind of food, the trouble is naturally much 
 greater than in a mixed stand, where possibly half of 
 all the trees are entirely safe from the attack of this 
 particular insect. 
 
 To prevent the ravages of caterpillars, the forester can 
 do but little. Where the land and climate permit, it is 
 well to raise only mixed woods. Generally it is well to 
 
Fig. 49. One of the Greatest Friends of the Forest 
 
 Upper figure, ichneumon fly : d, as an adult fly ; a, b, as a grub. Lower figure, 
 destruction of caterpillar by ichneumon : a, caterpillar with eggs of ichneumon 
 (white on dark area) ; b, egg (enlarged) ; c, dark area with eggs (enlarged) ; 
 d, larvae of ichneumon feeding on pupa; e, pupa of caterpillar destroyed, 
 larvaR of ichneumon in pupa state 
 
 127 
 
l28 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 keep the woods well cleaned and thinned ; and in all cases 
 we should encourage and protect all kinds of insect-eating 
 birds and also such animals as the shrew, mole, and bat. 
 
 In Europe large sums have been expended in collecting 
 egg masses as they cling to the bark of trees, also in col- 
 lecting the pupae and killing the young caterpillars while 
 they are still in large clusters together. 
 
 These methods have also been tried in our country, 
 but only for the protection of shade trees. In Bavaria 
 and other states all the trees of entire forests have been 
 supplied with rings of a special sticky preparation, which 
 keeps the newly hatched caterpillars from climbing the 
 stem and causes them to perish in large numbers. 
 Though this has been successful in some cases, it is 
 generally too expensive. 
 
 When once the caterpillars exist in large numbers 
 man's efforts are entirely in vain ; for while it is quite 
 easy to spray a few peach trees when infested, the use of 
 a poison spray in the woods is out of the question ; the 
 trees are too large and the cost too great. 
 
 Fortunately, the multiplication of the injurious insects, 
 whether bark beetles or caterpillars, causes a multiplica- 
 tion of their strongest enemies, — predaceous and para- 
 sitic insects, and disease. 
 
 A large number of widely differing kinds of insects are 
 hunters and live exclusively on other insects, eating or 
 destroying them in every state, preferably as larva3 (grubs, 
 
CARE AND PKOTECTION OF THE FOREST 129 
 
 worms, caterpillars), and also in the egg. Thus, one of 
 the ladybird beetles was specially imported, and is used 
 by the fruit growers of California to subdue one of the 
 worst scale insects. But while these many useful hunting 
 insects undoubtedly do great service in keeping down the 
 numbers, thus preventing a real calamity of destructive 
 insects, it is chiefly the parasites, together with diseases, 
 which shorten and stamp out the insect plague when once 
 it exists. 
 
 A typical case where a parasitic insect is making itself 
 useful to the forester is shown in Fig. 49. Here one of 
 our common ichneumon flies, by depositing its eggs on a 
 caterpillar, insures its destruction. Commonly the cater- 
 pillar is killed even before it is able to spin up or enter 
 the pupa state, and never does it get beyond this. Since 
 the ichneumons usually have more than one generation dur- 
 ing one season, their number multiplies rapidly. These 
 little wasplike insects move rapidly from caterpillar to 
 caterpillar, stinging and depositing their eggs, one or 
 several, as they go, and rarely attack a caterpillar which 
 has already been stung by one of their kind. In this way 
 they not only kill leaf-eating caterpillars, but attack the 
 larvae (grubs) of beetles, and thus are the best and most 
 powerful animal friends of the forest. 
 
 Diseases usually help in destroying forest caterpillars 
 whenever they become very abundant. This is especially 
 true during wet seasons and in moist localities. Some of 
 
130 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 the diseases are due to ordinary fungus plants, similar 
 to those which kill our house flies in the fall of the 
 year, when they may be seen clinging to window panes, 
 surrounded by a ring of dustlike spores (seeds of fungi). 
 
 Insect pests in pine and spruce are usually much more 
 serious than in hardwoods, since conifers generally are 
 not so resistant as the broad-leaved trees. If the leaves 
 of a pine tree are eaten off, it is quite sure to die ; while a 
 maple may survive though it loses its leaves two seasons 
 in succession. 
 
 From what we have learned it is clear that the leaf- 
 eating insects help the bark beetles, and also that these 
 latter are favored wherever the forest trees are injured by 
 storm and snow or by fire, and even when they are in a 
 weakened condition from poverty of soil or lack of mois- 
 ture. Thus, things are very apt to go from bad to worse, 
 even in the woods. ^ 
 
 Mammals. — Of the larger animals it is chiefly the 
 rodents — mice, rabbits, and squirrels — and also the 
 grazers — deer, sheep, goats, and cattle — which become 
 injurious in forests. 
 
 The mice and rabbits injure young trees by gnawing 
 the bark ; mice and squirrels eat the seeds ; while the 
 grazing animals browse off the leaves and green shoots 
 of young trees and thus cripple and often destroy them. 
 Where cattle and sheep go in larger numbers, or where a 
 small flock has the run of a small wood all summer, they 
 
CARE AND PROTECTION OF THE FOREST 131 
 
 naturally trample out many young seedlings and thus pre- 
 vent the starting of any young growth. To keep down 
 mice and rabbits it is usually sufficient to protect or quit 
 hunting their natural enemies, the owl and the hawk 
 (buzzard), the fox, weasel, and mink. 
 
 Where a farmer has not enough pasture and feels that 
 he must use his woods, it has been found best to let cattle 
 in part of the woods and keep them out of those portions 
 where a young growth is to be started. After the sap- 
 lings are ten feet high they are well out of reach of the 
 animals, and the place may then be opened to cattle. 
 
 On the whole, grazing and the growing of timber do not 
 go well together ; for if the forest is as dense as it should 
 be, there is but little grass, and the animals are poorly fed 
 and constantly tempted to roam and browse. Sheep and 
 cattle generally do not eat pine, sj^ruce, and other conifers. 
 
 Protection against Injurious Plants 
 
 In our walk through a piece of wildwoods we noticed 
 fungus growths, little upturned shelves on beech and 
 maple, wherever they had been blazed or notched with 
 the ax. 
 
 Were we to look a little more closely, we should find a 
 great deal of such growth and learn that fungi, too, rank 
 among the enemies of our woods. The amount of destruc- 
 tion in old wildwoods is, naturally, very great, for here it 
 
132 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 is necessary that the wood of dead trees be converted into 
 dust to prevent the ground from becoming covered with 
 dead timber. Such a cover would bring all forest growth 
 to a standstill, there would no longer be room for trees, 
 and its destruction by fungi, therefore, is useful. It is 
 Nature's way of clearing the ground for new generations 
 of trees. But, like many useful things, these fungi overdo 
 their work, and at the slightest provocation attack good, 
 thrifty trees. Thus, if a wind tears off the large limb of 
 a maple, beech, birch, poplar, or other perishable kind of 
 tree, fungi at once begin their work of destruction ; the 
 interior begins to decay; limbs and stem are hollowed out; 
 the tree is weakened and becomes an easy prey to bark 
 beetles or a storm. Once on the ground, a few years in 
 our moister districts sufhco to convert the trunk and all 
 into a powdery mass of decayed wood, which is spread out 
 by insects and water, and thus helps to ^improve the soil 
 for a new growth. Though the trees w^ith perishable 
 woods are more subject to this injury than those in which 
 resin and other substances make the wood more durable, 
 yet all kinds of our trees suffer more or less. Thus, even 
 the durable cypress is injured by a fungus, which causes 
 it to become " pecky," and our white cedars are generally 
 " hollow butted," the stump being decayed so much that 
 it is a common defect of cedar timber. 
 
 From this it appears that clean woods, composed of 
 thrifty, uninjured trees^, suffer much less from injurious 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 133 
 
 fungi, and also that especially the more sensitive trees, 
 like maple, beech, spruce, etc., cannot stand being hacked 
 and scalped with the ax, or barked in felling and dragging 
 out timber, but are almost sure to suffer further injury if 
 thus hurt. 
 
 In the South and West the mistletoe is a factor in the 
 destruction of trees. In California many of the noble 
 white oaks are yielding their lives to this j)arasite. 
 
 USE OF THE FOREST 
 
 We have already learned how to start new growth and 
 how to care for it, and thereby keep up the forest. Let us 
 now consider what we may get from the forest and how 
 the material is usually taken out and used. 
 
 To primitive man the forest gave meat, shelter, and 
 fuel. At the beginning of our era the people of central 
 and northern Europe, and nearly all of the people of North 
 America, obtained their food by hunting and fishing. With 
 us to-day the forest no longer furnishes meat ; the people 
 are too many, the forests too small. 
 
 But while it no longer furnishes our meat, it still sup- 
 plies the great mass of our fuel, as well as the lumber and 
 timber for the houses which shelter -us. In addition it 
 was the forest, with its large, soft, easily shapen timbers, 
 which alone made it possible for the ancient Phoenicians to 
 trade with the people of the North Sea, and for Columbus 
 
184 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 to find the New World ; and even to-day a large part of 
 our people and goods are carried in thousands of wooden 
 ships, landing at hundreds of miles of costly wooden wharfs. 
 Our thousands of miles of railway rest on millions of 
 wooden ties, and cross on thousands of miles of wooden 
 trestles and bridges. The grain and goods of our land are 
 hauled in wooden boxes and barrels, on wooden wagons, 
 in wooden cars, and are housed in wooden structures; 
 and, in spite of the great progress of our times, we still 
 finish even the finest of parlors in wood ; we prefer a 
 wooden chair and table to any other, and the choicest of 
 furniture is of wood in its natural colors and appearance. 
 One of our greatest needs, that of cheap paper, was sup- 
 plied only when man learned to make paper from the 
 common product of our forest. Nor is this all, for the 
 very mines which supply us with coal for fuel and with 
 iron for our manufactures require millions of feet of tim- 
 ber every year, if they are to be worked with any degree 
 of economy. 
 
 Thus, we see that the forest was necessary to the sav- 
 age ; that on the forest depended the progress of our race ; 
 and that even to-day, in this age of steel, the product of 
 the forest is used in greater quantities and supphes a 
 greater variety of demands than ever before. 
 
 Let us examine a little more in detail the ways in 
 which some of our farmers utilize their woods. 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 
 
 135 
 
 Cutting Timber 
 
 Season. — Generally the work in the woods is done in 
 winter. This is better, since the cold retards or prevents 
 
 Fig. 50. Cutting Spruce in the Adirondacks 
 (After W. F. Fox) 
 
 fungi from spoiling the Avood by '' bluing" or discoloring, 
 or by starting decay. It is also much better on account 
 
136 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 of insects, for during winter these pests are inactive, practi- 
 cally dormant, and thus they do not injure the timber 
 which is cut, nor does the felling lead to an increased 
 multiplication of these ever-present enemies of the forest. 
 Besides this, there is little work on the farm during winter, 
 and thus help is more easily procured. To this must be 
 added, in colder districts at least, the advantages gained 
 by a good fall of snow, which makes it so much easier to 
 drag and haul timber. 
 
 Fireivood. — For this it is customary to use only such 
 pieces as will make nothing better. For ordinary house 
 use, all tops, the trunks of short, crooked, or otherwise 
 unsalable trees, and in many cases even stumps, are used. 
 If the firewood is to be sold, it is better to grade it so 
 that the better and poorer kinds are not mixed, as is so 
 often done ; for a few sticks of poor wQod give the whole 
 pile a bad appearance and thus lower its price. Usually 
 firewood is cut in four-foot lengths and stacked in piles 
 four feet high and eight feet long, such a pile being one 
 cord. A cord is a legal measure, and as such requires that 
 the pile be four feet wide, or in ordinary cases that the pieces 
 be cut four feet long. Where people buy stove wood sixteen 
 to eighteen inches long, the cord is frequently meant to be 
 a pile of this short wood four feet high and eight feet long, 
 and thus is really but about a third of a cord. 
 
 In all cases there is much air space between the pieces 
 of such a pile, and though the pile contains one hundred 
 
Fig. 51. The Tools we use 
 
 a, crosscut saw ; b, peavey, to turn logs ; c, ax ; d, billhook ; e, broadax, to hew 
 logs ; /, frow, to split or rive shingles 
 
 -I O" 
 
138 
 
 FIRST B0(3K OF FORESTRY 
 
 and tweuty-eiglit cubic feet, there are only about ninety 
 cubic feet of solid wood in a regular cord. 
 
 Larger pieces are split to allow a better drying or sea- 
 soning, and split wood is always preferred to round pieces. 
 
 Fig. 52. Skidding Spruce Logs in the Adirondacks 
 (After W. F. Fox) 
 
 A cord, as ordinarily cut, contains about two hundred 
 pieces and weighs, when fresh, about four to five thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 For ordinary use the heavy woods, like oak, hickory, 
 beech, maple, etc., and especially the " second growth," 
 are preferred. The lighter kinds, like poplar and bass- 
 wood, are not readily sold for this purpose. 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 
 
 139 
 
 Of late years many farmers haul their firewood in large 
 pieces to some convenient place near the house, and saw 
 it into stove lengths with horse power or threshing engine. 
 
 Since firewood cannot be used economically without 
 
 Fig. do. " Scaling," or measuring and stamping or marking 
 
 Spruce Logs 
 
 (After W. F. Fox) 
 
 being first seasoned, it is often advisable to keep firewood 
 one year on the pile, so as to get this advance in value 
 and at the same time make easier hauling. 
 
 To leave firewood in large piles in the woods is always 
 a bad policy, for nearly all kinds of wood commence to 
 
140 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 decay under such circumstances, and perishable woods, 
 hke beech, maple, and birch, will lose as much as twenty- 
 five per cent of their value in one year. 
 
 Pulp Wood. — In the vicinity of pulp mills, soft woods 
 like spruce, poplar, aspen, balsam, and also hemlock, pine, 
 basswood, tulip poplar, and others, can usually be sold to 
 good advantage. 
 
 Since the pulp mill can use small pieces, down to two 
 feet in length and four inches in diameter, a great deal of 
 the sapling material, which should be taken out in thin- 
 nings, can thus be utilized. 
 
 For pulp the wood should be green, sound, straight, 
 and as free from knots as possible ; in other words, just 
 such wood as grows in a close stand, where the trees are 
 obliged to clean early. 
 
 Pulp wood is sold by the cord, ancl when rossed, i.e.^ 
 the bark taken off, it sells as high as ten dollars per cord. 
 
 Pulp is made from the wood in two distinct ways, — 
 by grinding, and by maceration with chemicals. In mak- 
 ing " ground " pulp the blocks of wood are held and pressed 
 by a machine against a large grindstone on which a small 
 stream of water is playing all the time. In this way the 
 fine particles of wood which are ground away are carried 
 off by the water into large vats. 
 
 This coarse, mushy wood pulp is then sifted, washed, 
 and stirred, and finally passes over an endless piece of 
 cloth, where it is freed from the water. After this it may 
 

 (t 
 
 
 a: 
 a 
 
 Cfq 
 
 141 
 
142 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 merely be pressed into a soft, pasteboard-like paper, baled, 
 and shipped to regular paper mills without drying, or else 
 it is made at once into ordinary paper, such as is used by 
 newspapers. 
 
 In making '' chemical pulp," or " cellulose," as it is 
 called, the blocks are chipped into short, small pieces, the 
 fragments of knots are sifted out, and the rest of the 
 wood is placed in large boilers called digesters, where it 
 is boiled in a solution of sulphite of lime, more rarely of 
 caustic soda. During the boiling the digester is kept 
 firmly closed, so that a steam pressure of about a hundred 
 pounds per square inch is developed. The boihng is con- 
 tinued for about six hours if soda, and for twenty-four 
 hours, and even longer, if sulphite of lime is used. In 
 this boiling the wood softens and becomes mushy. It is 
 then ground, washed, and finally treate'd in the same way 
 as ground pulp. 
 
 The cellulose, or chemical pulp, is much finer than 
 ground pulp, and can be used for ordinary papers without 
 any bleaching. 
 
 One cord of spruce gives about six to eight hundred 
 pounds of chemical pulp or twelve hundred pounds of 
 ground pulp. So far, nearly all pulp is used in the manu- 
 facture of paper. 
 
 Acid Wood. — In some districts of , Pennsylvania, New 
 York, and other states "acid factories" require large 
 quantities of wood, preferably beech, maple, and birch. 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 
 
 143 
 
 This industry usually demands sound, split ''body," or 
 log wood, fifty-two inches instead of forty-eight inches 
 long, so that the acid men get nearly one and a tenth 
 cords for each cord they buy. In making acid the wood 
 
 Fig. 55. Rolling in Spruce Logs on Ampersand Creek 
 
 is_heated for about ten hours in large steam-boiler-like 
 vessels called retorts. As the wood grows hotter and 
 hotter it gives off gases, part of which are cooled into 
 liquids in a " worm " or coiled tube, kept cool by a stream 
 
144 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 of cold water. The greater part of these Uquids is wood 
 vinegar, and a small portion pure acetic acid, wood alcohol, 
 and, toward the last of the heating, some creosote and tar. 
 The wood vinegar is employed in dye works ; the alcohol 
 by painters, hat makers, and in chemical works ; while the 
 acetic acid is largely used for vinegar. 
 
 The retort usually holds about two thirds of a cord of 
 wood, and an ordinary factory of twenty-four retorts thus 
 requires about sixteen cords for each charge. They usu- 
 ally run night and day, refilling every twelve hours, so 
 that one of these factories uses eight thousand cords or 
 more per year. 
 
 Posts. — In former years, when most of our farms were 
 surrounded with rail fences, commonly of the '^ worm- 
 fence " type, enormous quantities of good oak, chestnut, 
 and other timber were converted into fence rails. Wher- 
 ever logs have a reasonably good market this wasteful 
 use of timber is disappearing, and wire or "wire-slat" 
 fences are taking the place of the old forms. This still 
 requires the use of posts, so that both for home use and, 
 in many localities, also for the market it pays to raise 
 timber for fence posts. 
 
 Since durability is the first quality in a fence post, 
 only durable woods, like black locust, catalpa, chestnut, 
 white oak, cedar, redwood, and kindred woods should 
 be offered; and the post should always be large enough 
 so that the heartwood, the only durable part, is sufficient 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 145 
 
 to hold whatever the post is intended to support. Flimsy 
 sapwood posts of cedar or any other timber can only 
 injure the market, for it is here as in all kinds of dealing, 
 
 good or poor ware and good or poor measure make 
 
 and unmake the market. 
 
 Where posts are in good demand it will often pay to 
 treat a few acres of the woods as coppice. For this pur- 
 pose the rotation is short, and, of course, only durable 
 woods like white oak, chestnut, locust, catalpa, mulberry, 
 etc., should be used. 
 
 Railwmj Ties. — With durable timber, the trees twelve 
 to sixteen inches diameter, l^reast high, and also the upper 
 logs of larger trees are often profitably cut into railway 
 ties. These ties are usually required eight feet long, 
 seven inches thick, with two parallel faces eight inches 
 wide, and all bark removed ; thus, each contains about five 
 cubic feet of wood. When in the track one face is down 
 and the other supports the steel rail. Ties are usually 
 hewn to finish wherever the tree is felled. A common 
 way is to fell the tree, hew two faces as far up from the 
 butt as the stem is suited to make ties, and then to cut 
 the ties with the crosscut saw. 
 
 Formerly railway companies would buy only hewn ties, 
 but of late years most companies accept sawed ties as well. 
 The sawing may be done by a small portable sawmill, 
 and the tie is either sawed only on two faces or else is 
 squared, i.e., sawed on four sides. This sawing is better 
 
146 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 than the hewmg ; it makes a neater tie and furnishes 
 slabs which may be used for fencing, sheds, etc. 
 
 Usually it pays to select the longest and straightest 
 pieces and saw them into bridge and switch ties, or for 
 trestle timber, for which better prices are paid. 
 
 About sixty ])eY cent of all our ties are made of white 
 oak; nearly twenty per cent are pine ; the rest are red- 
 wood, cedar, cypress, chestnut, etc. White-oak ties gen- 
 erally bring about fifty cents or more per tie, delivered 
 at the track. 
 
 Many of our railway companies keep posters at their 
 stations, offering to buy ties; and nearly everywhere 
 good contracts may be made by one or by several farmers 
 acting together to furnish this kind of timber. Since 
 every mile of railway needs about twenty-five hundred 
 ties, and there are over two himdred thousand miles of 
 such roads in our country, it takes millions of acres of 
 timber to supply a single set of ties. Such a set has to 
 be replaced about every seven years, and thus it is that 
 the railways rank among the greatest consumers of wood 
 in the land. 
 
 Foles and PlUmj. — Long, slender poles of chestnut, 
 white oak, cedar, and other durable kinds of trees are 
 often best sold as telegraph and telephone poles and for 
 piling. For these purposes long, straight, and durable sticks 
 are wanted. They rini from twenty-five to fifty feet in 
 length, with an upper diameter from five to eight inches. 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 147 
 
 The telegraph poles must l)e peeled. Piling pieces, 
 which are driven in the ground for support of bridges, 
 and even houses, are generally preferred with the bark 
 intact. 
 
 The price paid for this class of timber is generally good, 
 ranging from two to ten dollars apiece ; but it is cus- 
 tomary to find a buyer beforehand, to avoid having to 
 store such timber for any lengtli of time. 
 
 Mining limber. — In the neighborhood of coal and 
 other mines, many owners of woodlands find a good 
 market for a variety of logs to he used as proj^s and 
 other supporting timbers. Most of this material serves 
 to hold up the earth in the shafts or tunnels, and quite a 
 variety of sizes as well as kinds are employed. Since 
 wood decays very rapidly in mines, the more permanent 
 structures are usually built of durable woods, such as oak 
 and chestnut ; but in other parts, or in localities where 
 durable woods are costly, such perishable woods as pine, 
 maple, birch, hemlock, etc., are employed. 
 
 The logs are commonly delivered in the rough, and are 
 sawed and fitted by a special sawmill at the mine. 
 
 Exjjort Thnher. — Occasionally special prices are offered 
 to woodsmen for large, choice logs of walnut, cherry, 
 yellow poplar, and other kinds of timber, to be shipped 
 abroad. 
 
 Export logs are graded mostly by size (diameter), the 
 larger sizes bringing the best prices. They are commonly 
 
148 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 peeled, and their ends painted to avoid undue checking; 
 and in many districts they are " rough hewn," i.e., hewn 
 so that part of the original round surface is left on the 
 timber. This hewing makes it easier to store them in 
 the holds of the ships that carry them abroad. 
 
 Shij) Timbers. — In former years many men along our 
 north Atlantic coast were engaged in getting out timber 
 for the numerous shipyards. The hull of the wooden ship 
 of those days had almost solid Avails of heavy timbers, 
 covered inside and out with thick planks, fastened with 
 locust-tree nails ; and the decks rested on beams supported 
 at each side by short, .heavy, bracket-shaped pieces of 
 timber called shijjs' knees. 
 
 Though white oak was preferred, nearly all kinds of 
 timber were used in these ships. Since the larger timbers, 
 ribs, etc., had to be shaped according to the plan of the 
 particular ship, they could not be bought in lumber yards ; 
 so, as soon as the size and plans of the ship were decided 
 upon, crews of men would go to the woods and hew out 
 the many pieces. Knees and spars (masts and other 
 long poles) were usually kept in yards, and many men 
 made it a business to hew out knees or scour the coast 
 and the river valleys for fine, straight spar timber. Some 
 fine white-pine masts brought as much as two hundred 
 dollars apiece. To-day the ship carpenter has largely 
 been displaced by the boiler maker, and ships are built 
 of steel, shaped in rolling mills. Nevertheless, much 
 
USE OF THE FOKEST 149 
 
 timber, chiefly lumber for flooring, decking, and the fin- 
 ishing of cabins, etc., is still used ; and occasionally crews 
 of ship carpenters go inland to hew out a few sets of 
 timbers. 
 
 Cooperage cmcl Wagon Stock. — The fine grades of white- 
 oak staves and headings for the manufacture of barrels 
 for liquids, and also white-oak and hickory spokes and 
 fellies used in wheels of wagons and buggies are split out 
 of large, sound timber, mostly butt cuts, and many farmers 
 and other people are engaged every year in this kind of 
 work. Though the prices are usually good, this industry 
 is apt to be very wasteful, since so many logs do not split 
 well enough and are, therefore, left unused. Like the tan- 
 bark man, the cooperage and spoke man should be com- 
 bined with the lumberman, so that all the logs unfit for 
 staves or spokes may be sawed into boards and planks. 
 
 Besides the fine barrels and casks for coal oil, turpen- 
 tine, wine, etc., the cooper also makes barrels for sugar, 
 apples, flour, cement, lime, salt, and other dry materials. 
 These barrels are called slack barrels; the staves are 
 sawed, and of late years shaved off with large machines. 
 
 Nearly all kinds of timber, but particularly elm, red 
 oak, ash, beech, birch, and maple for staves, and bass- 
 wood and poplar for the headings, are used in this indus- 
 try. The logs or bolts are brought to the mills by farmers 
 and others and sold by the cord. The logs should be 
 over ten inches in diameter and should be two or three 
 
V)0 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 times as long as the stave, the length varying with the 
 different sizes of the barrels. 
 
 Where a wagon shop is near by, it is often profitable to 
 cut smaller second-growth timber into wagon axles, bol- 
 sters, and wagon tongues, and sell small trees of elm and 
 birch for hubs. 
 
 Lumher. — Wherever a lack of pulp mills and other 
 factories makes it impossible or unprofitable to utilize the 
 larger logs in any better way, tliey can always be sawed 
 into lumber. Lumber is a general term for all kinds of 
 boards and timber shaped with the saw. 
 
 Lumber in our country is generally, but not always, 
 cut in lengths of even feet, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, 
 etc., the most common lengths being twelve, fourteen, and 
 sixteen feet, and in widths of even inches. 
 
 In thickness lumber varies usually by a quarter of an 
 inch, and ranges from one half to twenty inches ; the thinner 
 pieces, one quarter to one and three quarters inches thick, 
 being called boards (planks in the South) ; those two to four 
 inches thick are planks ; and thicker material is timber. 
 
 Lumber is measured hy the superficial foot, which is a 
 board one inch thick, twelve inches wide, and twelve inches 
 long, so that a board one inch thick, six inches wide, and 
 twelve feet long measures six feet board measure, — 
 written six feet B.M., — and a plank two inches thick, 
 twelve inches wide, and sixteen feet long contains thirty- 
 two feet B.M. 
 

 5^ 
 
 o 
 
 *c i^- 
 
 161 
 
152 riEST BOOK OF FOEESTRY 
 
 Lumber is graded chiefly according to size and defects, 
 such as knotSj cracks, discolored or decayed spots, and 
 unequal thickness. A board entirely free from any of 
 these defects is " clear," and it is evident that young trees 
 and badly cleaned trees are not likely to furnish much of 
 this valuable material. Generally hardwoods are graded 
 much more severely than conifers, and the cheaper always 
 more severely than the dearer kinds. 
 
 For flooring, decking, and other purposes, boards are 
 often classified into " rift " and " bastard," or tangent, as 
 it should be called. In rift boards the rings stand nearly 
 vertical, or never less than forty-five degrees to the sur- 
 face, as seen in Fig. 58. Rift boards shrink less and wear 
 better, and therefore bring better prices. 
 
 Lumber is regular merchandise in all parts of our coun- 
 try, and every town has its lumber yards, just as it has 
 other stores, where regular lines of lumber, in stock sizes 
 and grades, may be bought. 
 
 Aside from firewood the greater jjart of all timber in 
 our country is cut into lumber, and it has been estimated 
 that over thirty billion feet B.M. were used each year 
 during the last quarter of a century. Of this enormous 
 amount about seventy-five per cent is pine, spruce, hemlock, 
 red fir, and other coniferous material, and twenty-five per 
 cent oak, ash, elm, and other hardwoods. Of the conifers 
 the white pine has for years furnished about fifty per cent, 
 while of the hardwoods about thirty-five per cent is oak. 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 
 
 153 
 
 Pine, spruce, etc., are mostly cut by large crews of 
 regular lunibermen, and are sawed in large mills, but the 
 hardwood lumber comes mostly from the farm and is cut 
 
 b o. 
 
 Fig. h^. End of Log, shoMiiig Rift and Bastard Cuts 
 
 Cuts a and h make all rift or quarter-sawed material ; but c and d are 
 nearly all tangent or bastard cut 
 
 in small country mills. Of the several kinds of coniferous 
 lumber a few are of such great importance that we should 
 know a little more about them. 
 
154 FIRST BOOK OF FOEESTRY 
 
 White pine is the most important lumber in our country, 
 and has been so ever since its settlement. Formerly 
 an abundance of white pine was cut in New England, 
 New York, and Pennsylvania, but of late the greater part 
 comes from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. White- 
 pine lumber is kept in all yards of the northern states, 
 as far west as Dakota ; but the largest markets for this 
 lumber are Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Buffalo. 
 White pine is used chiefly as building lumber, being soft, 
 light, insect proof, and always to be had in any quantity 
 in all reasonable sizes and all grades ; it has become one 
 of the favorite materials, is used for a greater variety of 
 purposes, and brings a better price than any other of 
 the common kinds of lumber. 
 
 In the South, where a broad belt of pineries stretches 
 along the coast from Virginia to Texas, there are three 
 varieties of hard-pine lumber, whicli are cut in large 
 quantities and are shipped not only to all the northern 
 and eastern markets, but also find their way to many 
 foreign markets. 
 
 Of these the longleaf or Georgia pine lumber is the 
 most important. Georgia pine is cut mostly into timbers 
 of long lengths, twenty feet or more, and used for sup- 
 ports in large structures, in bridges, trestles, for car sills, 
 etc. A considerable amount of this timber is exported to 
 Europe, the West Indies, and South America under the 
 name of pitch pine^ but by far the greater part is either 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 155 
 
 used at home or shipped to our larger eastern and north- 
 ern markets. Among the most important points of manu- 
 facture and shipment are : Savannah and Brunswick, Ga. ; 
 Jacksonville and Pensacola, Fla. ; Mobile, Ala. ; Pasca- 
 goula, Miss. ; Lake Charles, La. ; and Beaumont, Texas. 
 
 The North Carolina pine is cut in Virginia and North 
 Carolina, made mostly into boards, and is marketed at 
 Norfolk and Baltimore, and has become a common article 
 even in the retail lumber yards of our eastern and northern 
 towns. It is often called yellow pine and is extensively 
 used as flooring and ceiling, especially in schools and other 
 public buildings, where the bright orange-red and yellow 
 patterns of this material are brought out strongly by a 
 '^ natural " or oil finish. 
 
 The yello'w pi?ie marketed in St. Louis, Kansas City, 
 and points in Texas is cut mostly from the true shortleaf 
 pine of Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and northern Louisiana. 
 It is cut into all sizes, boards and timber, and is the com- 
 mon building material of these regions. 
 
 The yelloiv j^i^^ie of the Rocky Mountains and parts of 
 California, Oregon, and Washington resembles the eastern 
 yellow pine, but is cut from a different species of tree. 
 It, together with red fir, forms the common building 
 material as well as the principal mining timber of these 
 mountain states. 
 
 Spruce is the common timber of the "white-pine state " 
 of Maine, and of New England and eastern Canada. It 
 
156 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTEY 
 
 is cut into a greater variety of sizes, odd lengths and odd 
 widths not being uncommon. Though smaller and more 
 knotty than pine, spruce also furnishes a common building 
 material, and is used in large quantities and for almost 
 everything from shingle to sill. 
 
 Red fir, Oregon fir, and Oregon pine are three names 
 for the same tree and the same kind of lumber. Red-fir 
 lumber is cut in largest quantities in Oregon and Wash- 
 ington, but considerable quantities are also manufactured 
 in California and the Rocky Mountain countries. It 
 resembles hard-pine lumber in appearance, quality, and 
 uses, but since the trees of Oregon and Washington grow 
 to very large sizes, two hundred feet or over in height 
 and three to six feet in diameter, perfectly clear pieces of 
 unusual size are obtained, and it is this great perfection 
 of red fir which permits its export to distant countries, — 
 Japan, China, Siberia, Australia, etc. 
 
 Redivood is a product of California and is cut from 
 large trees of the cedar family. It is a dark, brownish- 
 red, soft, and light material of great durability and there- 
 fore of an unusual range of usefulness. It is the common 
 lumber of parts of California, and considerable quantities 
 are exported, especially in the form of sawed shingles. 
 
 Cypress is a tree of the southern swamps and has of 
 late years become one of the important lumber trees of 
 our country. Cypress is often logged with special machin- 
 ery; it is cut mostly into boards, planks, and shingles. 
 
> n 
 
 o 
 
 r*- ^ 
 
 157 
 
158 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTEY 
 
 and has become a strong rival of white pine. Louisiana, 
 Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas all share in 
 the manufacture of cypress. 
 
 Hemlock is a much despised and very much underrated 
 material, which, in spite of its bad name, is one of our 
 most useful building materials. Though apt to be a little 
 shaky and somewhat ^Drone to warp and sliver, hemlock 
 is used everywhere in the East for studding, joists, and 
 sheathing in frame houses, for sidewalks, fences, and boxes ; 
 and of late years entire houses, shingles, laths, and all, have 
 been built of this Cinderella among our conifers. 
 
 A large proportion of pine and other coniferous lumber 
 is manufactured into finished flooring, siding, ceiling, etc., 
 by the planing mills which are to be found in connection 
 with most of our larger modern sawmills. 
 
 Hardwood lumber is usually cut into planks, one to 
 three inches thick, or else into timber for particular pur- 
 poses, such as bridge and car timber, wagon axles, etc. 
 It is commonly sold in the rough, i.e., it is not planed 
 and otherwise finished like pine . lumber, though of late 
 maple, birch, oak, and yellow poplar are offered quite 
 extensively in the forms of flooring, ceiling, siding, and 
 other finished products. 
 
 If we look about us to see where most of our lumber 
 goes, and what it is used for, we find that the great mass 
 of pine and other coniferous lumber is used in building 
 houses of all kinds. The carpenter is greatly assisted in 
 
169 
 
IGO FIKST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 his work by having lumber of definite sizes and grades. 
 Thus, in building an ordinary frame house with walls 
 sixteen feet high, he need not shape the frame pieces, but 
 orders sixteen-foot studding and thus saves a great deal 
 of extra work. Moreover, the owner also saves a great 
 deal of material by this arrangement, since the sixteen- 
 foot pieces all fit, and but little of his lumber is cut into 
 short, useless pieces. Formerly hardly any hardwood 
 timber ever entered in the construction of an ordinary 
 house, but of late years much hardwood is used as finish- 
 ing lumber, i.e., for floor, ceiling, doors, etc. 
 
 The carpenter's lumber should be light to handle, soft 
 to nail and saw ; it should dry without much warping, and 
 it should be safe against insects. On the other hand, 
 most of it need not be pretty, since it is covered up ; and 
 it need not be very strong or tough, since it is rarely 
 heavily loaded or jarred. 
 
 The desirable combination of qualities for house-build- 
 ing material is found in most conifers, but in very few 
 hardwoods, and our frame house will cease to be common 
 wherever pine and other coniferous lumber becomes scarce. 
 
 Most of our hardwood lumber is used for all kinds of 
 furniture and implements. In a table or chair the pieces 
 need not be long or broad, nor need they be light and 
 soft. On the contrary, they must be firm and strong, 
 quite tough, and, in addition, they should have a pleasing 
 appearance. 
 
USE OF THE FOEEST 161 
 
 In getting out logs for lumber it is usually better to 
 fell the tree with the crosscut saw, cutting as near to the 
 ground as possible. In the white-pine districts contracts 
 commonly call for stumps eighteen inches or less in height, 
 and there is no good reason why, in logging good oak, 
 ash, etc., any man should make a three- or even four-foot 
 stump, and thus waste at least ten per cent of the best 
 part of the tree. These large stumps, moreover, become 
 breeding places for insects and harbor fungi, and thus are 
 a menace as well as a loss. 
 
 In measuring and marking off the logs a great deal of 
 waste may be avoided if the woodsman has clearly in 
 mind what kind of goods he wants to make of his timber. 
 For all small jobs it pays well either to do it oneself or 
 else to engage an experienced man and give him clear 
 instructions as to what should go into saw-logs, ties, 
 poles, etc. 
 
 The skidding is mostly done by dragging the log on 
 the ground. Especially for hardwoods men use a ^^ go- 
 devil," or simple sled, often made of a crotch or fork of 
 two large limbs. Where this is done one end of the log 
 is placed on the sled and thus prevented from striking 
 against many obstacles. 
 
 The work of loading and of hauling to the mill varies 
 for different localities. In cold, snowy districts this is 
 done most cheaply on sleighs ; in other localities, with 
 wagons, which of course is far more expensive. 
 
162 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 In most localities farmers still sell their logs commonly 
 '^ on the stmnp," i.e., in the woods. This is rarely a good 
 plan, as the buyer's workmen care too little for the woods, 
 damage trees in dragging, and cut too nmcli young growth 
 that they may get as near as possible to the logs with 
 sled or wagon. Selling at the mill is better. Some men 
 have their logs cut on shares, and then haul and sell the 
 lumber to the neighboring retail lumber yard. This is 
 the right way, but unfortunately the retailer is too often 
 disposed to take advantage of the farmer in grading 
 and price, preferring generally to buy of the wholesale 
 dealer rather than get his goods in small lots from his 
 neighbors. 
 
 This is avoided in some localities where farmers coop- 
 erate and run a small mill of their own, using one or two 
 threshing engines for power and "swapping work" as in 
 threshing time. In this way a number of farmers cut 
 each year a large amount of lumber, which, after season- 
 ing in the pile one or even more years, is readily taken 
 by some wholesale merchant at much better prices than 
 can usually be secured from the retailer. In addition, 
 this method always supplies the neighborhood with good 
 seasoned material for home use. 
 
 The regular lumbering in the remote, unsettled forests 
 of our country is carried on, of course, on a much larger 
 scale. In such work camps have to be built, comprising 
 cook's shanty, men's quarters, barn, smithy, office, and 
 
USE OF THE F0KE8T 163 
 
 often a large storehouse ; and provision is made to dine 
 seventy-five and more men at one sitting. 
 
 Much preparatory work must be done. Roads, dams, 
 or railways iDust be built, and suj^plies hauled to the 
 camp from distant railway stations. The logging itself, 
 for instance, in white-pine woods proceeds then al^out as 
 follows : Some of the men go in pairs, each pair with 
 a crosscut saw, felling the trees and cutting them into 
 logs. Another set skid the logs, i.e., drag them out of the 
 woods to the roads, and with the universal '^ peavey " roll 
 them up into piles on skidways. Still another set haul 
 them to the neighboring stream, where a '^ landing " is 
 cleared, on which the whole season's cutting is piled 
 up. The hauling is done on sleighs, and on a road which 
 has been carefully laid out so that there are no uphill 
 pulls, and one which is kept clean during all the hauling 
 and sprinkled with water or 'Meed" nearly every night. 
 When the winter's work is over, and spriug opens the 
 stream and fills it with water, the ''driving" begins. A 
 set of men roll the logs into the water, and men go along 
 the stream to keep them moving. The logs always catch 
 on the banks, or on obstacles of some kind, and form 
 ''jams," which have to l^e broken and rebroken whenever 
 formed. In smaller streams the ordinary flow of water 
 is not sufficient, and the brook must be " splashed " or 
 flooded, i.e., the dam built during the summer before is 
 opened as often as a good head of water exists, or as often 
 
164 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 as is necessary, and thus, artificially, a flood is produced 
 which carries the logs farther and farther. In good 
 streams this is a cheap way to transport logs ; in small 
 crooked streams it is not. 
 
 The logging of spruce in Maine and other states is 
 done very much in the same way. In the southern 
 pineries logging is carried on by means of railways, the 
 skidder dragging or hauling the logs directly to the railway. 
 Here the work goes on all the time ; a log cut to-day is 
 hauled to mill to-morrow, sawed next day, and passes at 
 once into a dry kiln to prevent the boards from " bluing," 
 or becoming dark. 
 
 Cypress is mostly dragged out of the large miry swamps 
 with huge wire-rope machinery ; and the monstrous logs of 
 redwood and red fir of the Pacific coast are logged by 
 means of heavy teams, — six to twelve yoke of oxen or 
 teams of horses, — or else are dragged together and loaded 
 on cars by means of donkey engines and wire cables. 
 
 Estimating and measuring Timber 
 
 When a man buys a lot of standing timber, or when a 
 lumberman or farmer, prepares for the winter's logging, 
 he wishes to know beforehand approximately how mucli 
 timber he is likely to get from the tract of land he is about 
 to cut over. In most districts of our country this is still 
 done by estimating or counting the trees and guessing at 
 their contents. 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 165 
 
 On a small piece of woodland this work is quite simple, 
 but when the estimating is to be done in some unsettled 
 forest district, where the only landmarks consist of dim 
 blaze lines made by surveyors years ago, separating only 
 one section or square mile from another, it is necessary 
 not only to estimate timber, but also to know where we 
 are. Thus, a section has sixteen forty-acre lots, and four 
 of these are interior '' forties " which have no marked 
 boundaries. To know when he is on one of these forties 
 and on what part he is estimating, the man uses the same 
 methods which the mariner employs on the high sea ; he 
 uses a compass so that he may always know where he is 
 going, and he counts his paces to know how far he has 
 gone, and for this reason these travelers of the woods are 
 often called cruisers. 
 
 Formerly only the log or saw timber was considered, 
 but of late years the number of posts, ties, telegraph 
 poles, even the amount of cord wood, is estimated. 
 
 In estimating a large tree we guess its diameter and 
 the number of logs which it will cut. Suppose we guess 
 the tree to be twenty-four inches in diameter, breast high, 
 or four feet from the ground, and to cut three logs, each 
 sixteen feet long, and that we believe the bark to be about 
 one inch and a half thick at the base ; also suppose that 
 the tree tapers about one inch for every eight feet in 
 length. Then the first log is about twenty-one inches in 
 diameter at the butt, or base (without bark), and nineteen 
 
166 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 inches in diameter at the top end ; the second is seventeen 
 inches at the top, and the third fifteen inches at the top. 
 Looking in onr table (Appendix I), we find that by the 
 Doyle rule these logs contain, 
 
 The first one . 225 feet B.M. 
 
 The second one 169 feet B.M. 
 
 The third one 121 feet B.M. 
 
 Total, 515 feet B.M. 
 
 which means that five hundred and fifteen feet B.M. of 
 boards may be cut from the logs of this tree, provided 
 the logs are straight and sound. Usually this is not quite 
 the case, and ten to thirty per cent, according to the 
 quality of timber, must be deducted for '' defects." 
 
 After some practice in a forest the estimator or cruiser 
 commonly decides that the trees generally cut one and a 
 half, two, or three logs per tree, and also that it takes 
 about eight, twelve, or twenty of these logs to make a 
 thousand feet B.M. 
 
 Thus, in ordinary eastern spruce, the trees cut about 
 three logs per tree and it takes about fifteen to twenty 
 logs to make a thousand feet B.M., so that the estimator 
 finally decides that about five trees make a thousand feet 
 B.M. After this he merely counts the trees and divides 
 by five, to find how many thousand feet B.M. he has esti- 
 mated. In old white pine he would find that it takes 
 about two trees to make a thousand feet B.M. (write M 
 feet B.M.), and in large red fir and redwoods one tree often 
 would make five to ten M feet B.M., and even more. 
 
USE OF THE FOKEST 
 
 167 
 
 B 
 
 \ 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 •13 
 
 •12 ; 
 
 •5 
 
 •4 
 
 •14 
 
 •II 
 
 •6 
 
 •3 
 
 •15 
 
 •10 
 
 •7 
 
 •2 
 
 .16 
 
 •9 
 
 •8 
 
 •I 
 
 
 T 
 
 
 t 10 . 
 
 Lff^wo 
 
 D 
 
 In such estimates poles are merely coimted ; the umiiber 
 of ties follows from the number of trees, i.e., the estimator 
 decides that the trees which would naturally be cut for 
 ties generally cut three, four, etc., ties \ while figures for 
 cord wood and posts are 
 usually mere guesswork, 
 which have value only 
 when they come from a 
 very experienced man. 
 
 Where a large piece, say 
 a forty-acre tract, is to be 
 estimated, and the timber 
 is at all valuable, it is best 
 to work in an orderly way. 
 We find the corner A and 
 go along the line AB ten 
 rods ; then we go north ten 
 rods to station No. 1. Here 
 we put down our staff so 
 that we keep the right sjDot, for there are no fences or other 
 convenient landmarks to guide us, and then we begin to 
 count and estimate all the trees in the square of which 
 this station is the center. If we go four times through 
 the forty-acre tract, this square contains \% = ^\ acres. 
 All we learn about this square of two and a half acres 
 we put down on a separate page of our notebook, so that 
 when we have finished the square, or this station No. 1^ 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 20 20 Ro 
 
 h 
 
 Fig. 61. Diagram to show how a 
 Forty-Acre Lot is covered in 
 estimating Timber. (Nos. 1-16 
 are the stations) 
 
168 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 we need not remember anything more about it. Then Ave 
 go to station No. 2, which is twenty rods from No. 1, and 
 so on, until the ''forty" is done. To have our note- 
 books orderly we should have them lined and arranged 
 somewhat like the sample on the opposite page. 
 
 Whether the diameters are estimated or measured, it is 
 better to go hj even inches, as is shown in the scheme, 
 but it is not necessary to measure by one inch, unless 
 the number of trees is very small. 
 
 When the "forty " is finished we add up and put on the 
 same kind of sheet all the totals. Then we can calculate 
 the amount of wood very much closer than is ordinarily 
 done. First we find the amount of saw timber in the logs 
 in the way explained before. Then we calculate the real 
 volume of the wood in the following way : 
 
 Suppose the twenty-four-inch trees are generally about 
 ninety feet high (estimated or measured) and that they 
 cut three logs each, so that they cut about five hundred 
 feet B.M., as in our example. Then w^e look up the area 
 of cross section of the tree in the table (Appendix II) 
 and find that a tree twenty-four inches in diameter has 
 an area of 3.14 square feet. If the tree were simply a 
 cylinder of wood, we would need only to multiply this 
 number of 3.14 with the height of the tree to find the 
 volume in cubic feet. But the trunk of the tree tapers, 
 and tapers irregularly, so that not even the contents of the 
 trunk can thus be calculated. In working up many trees 
 
USE OF THE EOKEST 
 
 1G9 
 
 ARRANGEMENT OF NOTEBOOK IN ESTIMATING 
 AND MEASURING TIMBER 
 
 Forty No. 5. 
 
 Station No. 8. 
 
 
 Diameter 
 
 (INCHES) 
 
 Oak 
 
 Chestnut 
 
 Tulip 
 Poplar 
 
 Maple 
 
 
 12 
 
 // 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 /Th^ 
 
 
 
 
 Number 
 OF Trees 
 
 16 
 
 // 
 
 /// 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 //// 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 // 
 
 / 
 
 // 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 /// 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 15 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 // 
 
 
 
 
 Number of 
 
 14 
 
 /// 
 
 
 
 
 16 FT. LOGS 
 
 16 
 
 M^ 
 
 Tfu/n 
 
 
 
 CORRESPOND- 
 
 18 
 
 /MW/// 
 
 
 
 
 ING TO THE 
 ABOVE TREES 
 
 20 
 
 rm/ 
 
 /// 
 
 TfU/ 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 tfUWl/ 
 
 
 
 Number of 
 Logs 
 
 
 28 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 
 Small Trees 
 
 6-11 IN. DIAM, 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 23 
 
 11 
 
 Young 
 Growth 
 
 Considerable young red oak l-() ft. high ; little chestnut and 
 maple, but no poplar 
 
 Surface 
 Cover 
 
 Considerable shrubbery, hazel, etc. ; about one third area is 
 covered with grass and weeds 
 
 Surface 
 
 Moderate slope to north ; fairly smooth, no bowlders 
 
 Soil 
 
 Fine, gray, sandy, deep 
 
 Drainage 
 
 Perfect 
 
 Notes 
 
 Easy logging. Stand too open ; need of more trees ; well suited 
 to hardwoods and conifers ; justilies cleaning and filling in by 
 sowing or planting 
 
170 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 it has been found as a matter of experience and measure- 
 ment that the volume of the trunk of the tree is about 
 one half as much as the volume of the cylinder just men- 
 tioned. Usually this ratio between the cylindei' and the 
 real volume of the tree varies from about 0.45 to 0.60 
 according to the kind of tree, and naturally is larger 
 if the entire tree, limbs and all, is taken than if only the 
 volume of the stem is to be calculated. This figure, or 
 ratio, is called the factor of shape and is very useful in tree 
 measurement. 
 
 Since the factor of shape is equal to the volume of the 
 tree divided by that of the cylinder, or since 
 
 J. _ volume of tree 
 
 volume of cylinder 
 we can say : 
 
 factor X volume of cylinder = volume of tree ; 
 or, volume = area x height x factor of shape. 
 
 In our case, then, 
 
 3.14 X 90 X .00= 169.5 cubic feet. 
 
 This includes the logs as w^ell as limbs, and means that 
 if the entire tree were cut into cord wood, it would make 
 one hundred and sixty-nine cubic feet, solid wood ; or, 
 since about ninety cubic feet solid make one cord of wood 
 in the pile (air and wood), each twenty-four-inch tree 
 would make 1.88 cords. Allowing two cords of wood to 
 each thousand feet B.M. of logs, we deduct one cord for 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 
 
 171 
 
 the logs and find that these trees furnish each about 0.88 
 of a cord of firewood. When trees are very branchy, as 
 in our old hardwood forests, the number of logs is usually 
 
 Fig. 62. Calipers for nieasiir- 
 inu' the Diameter of Trees 
 
 Fig. 63. Measuring the Height of a Tree 
 
 small, and the amount of firewood commonly more than 
 half of all the timber. In pine, spruce, etc., the reverse 
 is true ; here the logs often make over seventy-five per 
 cent of all the wood in the tree. 
 
172 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Since estimating is always guesswork and liable to 
 much error, it is far better to make definite measurements 
 wherever we can. This is always possible in the case of 
 the diameter, and usually of the height. In doing this 
 two men go ahead with calipers (see Fig. 62) to measure 
 the diameter and also estimate the number of logs, and 
 one man walks behind them and keeps tally. The meas- 
 uring is done breast high, and each tree is marked with a 
 gauge or chalk to show that it has been measured. 
 
 During the work each man calls out, as, for instance, 
 " White oak, twenty-four, two," meaning that this tree of 
 white oak is twenty-four inches in diameter and will cut 
 two logs. The heights are measured as shown in the 
 figure, with a homemade triangle or else with a special 
 device, the Faustman '' Heightmeasure." 
 
 In measuring or '' scaling " a log, it is customary, in 
 our country, not to measure its real volume, but to state 
 how many feet B.M. of lumber might be cut from this log. 
 Since the saw wastes a great deal of wood, cutting it into 
 dust, and since the slabs also are largely waste, only 
 fifty to seventy per cent of the total volume of the log 
 can be obtained as boards. 
 
 A stick on which are marked the number of feet B.M. 
 for each diameter and the ordinary lengths is called a 
 scale rule. Of tliese rides the Doyle rule is by far the 
 most common and is quite a fair rule, except for logs 
 smaller than sixteen inches diameter. If a rule is not at 
 
USE OF THE FOEEST 
 
 173 
 
 hand, we can readily make one, for in Doyle's rule the 
 contents of a log sixteen feet long are equal to the square 
 of the diameter reduced hy four. Thus, a log twenty-four 
 inches in diameter has (24 - if = 20 x 20, or 400, feet B.M. 
 if it is sixteen feet long. If it is only twelve feet 
 long, the contents are 400 x f| = 300 feet B.M. 
 
 The measurement is always made 
 at the smaller or top end, and if the 
 log is crooked, partly decayed, or 
 excessively knotty, an arbitrary deduc- 
 tion is made. Where valuable timber 
 is bought or sold these methods are 
 improved in various ways to obtain 
 more exact results. 
 
 Ta?i Bark. — In many of the oak 
 forests of the Allegheny region, and 
 in the hemlock woods of Wisconsin 
 and Michigan, many men are engaged 
 in peeling tan bark. 
 
 This is done in summer, May to 
 July, while the bark readily lets go of Fig. 64. Scale Rules 
 
 the wood. In peeling l)ark the tree Only the lower end of each 
 p,,-, ,,, -111 c stick is shown 
 
 IS lelled, and then girdled every tour 
 feet clear up to the crown. Then these four-foot cylinders 
 of bark are cut lengtliwise along two or more lines, and 
 the pieces peeled oft' with a special peeling iron. They 
 are then set up, rough side out, against the log to dry. 
 
174 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 When dry they are carefully stacked in cord piles, and 
 later on hauled out when convenient. Care is taken to 
 do the work during dry sunny days, since bark molds 
 very easily and is thereby spoiled. 
 
 Being bulky, bark does not pay for long-distance ship- 
 ping, and tanners prefer to move their tannery to the woods 
 and ship the hides, rather than to move the bark over great 
 distances. In times of business depression farmers have 
 been driven to peel bark without being able to use the 
 logs, so that much timber has been wasted in this way. 
 This should be, and usually can be, avoided by the use of 
 portable mills ; for even if the lumber cannot at once be 
 used, oak and hemlock bear storing for a long time. 
 
 Resin and Turpentine Industry 
 
 In the large forests of longleaf pine covering the level, 
 sandy coast plain of the South, the production of turpen- 
 tine and resin, the " naval stores " industry, is one of the 
 principal occupations. The process is as follows : 
 
 One or two deep pockethke notches are cut into each 
 tree to receive the crude resin as it oozes out of the 
 wound. Since the resin hardens in a short time and 
 stops up the wound, this latter must be renewed about 
 once every week all through the '' bleeding" season, from 
 spring to fall, as shown in Fig. 65, a, where a man is about 
 to cut a thin strip, or " streak," with his " hacker." Once 
 
o 
 
 S - 
 
 176 
 
176 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTKY 
 
 a month the men '' dip " the '' crude," and this is hauled 
 to a distillery, a ^'turpentine still," where the ^' crude " 
 is boiled with a little water. By this means the spirits 
 of turpentine, or '' spirits," go off as a vapor and are 
 cooled in a coiled tube, the '' worm," which is kept cool 
 by flowing water. As soon as the " spirits " are distilled 
 the remaining mass, the rosin, is run out like molten 
 metal through a sieve into a trough, whence it is ladled 
 into barrels. This soon hardens on cooling, so that the 
 barrels need not be very tight. 
 
 Some distillers get all their "crude" from fp^rmers; 
 others have special crews in the woods to tap for them. 
 Ordinarily a tree is tapped only four years, but in many 
 of the settled districts of North Carolina trees have been 
 '^ bled " for more than twenty years. 
 
 One man tends, " chips," or " streaks," about five thou- 
 sand trees. His trees form a " crop," and are supposed 
 to have ten thousand notches or " boxes." Such a crop 
 yields during the four years of "bleeding" about fifty- 
 four hundred gallons of turpentine and six hundred and 
 eighty barrels (two hundred and forty pounds each) of rosin. 
 The yield is greatest the first year, the four years com- 
 paring in this respect as 7 to 6 to 4 to 1. 
 
 When the lumberman follows the turpentine man, and 
 uses up the timber as soon as the tapping is finished, this 
 industry is entirely proper ; but wher6 the trees cannot 
 be utilized afterwards it is too wasteful. The output of 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 177 
 
 this industry in 1892 was about three hundred and fifty 
 thousand casks of turpentine and about two and a haK 
 million barrels of rosin. 
 
 The ordinary tar, formerly manufactured in large quan- 
 tities, especially in North Carolina, and much used on ships, 
 was not made in the manner described, but in special char- 
 coal pits, and was thus a product of dry distillation, akin 
 to the tar produced in retorts. 
 
 Seeds and Mast 
 
 In nearly all of our eastern hardwood forests the nuts of 
 chestnut, hickory, including the pecan, walnut, and butter- 
 nut, and to some extent the beechnuts, are gathered and form 
 one of the common dainties of winter-evening gatherings. 
 
 Nearly all of our large oak forests are used to pasture 
 thousands of hogs, which fatten whenever the '•' mast,'' or 
 crop of acorns, is good. 
 
 Aside from these simple and ancient uses, the seeds of 
 our trees are generally allowed to go to waste ; but as 
 there arises a market for many of our tree seeds, it will 
 prove profitable to gather them. This is so now in most 
 parts of Europe, where the value of the seed from a small 
 piece of woods is often far greater than that of the wood, 
 and where, whenever a seed year occurs, hundreds of 
 people make it a business to collect such seeds as pine, 
 spruce, and balsam. 
 
178 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Pasturage 
 
 Pasturing in the forests is almost universal in all settled 
 portions of our country, and even many of the remote 
 districts, like those of the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra 
 Nevadas, furnish summer feed to several millions of sheep 
 and cattle. In the forest of the longleaf pine in the 
 South the cattle feed on rough pine-grass, which is 
 renewed and also protected against a cover of pine needles 
 by being burned over from time to time. 
 
 Though the cattle and sheep do not eat the pine, they 
 trample down seedlings, and thus hinder the starting of 
 young growth. This, however, is made up in part by 
 the good they do in breaking the cover of dead leaves, 
 etc., and thus making it possible for the seed of the pine 
 to find the ground. On the other hand, fires set for their 
 benefit do damage in killing seedlings and young trees, 
 and scorching the '' feet " of the old. 
 
 In our hardwoods tlie cattle and sheep live as much by 
 browsing off the leaves and fresh shoots of young trees 
 as by feeding on grass, and, therefore, pasturing in these 
 woods always hinders the starting of young growth and 
 leads to a crippling of many of those saplings which 
 continue to live in spite of injury. For this reason it 
 is generally a bad plan to pasture cattle in the woods. 
 Where, however, this appears still advisable or necessary 
 the work in the woods should be so regulated that the 
 
USE OF THE FOREST 179 
 
 cattle can be kept off from the parts where a new growth 
 is to be started, until the young trees are over ten feet in 
 height. With cattle this is easily and cheaply done by a 
 two-strand fence of barb wire, which can be used over 
 and over again ; with sheep this does no good, and they 
 should be herded. 
 
 In the dry portions of our western mountain ranges the 
 sheep find a summer range which is considered quite 
 indispensable to the sheep industry of many districts. 
 Since the forests are stocked with conifers, which the 
 sheep do not eat, it is chiefly their trampling which does 
 any damage. In these mountains most of the herding is 
 done on the high ridges wdiere timber does not grow very 
 well, if at all, and also in the numerous "burns," where 
 repeated fires have killed and consumed everything. 
 These burns are without seed trees and therefore restock 
 very slowly, commonly remaining open grazing grounds 
 for years. 
 
 Where forest growth is very difficult to start, and 
 where, as is usually the case in these mountain countries, 
 it is very necessary to avoid serious erosion from the 
 irregular flow of the streams, pasturage should be regu- 
 lated or abandoned altogether. 
 
180 FIKST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 Game and Fish 
 
 In the Adirondack Mountains the game and fish, as 
 much as the beauty of forest and lake, have brought to 
 these mountains milhons of dollars, and helped to create 
 a sentiment worth many millions more. Streams and 
 lakes well stocked with fish, and a few dozen of deer to 
 every thousand acres of forest, are capable of producing 
 considerable income through the pleasure which they give 
 by their beauty and the possible chase, without interfering 
 in the least with the real objects of the forest. 
 
 In hardwood forests, like those of the Alleghenies, at 
 least twenty-five deer should find their living on every 
 thousand acres of land ; but in all cases the number 
 should be regulated, and old does as Avell as old bucks 
 should be removed. 
 
 Pine and spruce forests naturally offer very much less 
 feed ; and, therefore, if game is to be kept, more or less 
 hardwood should be mixed in with the conifers. Patches 
 of coppice growth, especially of poplars, cottonwood, aspen, 
 etc., also willows, mountain ash, maple, oak, and beech, ' 
 furnish large quantities of fodder and are well suited to 
 help the animals in severe winters, when the poorer trees 
 may be thinned out merely to feed the game. 
 
 But; above all, the animals must be protected against 
 the dog and gun. Of these the former is by far the more 
 harmful, and in anv district where stray doQ:s, these 
 
C5 
 
 B 
 
 181 
 
18:^ FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 protected wolves of our forest, are free to chase the game 
 day and night, as, for instance, in many parts of the South 
 and West, it is impossible for deer to maintain themselves. 
 
 THE BUSINESS OF THE FOREST 
 
 When a farmer carries on forestry on his thirty-acre 
 piece of woodland he looks after it himself, plans and 
 conducts the cutting, planting, and thinning, sells the 
 wood, and thus performs all parts of this business, just as 
 he does his farming. He may hire some men, he may 
 even keep a book to see just how much his piece of wood- 
 land is bringing in, but it is a very simple kind of record. 
 In the same way his plans are perfectly simple. He may 
 manage it all as a piece of selection woods, cutting over 
 a three-acre piece each year, using the same road to haul 
 out his wood, or he may treat it as a coppice ; but, in any 
 case, he needs no map or book to see where the oldest 
 timber is located, and what parts are in need of thinning. 
 Half an hour's walk wilFshow all this, and a few hours' 
 time will suffice to mark out all the trees he wishes to 
 take out the coming winter. 
 
 Suppose, however, he has two thousand acres of woods 
 in four pieces, thirty miles from, his home ; then the case 
 is quite different. It would take a month's faithful walk- 
 ing to examine this amount of land as a good forest 
 should be examined. Moreover, he needs to note down 
 
THE BUSINESS OF THE FOREST 183 
 
 at every step what he sees, or else he would forget it 
 before he could reach home. But of what use is it to note 
 down what he sees on a particular spot, unless he knows 
 where that spot is and can send a man there, if he wants 
 to do so ? This means, then, that he should survey it 
 first and establish some marks in the woods. Then he 
 examines and estimates or measures the timber and 
 describes his land. But after he has a map and descrip- 
 tion, to have it orderly he must keep it in some kind of 
 book, arranged in some definite order. Here the book- 
 keeping begins, for this survey and this examination cost 
 some money, which he must charge against his forest. 
 Then he wants to manage this forest. 
 
 We will suppose he decides to treat it as a selection 
 forest, and suppose also that he can sell the wood and 
 timber, and wishes to use his forest to furnish work for 
 teams and outfit, and also for his men, whether tenants 
 or neighbors. In this case he will wish to do some log- 
 ging, perhaps, every winter ; and he will need, about every 
 ten years, to return to each part of his woods to make 
 sure that it is properly cleaned and thinned. He would 
 have to log over about two hundred acres a year, and this 
 would be a considerable business in itself. To do this he 
 would need a foreman, better a forester, and a small crew 
 of men, and considerable bookkeeping would be necessary 
 to keep his accounts in proper order. But to handle a 
 foreman and crew means administration; to survey, 
 
184 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 subdivide, map, and measure his land and timber, to plan 
 where, what, and how much to cut and plant, to improve 
 by roads, ditches, and otherwise, — all these mean to 
 regulate his forest. We have here, then, a simple form 
 of forest adyyiinistration and regulation. 
 
 When this forest grows to twenty-five thousand acres, 
 in perhaps thirty pieces, the owner needs several perma- 
 nent foresters who know what to do and how to do it. 
 Each of these men takes a portion of this land and car- 
 ries on the business, making reports at regular times to 
 the owner, or his office, so that the owner, like a store- 
 keeper, knows every day about how his forest business 
 stands. Thus, forest administration and regulation, up to 
 certain limits, grow in complexity as the forest grows 
 larger and more diversified, and both are necessary for 
 order and good business. 
 
 SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 
 
 So far we have been considering forests in general, but 
 there are a few important cases which deserve special 
 attention. 
 
 The Wood Lot 
 
 The farmer's small forest of twenty to forty acres is 
 often entirely neglected, as a thing neither forest nor 
 field and hardly worth paying any attention to. And 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FOKESTS 
 
 185 
 
 yet it is in this form that a very large and a very impor- 
 tant part of our forest wealth exists, and here is where 
 
 Fiii. (57. Tapping the Sugar Maple 
 (After W. F. Fox) 
 
 the best kind of forestry is frequently met with, and 
 where the most careful attention and the greatest outlay 
 
186 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 of labor always pays and pays handsomely. The ordi- 
 nary wood lot m the eastern or forested portion of our 
 country is usually a remnant of the old forest; it is 
 on forest ground and commonly on rather good land, 
 when considered from the woodsman's standpoint, so that 
 quite a variety of timber may be grown here. Let us 
 consider what might be done with such a wood lot in 
 our eastern districts. 
 
 First, we will see what kinds of trees the woods contain 
 and what condition they are in. In most cases we find a 
 considerable number of old, long-overripe trees of maple, 
 elm, oak, especially red oak, and others. Some of these 
 clearly show their bad condition by large knot holes, 
 numerous dead hmbs, and other signs of degeneration. 
 They are growing neither in value nor in wood and had 
 better be removed ; but there is no need of haste, — any 
 time during the next ten to twenty years is soon enough; 
 for there is no immediate danger of great loss. 
 
 Besides the old, overripe trees there are a number of 
 younger trees with broad, spreading crowns, also trees 
 like blue beech and dogwood, which are not wanted. 
 We see that considerable change is needed here, merely 
 in respect to the kinds of trees to be raised. In most 
 cases we should wish to reduce the elm, basswood, poplar, 
 and others, and give preference to oak. Moreover, we 
 would rather raise white oak than red or black oak, 
 because the former is durable and, therefore, useful even 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 
 
 187 
 
 as a small tree, when it can be sold at good prices for 
 railway ties and piling. The same is true of chestnut. 
 In addition, it would be better in most cases to introduce 
 
 Fig. 68. Old-Fashioned Way of boiling Maple Sap 
 (After W. F. Fox) 
 
 considerable pine or spruce, since much coniferous lumber 
 is used everywhere. To prevent the groves of oak from 
 becoming too open and grassy, it would be well to mix 
 in some Ijeech and maple wherever this trouble appears. 
 
188 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 The trees may be mixed all through the piece, or else the 
 oaks, the ashes and elms, hickories and walnuts may be 
 raised in small clumps or groves of one half to two acres 
 in size, surrounded by the mixed woods. 
 
 A general maxim in the choice of the trees to be 
 raised would be : '^ Raise only those kinds of trees which 
 thrive and grow well in our locality, and among these 
 select the kinds which furnish the most valuable material, 
 and especially those the wood of which is valuable at an 
 early age or in smaller sizes." Of course it is not neces- 
 sary and would not even be profitable to change the entire 
 thirtv acres of woods in one vear ; but it is well to make 
 up our minds as to what we should do with the woods, 
 and improve them from year to year, restocking the 
 ground with the kinds we want as we use up the old 
 and thin out the inferior trees. 
 
 In most woods we would also find much dead material 
 still on the stump or on the ground, also thickets of 
 young stuff in which good and bad trees alike are trying 
 to hold the ground. These cases, as well as the main- 
 tenance of a close border and the restocking of all bare 
 places, should in all such woods receive prompt attention, 
 for dead material in a forest is always a source of mis- 
 chief. A lot of scrubby blue beech is apt to crowd out 
 the finest saplings of oak, and a bare place in the woods 
 is fallow land, bringing no rental, but serving as a 
 starting point of brambles and other forest weeds. 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 189 
 
 As to the best way of managing the woods, the farmer 
 forester has the widest choice. With him any method, if 
 at all applicable to the kinds of trees he wishes to raise, 
 will bring good results. Generally the common selection 
 method will prove most satisfactory, since, as we have 
 learned, it is well suited to all the different kinds of trees, 
 to all climates and soils, and incurs less danger of injury 
 by wind and insects. 
 
 On an ordinary thirty-acre tract about three acres 
 may be gone over each year, cleaned and weeded of use- 
 less stuff, the denser thickets thinned, perhaps a few of 
 the oldest trees cut out, and all open spots restocked. 
 At first this will best be done by sowing and planting, 
 for if we wish to increase the proportion of white oak 
 and introduce pine and spruce, the only safe way is to 
 sow or plant in the manner before described. A small 
 basket of white-oak acorns, chestnuts, and beechnuts 
 sown in the fall, and a few hundred plants of white pine 
 raised from a few ounces of seed in a small flower bed 
 in the garden and set out in the spring, will soon pro- 
 duce a complete change in the complexion of this forest. 
 In many localities a few acres of good '-sugar bush" 
 may prove desirable, though frequently this is better 
 attained by trees along roads and fences and in open 
 groves about the farm premises. The same is true of 
 nut trees, of which a goodly number of the choicer kinds 
 should be grown on every farm. It is just as easy in 
 
190 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 most places to grow a good walnut or a good hickory as 
 it is to grow pignut, elm, or ash ; and in warmer districts 
 a grove of fine-grade chestnuts or select pecans may often 
 bring in considerable money by the fruit alone. 
 
 In suitable localities a part of the forest may well be 
 managed as coppice, and this same method is a very good 
 means of starting a new forest on old, worn-out plowland 
 and on pasture, for it is very easy to pass from a coppice 
 to a standard coppice, and from this to regular selection 
 woods. . 
 
 The use of the wood lot as pasture land is ordinarily a 
 mistake ; for if the forest is well stocked with trees, the 
 grasses have no chance, and there is nothing for the cattle, 
 sheep, etc., to do but to browse and gnaw bark. In a 
 small tract of hardwood forest the grazing will almost 
 always reduce the capacity of the woods to half and less, 
 so that only half as much wood is produced, and it is not 
 uncommon to see these over-pastured wood lots change 
 into mere ^'cripples," or stands of dwarfed and deformed 
 trees, which rarely grow into anything better than cheap 
 firewood. When the wood lot must be pastured, the 
 directions concerning pasturage mentioned before should 
 be followed. In using their woodland farmers accom- 
 plish much by a little organization and cooperation. In 
 some localities, where formerly the logs were rolled up 
 and burned, and the lumber used on the farm was bought 
 at the lumber yard ten or fifteen miles away, the farmers 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 191 
 
 now use portable sawmills, just as they use threshing 
 machines, thus cutting not only the lumber and timber 
 for home use, but sawing timber for railways, wagon 
 makers, furniture makers, and other consumers. 
 
 In cases where the lumber and timber is not sold 
 beforehand it should be piled and covered in the best 
 possible way, for it is usually through careless handling 
 that the lumber of small mills becomes less acceptable 
 and has to be sold at lower prices. 
 
 An illustration of what may be done by careful, systematic 
 management is shown in the following particularly inter- 
 esting case of timber exploitation, in no feature imaginary 
 or theoretical, but actually carried out a few years ago. 
 
 Forty-three acres of well-stocked rough timber land in 
 eastern Pennsylvania were bought for $5800, together 
 with forty-eight acres of improved farm land, for which 
 $2500 additional was paid. A portable second-hand mill 
 was purchased for $1000; mill shed and shanties were 
 erected, and this outlay, together with all the wages 
 (nearly $4000) and cost of hauling, railway and canal 
 freights (little over $4000), brought up the total outlay, 
 land included, to $18,855. As the mill was at once set 
 in operation, some income was derived from the first, thus 
 obviating the necessity of considering the interest on the 
 several expense accounts. 
 
 The following represents the cut from these forty-three 
 acres made in just two years, with only the partial 
 
192 FIRST BOOK OF FOEESTKY 
 
 personal attention of the owner, and without the employ- 
 ment of a special suiDerintendent : 
 
 AMOUNT AND VALUE OF ARTICLES AND LUMBER SOLD 
 
 Miscellaneous : Sold for 
 
 111 tons of oak bark $1,224 
 
 801 cords of firewood 2,640 
 
 196 telegraph poles 500 
 
 16,800 hickory spokes 388 
 
 66,000 feet slabs (running measure), used largely in mines . 333 
 
 For custom sawing 130 
 
 Sawdust 7 
 
 Total, $5,222 
 Lumber (board measure) : 
 
 Hickory butts (bought by paper mill for cogs), feet 9,680 
 Birch, sycamore, and second-cut hickory (sold to toy 
 
 concern) feet 11,822 
 
 Ash " 957 
 
 Walnut " 3,414 
 
 Yellow poplar " 12,941 
 
 Gum " 1,386 
 
 Maple " 1,042 
 
 Chestnut " 34,719 
 
 Oak " 162,552 
 
 Total, 238,513 6,522 
 
 Railroad ties number 9,345 5,282 
 
 Switch timber feet, linear measure 6,217 821 
 
 Other materials 654 
 
 Total, 18,501 
 Place and mill were then sold, the former at $4623, the latter at 
 
 $1000, making a total of 24,124 
 
 Against an expense of 18,855 
 
 Leaving a profit of $5,269 
 
SPECIAL KmDS or FORESTS 193 
 
 Here was a tract of forty-three acres of timber with a 
 yield of less than sixteen thousand feet B.M. per acre, as 
 ordinarily estimated, a stumpage of about five dollars 
 per thousand feet, and a profit of over one hundred dol- 
 lars per acre. Though it is not possible to repeat this 
 everywhere, it goes far to explain why good hardwood 
 timber in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey sells at 
 one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre 
 when farm land does not bring one half as much, while 
 only thirty years ago the case was exactly the reverse 
 and the farms were rated by the amount of cleared land. 
 It also shows how, at least in a large part of the eastern 
 United States, woods may be exploited in a careful instead 
 of wasteful manner, and how many a small holder, who 
 can give the matter his personal attention and do much 
 of the work at odd times, may make his wood lot a source 
 of revenue. 
 
 Waste Lands 
 
 On every trip through the country, especially in all 
 hilly districts or in walks about any of our smaller towns 
 and villages, one notices pieces of land from a few rods to 
 several, often many, acres in extent which have practically 
 gone to waste. Some of these pieces are rich spots along 
 our streams, perhaps a little wet or subject to overflow ; 
 others are dry, often stony, hillsides, where the removal of 
 the woods, the decay of the roots, and subsequent plowing 
 
194 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 deprived the soil of a hold and allowed the rain water to 
 carry it away, leaving the surface a mass of gravel and 
 stones. Generally these places are used as pastures, but 
 their grazing value is very slight, and where this grazing 
 value becomes less than one dollar per acre each year it 
 is in most cases better to convert such waste land into 
 woods ; for, as we have seen, a soil which is quite poor 
 for agriculture may still be very good for trees. Most of 
 these hillsides or bluffs at one time carried a good growth 
 of trees, and it is not uncommon for such lands to change 
 without help from bare pasture lands into Inrush lands 
 and, if left alone, gradually to revert to regular forest. 
 Usually this process is too slow ; lack of seed trees and 
 repeated fires keep these wastes in their bad condition, 
 and it is far better, therefore, to restock these places by 
 sowing or planting. In the New England States some 
 waste places have been restocked by white-pine seed in 
 spots five or six feet apart, and the same may be 
 accomplished at small cost and with good success by 
 sowing acorns, chestnuts, and seed of locust, maple, 
 and elm. 
 
 Where the ground is rocky and poor, and the success of 
 sowing rather doubtful, especially in the case of pine and 
 other conifers, it is much better to plant young trees one 
 or two years old. When a mixture of oak. chestnut, 
 locust, elm, and maple is used the woods may at first be 
 treated as coppice. Later on it may )je changed to a 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 195 
 
 standard coppice, and from this to an ordinary selection 
 wood, which will, in the end, prove the best for such 
 lands. 
 
 On wet overflow land willow produces fine crops of 
 long sprouts for basket weaving. Poplar, ash, elm, syca- 
 more, and, in the Southern States, sweet gum, water oak, 
 and other valuable trees thrive in similar situations. 
 
 What such reforestation can do for a piece of land, even 
 in our country, is best illustrated by some of the worn- 
 out pastures in our New England States, where land which 
 produced no income at all has been converted into forests 
 cutting over thirty thousand feet B.M. of shook boards 
 at the age of sixty years and less ; or, in other words, a 
 forest capable of producing yearly a net income of three 
 dollars and more per acre. 
 
 Forest Plantations on Prairies 
 
 As with so many other good things, the forest is never 
 so keenly missed as in the vast treeless regions of the 
 West. Generally the land is fertile, but lack of moisture 
 has helped the grasses to monopolize the land. In all the 
 states east of the Rocky Mountains numerous forest plan- 
 tations have been established. The majority contain only 
 hardwoods, particularly maple, box elder, cottonwood, elm, 
 ash, catalpa, walnut, and locust. Pine and other conifers 
 have also been tried with success. 
 
196 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 The majority of failures in these plantations appear to 
 be due to the fact that the plants dry out at the roots 
 before they are established, probably in most cases before 
 
 Fig. 69. Black Locust Plantation, Meade County, Kansas 
 
 Trees twelve years old, six to eight inches diameter and twenty feet high 
 
 (After Tourney) 
 
 and during planting. Generally the plants are raised at 
 distant nurseries and thus, necessarily, suffer during the 
 long journey to the place where they are to be used. 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FOKESTS 
 
 107 
 
 Nevertheless, many thousands of acres of prairie in Iowa, 
 Nebraska, Kansas, and other states have been converted 
 into useful woods, supplying the much-needed shelter 
 from wind, and, at the same time, producing fuel and con- 
 struction material, fence posts, etc. 
 
 How successful some of these plantations are is clearly 
 seen from Figs. 69 and 70. In this latter case the catalpa 
 
 Fk;. To. The Y:i<;gY Catalpa Plantation, in Reno County, Kansas, 
 
 showing Posts cut when Trees w^ere nine Years Old 
 
 The posts are four to six inches in diameter, and many of the trees made 
 two posts. (After Tourney) 
 
 trees were raised in a nursery on the farm, and set out, 
 when one year old, in furrows six feet apart, at intervals 
 of three and a half feet. When two years old the trees 
 were cut oil and allowed to sprout. The following Avinter 
 the tall sprouts were thinned, leaving only the best sprout 
 on each stump. The land was cultivated for three years 
 
198 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 to keep down the grass, ))ut after this the shade of the 
 trees sufficed for this purpose. When the trees were eight 
 years old the largest ones were cut out for fence posts, 
 most of them making two posts each. In two years' 
 thinning, over fifteen thousand trees were taken from the 
 eighty-acre tract. When the plantation was ten years 
 old there had been raised on one acre about eighteen hun- 
 dred trees, furnishing over thirteen hundred good posts, 
 besides smaller posts or stakes and a lot of firewood, 
 valued in all at about two hundred and sixty dollars. 
 
 This plantation is located on good bottom land, bought 
 at twenty-five dollars per acre, and of course presents an 
 exceptionally thrifty growth. Nevertheless, it clearly 
 shows what may be accomplished on the western prairies 
 and how even forestry that requires the most painstaking 
 care may be profitable in many parts of our country. 
 
 Sand Dunes 
 
 Passing through Michigan City, Ind., one can see 
 from the car window low ridges of bare white sand 
 stretching along the shore of Lake Michigan. These 
 ridges or dunes are constantly moving, and a number of 
 houses have been covered entirely, w^hile parts of others 
 are seen sticking out of the sand. Similar dunes occupy 
 long stretches of our Atlantic coast and the coasts of 
 France, the Netherlands, and the countries about the 
 
IW 
 
200 
 
 FIEST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 Baltic. In some places they are simply a desert waste, and 
 have comparatively little effect on the adjoining conn try ; 
 but in other localities, like The Landes of France, bordering 
 the Bay of Biscay, the sand dunes formed long, continuous 
 ridges along the shore, and thus dammed up the water in 
 
 Fig. 72. Sand Dune in Holland, alter lleclanuition 
 (After Gifford) 
 
 the streams and converted wliat, at one time, was a forest 
 into a pestilential, marshy waste. 
 
 On the whole, these dunes occupy large areas ; those of 
 Europe alone have been estimated to cover over twenty 
 thousand square miles ; and since the wind easily drifts the 
 sand farther and farther inland, it is difficult to say how 
 much land might eventually be laid waste by these moving 
 
SPECIAL KINDS OF FORESTS 201 
 
 dunes. For over a century the people of France, the 
 Netherlands, and other countries have fought these sands, 
 and some excellent results have been attained. 
 
 The methods employed by all are similar. First of all 
 a close board or brush fence is erected. This is situated 
 about three hundred to six hundred feet from high-water 
 mark, and runs parallel to the coast line. Usually a 
 parallel fence is built about forty feet from the first. The 
 sand, whether bloAvn from the ocean or from the land side, 
 is caught by these fences, which thus cause the formation 
 of a new dune. As the sand gets deeper and deeper the 
 fences are raised higher, until, in the course of several 
 years, this new shore or littoral dune is about thirty feet 
 high. When once of this height the new dune keeps the 
 sand from travehng farther inland, and the sandy stretches 
 in its rear, or on the land side, have a chance to become 
 quiet. Then the new shore dune is covered with sand 
 grasses, mostly the sea marram or matweed, which thrive 
 on these mobile sands, and the land behind it is planted 
 or sowed to pine, both plants and seed being protected 
 by brush evenly covered over the entire tract. 
 
 The pine woods are usually treated by the selection 
 method, so that no large bare spots are ever produced. 
 The chief danger, fire, is guarded against by a number 
 of fire lanes and by careful watching. 
 
 The shore dune requires continual close watching, and 
 must be kept covered with sand grass to prevent renewed 
 
202 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 attack on the reclaimed lands, and its care, therefore, 
 forms an important part of the forestry service. 
 
 Though very expensive, this kind of work in The 
 Landes alone has converted more than a million acres of 
 worthless marsh into valuable productive forests, and 
 has changed this large area from an unsightly, pestilential 
 region into a health and pleasure resort. 
 
Part III 
 
 BELATED TOPICS 
 
 THE FOREST AS A PROTECTIVE COVER 
 
 Besides supplying one of the most necessary materials, 
 wood, and besides rendering productive large areas of 
 otherwise useless land, the forest in most places has still 
 another function, namely, that of protection. 
 
 The forest protects the soil against washing away, or 
 erosion, and it protects both the soil and the air in the 
 forest against the wind and sun, and thereby keeps them 
 cooler and moister. 
 
 A simple experiment illustrates this influence very well : 
 Take a common wooden table and prop up one side so 
 that it is about six inches higher than the other side ; let 
 this table top represent a gently sloping hillside. If now 
 we pour water on this table top with a sprinkler, and 
 thereby imitate rain, we see that the water at once runs 
 off faster or slower, according as the table, our hillside, 
 slants more or less. 
 
 This is exactly what happens on our sidehill or moun- 
 tain wherever its rocky body is Ijare of any soil or cover. 
 
 203 
 
204 FIRST BOOK OF FOFvESTRY 
 
 If we cover the table with a four-inch layer of garden 
 earth, and repeat our sprinkling, care being taken not to 
 sprinkle too hard, we observe a very interesting and 
 important fact. 
 
 There is at first hardly any water on top of the soil — 
 it soaks in ; but after a time there arise little rivulets on 
 top, and by gathering they grow larger and we have 
 exactly what we see in our settled plowed districts, — an 
 ordinary surface run-off. But, in addition, w^e note after 
 a little time that there is also a run-off along the face 
 of the table just as before, except that the water runs 
 slowly ; it has to seep along. This is our underground 
 drainage, such as occurs everywhere, and it is this under- 
 ground w^ater which feeds our springs, streams, and lakes 
 when there is no rain ; and it is underground water that 
 we reach in digging our wells. Thus, when the rain falls 
 on a bare rocky area some of the water evaporates, most 
 of it runs oft: as fast as it falls, and when the rain is over 
 the rocky surface is dry. On the earth or soil-covered 
 area, on the other hand, part of the rain water runs oft' at 
 the surface, but much of it soaks into the ground and 
 stays there until there is enough to form slow under- 
 ground streams. Thus, the soil acts as a water storage 
 for plant and stream. If we stop sprinkling, the surface 
 run-oft' soon stops, but the underground drain keeps on 
 moving for many houi's. This is what happens all over 
 the land. 
 
1—1 
 
 c 
 -1 
 
 
 O 
 
 c' 
 
 205 
 
206 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 If now we sprinkle again, but very liard this time, we 
 see that the water washes out gullies and carries away 
 the soil, just as we all have seen soil carried from plow- 
 land, and just as many thousands of acres of plowland 
 in Mississippi and other states have been gullied and 
 ruined by water. Let us now cover part of the layer of 
 earth on our table by a one-inch cover of moist cotton 
 batting. Repeating the sprinkling, we find that this 
 cover of cotton does two distinct things : it protects the 
 soil and keeps the water from carrying it away ; in addi- 
 tion, it keeps the soil moist for hours after we cease 
 sprinkling. This is exactly what the forest does : the 
 torrential rain finds a canopy of twigs and leaves to 
 break its force, and when the water reaches the ground 
 it finds a layer of leaves which prevents it from carrying 
 away the soil. In addition, a network of numberless 
 roots holds this earth for a considerable depth, and the 
 many dead roots of former trees have softened the soil 
 and made it more penetrable ; thus, the water soaks in 
 instead of running off. 
 
 That grass and other herbaceous vegetation cannot 
 well replace the forest in this respect is clearly shown 
 by the fact that the Missouri River and its tributaries, 
 which come from prairies, are nuiddy torrents after every 
 rain, while the streams of the dense forests run clear and 
 are undisturbed by ordinary rains even though they have 
 a greater fall. 
 
THE FOKEST AS A PROTECTIVE COVER 207 
 
 While it is thus quite easy to see how the forest pro- 
 tects the soil, and, by so doing, regulates the flow of 
 
 Fig. 74. How the Laud erodes after the Woods are gone. 
 
 (Common sight in Mississippi) 
 
 (After McGee) 
 
 water, the influence of the forest on the climate by 
 making it more temperate and humid is not so plain, 
 and remains still a much-disputed question. 
 
208 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTKY 
 
 Foniierh^ it was claimed that the forests would increase 
 the rainfall, making the climate moister and more equable. 
 Great scientists and travelers have spoken on both sides of 
 the question ; and for over fift}^ years attempts have been 
 made to test the truth of these things in a scientific way 
 by carefully measuring temperature, rainfall, etc. Most 
 of these experiments, however, have failed, and there is 
 still much dispute as to just how much the forest can do. 
 At present it is generally believed that the forests do not 
 change the amount of rainfall very materially, and that 
 •the arid oriental countries like Egypt, Asia Minor, and 
 Persia were, even during their most glorious days, dry as 
 they now are. On the other hand, the effects explained 
 above remain valid ; and, of course, the more the condi- 
 tions favor the destructive work of the water, the more 
 apparent is this protective influence of the forest. 
 
 Thus, parts of the French Alps were cleared off about 
 the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nine- 
 teenth century. Floods followed this clearing oft' with such 
 regularity and force that many villages were destroyed 
 and others abandoned because the floods covered the 
 fields often yards deep with sterile gravel and bowlders. 
 Then France began the great task of reforesting these 
 mountains ; and, though not half completed, this task has 
 already cost many millions of dollars. 
 
 In our own country we are not without like examples. 
 Lack of a forest cover in Mississippi led to a gullying 
 
THE FORESTS OF OUR COUNTRY 209 
 
 which destroyed so much good farm land every year that 
 a good authority says the damage amounted to more than 
 the total income of the state from all its industries. 
 
 As to the influence on the moisture of the air, it is 
 well known to every farmer that a rail fence, if allowed 
 to be crowded by woods, is thereby prevented from drying, 
 and rots twice as quickly as it otherwise would. Again, 
 it is well known in all newly settled districts that a road 
 can never be kept in good condition unless the '" right of 
 way" is cleared of timber to let in wind and sun. 
 
 Similarly, in our Lake Region hundreds of miles of 
 " corduroy " road are dirt roads to-day and thousands of 
 small swamps have dried up, not tb rough any drainage, 
 but merely because the woods were cut away. That 
 these small changes are accompanied by great changes 
 in the '' run-olf " of our larger streams is well illustrated 
 by the fact that navigation has become difficult in a 
 number of our important rivers, and altogether impossible 
 in others, which within our own times were navigable. 
 
 THE FORESTS OF OUR COUNTRY 
 
 If we examine the accompanying map of our country, 
 where the areas originally wooded are colored and the 
 open prairies uncolored, we see that the Mississippi divides 
 the country approximately into an eastern timbered and 
 a western prairie portion. We see, too, that the line does 
 
210 FlU^T BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 not quite follow the great river, but bends across to the 
 east, leaving part of Wisconsin and Illinois as half prairie, 
 and then crosses it again, including the greater part of 
 Missouri, all of Arkansas, the eastern part of the Indian 
 Territory, and Texas in the timbered portion. Following 
 this western timber limit, we note a belt marked with 
 green dots, extending from Texas to Minnesota, which 
 is a sort of half prairie country where patches of forest, 
 usually scrub-oak woods, alternate with prairies. To the 
 west of this we see the great prairies and plains ; then 
 a set of narrow red patches, representing the ragged, conif- 
 erous forests covering part of the numerous high ranges 
 of the Rockies ; then the bare, arid regions of the Great 
 Basin ; and west of this, a broad belt of coniferous forests 
 skirting the Pacific from the northern boundary nearly to 
 the southern limit of California. 
 
 Our eastern forest, we note, consists of three parts : a 
 northern and a southern belt of coniferous forests, and 
 a broad hardwood forest between these two. 
 
 The northern belt of conifers is composed largely of 
 white pine, Norway pine, and hemlock in the western and 
 central parts, and of spruce in the eastern. The great 
 pineries of Wisconsin and Michigan and the spruce woods 
 of Maine belong to this belt. 
 
 The southern belt of conifers is composed almost entirely 
 of pure stands of the southern pines, the longleaf , loblolly, 
 and shortleaf, with cypress covering the swamps. 
 
9 
 
 0\ 
 
 O 
 a> 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 QQ 
 
 P 
 O 
 
 a. 
 .-1- 
 
212 FIRST BOOK OY FOKESTKY 
 
 The broad-leaved or hardwood forests occupying the 
 greater portion of the eastern United States may be divided 
 into a southern and a northern half. The former extends 
 from New England to Missouri, and is characterized by 
 the fact that, almost everywhere, the hardwood forest is 
 dotted conspicuously by pine ; the part north and west of 
 the Alleghenies is practically without this mixture. On 
 the whole, this great hardwood forest may be called an 
 oak forest with a variable mixture of chestnut, hickory, 
 yellow poplar, elm, ash, beech, and other broad-leaved 
 trees. At its northern limit the oaks give way to birch, 
 and at its southern to pine. 
 
 Both the northern and southern belts of conifers are to 
 this day large, almost unbroken forests, with compara- 
 tively little settlement. It is in the great hardwood 
 region of our country that a goodly share of the forest 
 has made way for the plow and that the greater part of 
 our people live. 
 
 The coniferous forests of the Rocky Mountain ranges, 
 composed mostly of yellow pine, red fir, and spruce, are 
 interrupted by numerous prairies and bare lands, and thus 
 cover but part of these mountains. 
 
 The forests of tlie Pacific coast region are among the 
 most remarkable forests in the world. Those of Cali- 
 fornia are largely made up of gigantic redwoods, red fir, 
 and pine, while those of Oregon and Washington are 
 chiefly forests of red fir, hemlock, cedar, and balsam. 
 
THE FORESTS OF OUK COUNTRY 213 
 
 Both redwood and red iir grow to be over two hundred 
 and fifty feet high ; and while an acre of good spruce land 
 in Maine yields ten thousand feet B.M., it is not a rare 
 thing to cut over two hundred thousand feet B.M. from an 
 acre of redwood or red fir. 
 
 If we ask how much forest we have left, the answer 
 is quite encouraging. In the New England States, the 
 Lake States, and the entire South, not over thirty per cent 
 of all the land is in use for field and meadow, leaving 
 nearly seventy per cent for forest and w^aste, of which the 
 greater part is still fairly wooded. 
 
 The forest lands of our eastern United States practically 
 all belong to private owners, individuals, or companies, 
 though some tracts are owned by the several states as 
 school lands, etc. In the Western States the Federal 
 Government still holds a consideralile portion, especially 
 of the more remote forests covering the several mountain 
 chains. 
 
 Of the private owners, railway and lumber companies 
 have most of the larger tracts, especially in the pineries, 
 both north and south ; while the greater part of the hard- 
 w^ood forests are in the hands of actual settlers or farmers. 
 
 Of late years the Federal Government has set aside a 
 number of tracts of mountain forests in our Western States 
 as forest reserves for the purpose of protecting these 
 areas against erosion and consequent disturbance of 
 water flow. There are now over forty of these reserves, 
 
214 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 including over forty-six million acres of land, an area 
 nearly as large as North and South Carolina together. 
 Largely for the same pur230se the state of New York 
 has established the Adirondack Park, of which it now 
 owns about one million three hundred thousand acres ; 
 and the state of Pennsylvania also is beginning to buy 
 some of its denuded and burned-over mountain districts 
 for similar use. 
 
 SOME HISTORY 
 
 Even the ancients, the Greeks and Romans, had some 
 notion of the value of their forests, and put forth many 
 efforts to prevent their useless destruction. These efforts 
 were of little avail, and the Mediterranean lands to-day 
 are sorely in need of more wood, and their mountains of 
 a better cover. 
 
 In the colder climates of central Europe the value of 
 forests was fully recognized as early as the year 1300. 
 Though at that time the increasing population required 
 larger and larger fields to provide grain and fodder, yet 
 the clearing away of forest was regulated, and in many 
 localities entirely forbidden. Many of the towns began 
 to buy forest land to guard against a wood famine. The 
 fundamental principles of forestry, that the land must be 
 kept stocked with trees and that we must not cut more 
 than the growth if the forest is to be kept up, were also 
 clearly recognized. 
 
SOME HISTORY 215 
 
 Thus, in the Sihlwalcl, a tract of forest which has been 
 in possession of the city of Zurich for about a thousand 
 years, the amount of wood to be cut each year and the 
 proper way of cutting it were determined by competent 
 men more than six hundred years ago. And so well was 
 this done, and so carefully was their plan followed out, 
 that this forest all this time has furnished every year the 
 fixed amount of timber, and is to-day in better condition 
 (and, therefore, better able to supply wood) than at any 
 time before. 
 
 Numerous laws and orders, issued from the twelfth cen- 
 tury forward by communities, towns, and governments, 
 regulated every feature of forest management and use. 
 The cutting, shipping, and seUing of timber, the burning 
 of charcoal, the peeling of tan bark, the gathering of rosin, 
 the pasturing of cattle and hogs, and even the keeping of 
 bees and gathering of wild honey, which in those days was 
 a very important business in many districts, were all care- 
 fully prescribed, to avoid dispute, and still more to prevent 
 " the killing of the goose that lays the golden egg." 
 
 As with laws in all times and countries, many were 
 unjust and oppressive ; and when the French Revolution 
 freed the people of Europe from the fetters of medieval 
 ignorance, sophistry, and brutality, there was a reaction 
 against the forest laws, the real worth of which was 
 always least understood by the very people most benefited 
 by them. 
 
216 FIKST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 In France this reaction did serious and permanent 
 damage; the forests everywhere were slashed and cleared, 
 and the great expense of restocking the southern Alps, 
 and the enormous sums paid every year to Sweden and 
 Russia for lumber which the short-lived coppice woods of 
 France are unable to furnish, are the fines paid for folly. 
 
 The people of the Teutonic lands were not so readily 
 moved, and their conservative attitude with regard to the 
 forest has been fully rewarded. In densely populated 
 Germany the forests cover twenty-six per cent of all land ; 
 about one third of these forests belongs to the govern- 
 ments, about one half to private owners, and the rest to 
 cities and villages. In Prussia and Saxony the private 
 people can do with their forest whatever they choose, cut 
 and clear as they please; but in most of the states the 
 government looks upon a forest as an inheritance which 
 the owner may use, but which he may not mismanage, and 
 may never destroy without giving satisfactory reasons. 
 
 Most of the forests of Germany are of pine and spruce. 
 Nearly all of the government forests are '' timljer forests," 
 and are managed on a rotation of about eighty to a hundred 
 years, so that all timber is cut long before it is overripe. 
 
 The majority of these forests are in small bodies, in 
 the midst of settlements, and have, therefore, good per- 
 manent roads, a local market, and ample protection. The 
 sawmill here is not a temporary affair, some mills having 
 been in operation for several centuries. 
 
THE WOOD 217 
 
 THE WOOD 
 
 Having learned something about forests, let iis now 
 examine a little more closely their main product, the wood. 
 
 Some Structural Features 
 
 Sai^) and Heart. — We have observed on some of the 
 stumps and ends of logs that different kinds differ in 
 appearance. On the oak we saw the rough bark outside, 
 then a layer of lighter colored wood, the sapwood ; and 
 within this the darker heartwood, containing, somewhere 
 near the center, the tiny brownish pith. This same 
 arrangement of sapwood and heartwood we find in the 
 majority of our useful timber trees. In some, like hick- 
 ory and elm, the sapwood is wide ; in others, like the 
 locust and catalpa, it is narrow ; and in some trees, like 
 spruce, l)alsam, hemlock, and maple, it has no distinct 
 color at all. The sapwood and heartwood differ not only 
 in color, but also in durability ; the sapwood part of our 
 oak post decays in a very short time, while the heartwood 
 part lasts for years. This difference is very important, 
 and particularly in those kinds of Avoods where the heart 
 is durable. 
 
 Annual Rings. — We have also noticed that the wood 
 at the end of the log appears to be made up of rings ; 
 and we learned that these are called annual or yearly 
 
218 rmsT book of forestry 
 
 rings, because one is formed each year. These rings are 
 valuable age marks, since they tell us a good deal about 
 the history of the tree. 
 
 Let us now take pieces of oak, maple, and yellow pop- 
 lar, and of pine and hemlock, and cut the ends with a 
 sharp pocket knife, moistening them first and making the 
 cut a little slanting. We observe that the rings on the 
 oak are easily counted and are distinguishable by a line 
 of little holes or pores; those of the maple and yellow 
 poplar are distinguished by a fine line, but not a line of 
 pores ; and those of the pine are divided by a line of 
 darker wood, which sometimes forms a broad brown band, 
 especially in yellow or hard pine. 
 
 Spring Wood and Summer Wood. — The inner portion of 
 the ring, usually on the concave of the arc, is naturally 
 formed earlier, and the outer part later in the season ; we 
 call them, therefore, the spring wood and the summer 
 wood of the ring. In the yellow pine these two are 
 sharply defined; the spring wood is of a light yellowish 
 color, and the summer wood of a dark orange brown. In 
 maple and many other woods they are not sharply defined, 
 but it is convenient, just the same, to use the terms in 
 talking of these woods. 
 
 Looking at Figs. 56 and 57, we notice that the patterns 
 of rift and bastard or tangent boards are principally due 
 to the difference between spring and summer wood. The 
 dark bands in yellow pine are summer wood ; the scratched, 
 
THE WOOD 
 
 219 
 
 usually darkest, but in the picture lightest appearing por- 
 tion, in ash, oak, etc., is spring wood. 
 
 Pores. — We have already noticed the conspicuous 
 pores in the spring wood of oak. Besides the larger pores, 
 there are many smaller ones in the same wood. Most of 
 
 '•i, ** '<*t^'\ \.1 •■> •" ' "H^l 
 
 ■^^■^^^■^^^^^BP^""^ 
 
 HWV:- '''■-^'- '"^^ 
 
 
 : m 
 
 'fli' ^ 
 
 Fig. 76. Cross Section of Oak (upper), Ring -Porous Wood ; Hard 
 Pine (lower), Non-Porous Wood 
 
 these are in the summer wood of the rings, so that we 
 have in the oak large pores in the spring wood and small 
 pores in the summer wood, all of which serve as water 
 ducts or vessels when first formed. 
 
 In maple and yellow poplar we can also see pores, but 
 they are extremely small and usually require a magnifying 
 
220 
 
 FIKST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 glass to see tliem. These pores are nearly all of one size, and 
 
 they are evenly scattered through spring and summer wood. 
 
 In pine and hemlock we do not find these pores, though 
 
 in pine we do find little white specks which resemble 
 
 Beech - 
 
 Fig. 77. 
 
 . Sycamore ^ Birch . 
 
 Uilt'use Porous Wt)ods 
 
 ><2;r 
 
 ar-! 
 
 sw. 
 
 \sp.w. 
 
 Fig. 78. Non-Porous Woods 
 
 ^,fir; i?, hard pine; C, soft pine ; ar., annual ring; o.e., outer edge of ring; i.e., 
 inner edge of ring ; s.tti., summer wood; sp.zo., spring wood ; r.cZ., resin ducts 
 
 pores ; they are resin ducts, however, and are not like 
 the pores we see in other woods. 
 
 The pores, especially the large ones, are easily seen on 
 the sides of hoards, and they have much to do with the 
 
THE WOOD 
 
 '221 
 
 pattern or picture presented by the wood. This is best 
 seen in woods like oak, ash, and chestnut, where the pores 
 of the spring wood are so large that they need a ^' filler " 
 
 Fig. 79. Wood of Spruce 
 
 1, natural size; 2, small part of one ring magnified 100 times. The vertical 
 tubes are wood fibers, in this ease all *' traeheids." //*, medulhiry or pith 
 ray; n, transverse tracheids of pith ray; a, b, and c, l)ordered pits of the 
 tracheids, more enlarged 
 
 in finishing or polishing. The pores are the most impor- 
 tant marks by which we can distinguish woods, and we 
 divide all of our woods into three groups : 
 
222 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 c 
 
 If 
 
 'm, 
 
 Fig. 81 
 
 Fig. 80 
 
 Fig. 80. Spiral (Train. 
 (Season checks, after 
 removal of bark, indi- 
 cate the direction of the 
 fibers or grain) 
 
 Fig. 81. Shortleaf Pine. 
 (Cross section of parts 
 of two rings) 
 
 sp.iv., spring wood with thin 
 walls; SUM., summer wood 
 with thick walls. The cells 
 run in rows which extend 
 through several rings. (Mag- 
 nified about 70 times) 
 
 The ring-porous 
 ivoods, like oak, ash, 
 chestnut, locust, 
 elm, hickory, etc., 
 where the ring is 
 defined by a line 
 of large pores in 
 the spring wood. 
 
 The d iffu s e- 
 ^joroics ivoods, like 
 maple, yellow pop- 
 lar, and cherry, 
 where the pores are 
 usually very small 
 and evenly scat- 
 tered through the 
 annual ring. 
 
 The 7io7i-2Jorous 
 ivoods, like pine, 
 spruce, hemlock, 
 and all our conif- 
 erous woods. 
 
 PitJt Rays. — 
 Looking at a cross 
 section of a log or 
 piece of oak, we 
 observe broad lines 
 
THE WOOD 
 
 223 
 
 running from the bark toward the center, or pith. They 
 are the pith rays. If we examine the side of the board, 
 they look hke broad bands if the board is quarter-sawed 
 or rift, and as short brown lines if bastard or tangent. 
 
 Fig. 82. Alternating Spiral Grain in C,>i3ress. 
 view of same piece) 
 
 bark 
 
 (Side and end 
 
 When the bark was at o the grain at this point was straight. From that time 
 each year it grew more oblique in one direction, reaching a climax at a, and 
 then turned back in the opposite direction. These alternations were repeated 
 periodically, the bark sharing in these changes 
 
224 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 In the oak, part of the pith I'ays are very large, the 
 rest too small to be seen without a magnifying glass ; in 
 chestnut they are all small ; in ])eech some are large, some 
 small, as in oak ; in maple and cherry most of them are 
 small, but easily seen ; in birch they are all too small to 
 be seen without a magnifying glass. Thus, the pith rays, 
 like the pores, are valuable marks by which to distinguish 
 the different woods, and they help to make up the pattern, 
 as is clearly seen on almost every kind of hardwood board. 
 
 The Grain. — The 
 wood of our trees is 
 made up of cells, all 
 of which are little 
 tubes, which have 
 walls of definite 
 thickness and ap- 
 pearance. Each such cell is the abandoned dwelling of a 
 living being, the cell proper, which fed and digested, 
 secreted and worked, built up the little wooden case which 
 we now call cell or fiber, and then died and disappeared. 
 Most cells die during their first year, so that the wood is 
 nearly all made up of little lifeless cases or tubes. 
 
 Some of these tubes are short, others long, some have 
 thick walls, some thin, and most of them have their walls 
 more or less sculptured. The long tubes, which make 
 the bulk of the wood, we commonly call fibers, though 
 there are several distinct kinds of these. 
 
 FiCx. 8.S. A « Bird's-eye " Board 
 
THE WOOD 
 
 225 
 
 Some cells in wood are large enough to be seen with 
 the unaided eye, but most of them are very small and 
 
 Fig. 84. Wavy Grain in Beech 
 (After Nordliuger) 
 
 can be seen only if much magnified. 
 If the fibers run straight up and 
 down in the log, so that it splits 
 straight, we call it straight grain; 
 if they run spirally around as well 
 as up, we call it sjriral or twisted 
 gram. Most logs have more or 
 less twisted grain. Sometimes the 
 fibers twist one way in a number 
 of rings and then in the opposite 
 way in the rings farther out (see 
 Fig. 82), and thus make splitting 
 
 Fig. 85. Section of Knot 
 
 P, pith of both stem and limb ; 
 1-7, seven yearly layers of 
 wood ; a, b, knot or basal part 
 of a limb which lived four 
 years, then died and broke off 
 near the stem, leaving the 
 part to the left of a, b a 
 " sound " knot, the part to 
 the right a "dead" knot, 
 which would soon be entirely 
 covered by the growing stem 
 
226 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 almost impossible. In maple, cypress, ash, yellow poplar, 
 and many other woods, the surface of the log often is not 
 smooth, but has many little projections (cypress) or depres- 
 sions (maple, etc.), which continue from year to year, i.e., 
 they do not fill up, and one layer of wood after another has 
 the dent at the same point. Similarly, the fibers often run 
 wavy, as shown in the figure. Now if such wood is cut by 
 the saw in a straight line, the darker summer wood in 
 cypress, or the fibers cut almost transversely in maple and 
 other similar woods, appear at this point as a circle of dark 
 on a field of lighter colored wood, and we have the bird's- 
 eye structure. " Curly " maple is wood in which the fibers 
 run in wavy lines, so that part of the fibers are cut across, 
 others cut lengthwise, thus giving bands of darker and 
 lighter shades owing to the darker color of the cross 
 section. 
 
 Knots. — The position of the grain and the appearance 
 of knots are explained by Fig. 85. 
 
 Knots, like cross grain, are normal defects, and occur 
 in all kinds of trees and nearly all kinds and grades of 
 lumber. A dead knot, of course, is always much more 
 serious, since it may drop out at any time and leave a 
 hole in the structure. 
 
THE WOOD 227 
 
 Some Physical Pkopekties 
 
 Weight. — Most of our wood is lighter than water, and 
 therefore it floats. But if we leave a jDiece of wood in 
 water a long time it sinks ; and thus we see that the solid 
 or wood substance of which the cell walls are made is 
 heavier than water. If, therefore, the walls of all cells 
 are very thick, the wood, like many of our tropical woods, 
 may never float. Most of our useful timbers float when 
 dry, and the majority w^eigh about four to seven tenths as 
 much as water, or about twenty-five to forty-three pounds 
 per cubic foot, and hence about two to three and a half 
 pounds per foot, board measure. 
 
 Moisture. — When first formed the cell is filled with 
 living substance resembling the white of an Qgg, so that 
 the freshly formed wood is full of water. In an ordinary 
 log of pine, more than half the cells are empty, but their 
 walls are still moist. 
 
 Most of the water in such a log is in the sapwood, but 
 there is much difference in different kinds of trees. Com- 
 monly it is supposed that the water in the wood, usually 
 called " sap," goes out of the log in the fall and returns in 
 the spring. The reason for the belief is the fact that 
 many trees bleed in the spring but not in winter. This 
 belief is erroneous, for by actual trial we find that the 
 wood contains about as much water in winter as in 
 summer. 
 
228 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTRY 
 
 If wood is sawed or split, so that it is exposed to air, this 
 water evaporates. x\t ordinary temperature, as in a wood 
 shed, it will dry so far that a hundred pounds of wood will 
 contain only about ten pounds of water. If we put this lumber 
 in a hot room or ''dry kiln," it dries out still more. When it 
 comes out of the '' dry kiln " it absorbs water again, and after 
 a few days may have as much as six pounds per hundred. 
 
 Shrinkage. — While drying, the wood shrinks, i.e., it 
 grows smaller. It shrinks about ten times as much side- 
 wise as endwise, and shrinks less radially, i.e., in the 
 direction from the pith to bark, than tangential ly, so that 
 a "rift" or "quartered" board shrinks only about one 
 half to two thirds as much as a tangent board. 
 
 When a board lies on the wet ground in the sun it dries 
 and shrinks on one side and less or not at all on the other, 
 and therefore curls or warps. 
 
 If a peeled log or a thick board dries rapidly the outer 
 part shrinks before the inner, and thus the "jacket" is 
 too small ; it bursts, and the wood is said to "check" or 
 crack. After the inner part dries these checks close up; 
 but in larger pieces some stay open and grow larger for a 
 long time. This kind of checks is permanent and is due 
 to the greater shrinkage in the tangential direction. 
 
 Coniferous wood shrinks less, warps and checks less than 
 hard wood, and generally heavy woods shrink more than 
 light ones. To avoid the mischief of shrinking we use 
 flooring in narrow strips, so that the change is distributed 
 
THE WOOD 
 
 229 
 
 among many pieces, and the opening among many 
 joints. We also use panels in doors, and veneer in furni- 
 ture, and for the same reason bore 
 out columns, and build up columns 
 and posts of several pieces. 
 
 Strength. — Wood is very strong. 
 To crush a cube of dry wood one 
 inch each way, with the fibers on 
 end, requires about six to ten 
 thousand pounds pressure. It 
 requires only about one third to 
 one half as much if the piece is 
 soaked, or if it is green ; for sea- 
 soned timber is always stronger 
 than green timber of the same 
 kind. 
 
 To pull it apart lengthwise, 
 wood requires about twice as much 
 power as to crush it endwise ; but 
 to pull it apart sidewise, as when 
 we pull out a mortise, requires 
 only about one tenth as much 
 force as to crush it endwise. 
 
 Most conifers break without 
 much bending ; but elm, hickory, etc., are strong and yet 
 bend far before they break. We call them tough ivoocls. 
 
 Heavy woods are generally stronger than lighter woods. 
 
 Fig. 86. Effects of 
 Shrinkage 
 
230 FIKST BOOK OF FOKESTIIY 
 
 Some Chemical Properties 
 
 When sufficiently heated wood burns or oxidizes ; and 
 this, while it is not a desirable quality in a building mate- 
 rial, is otherwise one of its greatest virtues. 
 
 If heated in a close vessel, various substances are made 
 in the form of gases ; and, as Ave have seen, this is taken 
 advantage of by the ^' acid man." 
 
 By means of chemicals wood is easily changed into 
 sugar ; and if ever this can be done cheaply enough, wood 
 may become an important source of food. 
 
 Durability and Decay. — All kinds of wood are subject 
 to destruction by decay-producing fungi. One of the 
 countless millions of spores of some fungus drops on a 
 timber, and is carried by a raindrop into the interior of 
 a pore. If conditions are favorable, it germinates, grows 
 into a thread of " mycelium "; and this thread, which is a 
 series of living cells, attaches itself closely to the wall of 
 the wood cell, secretes a juice which is capable of dissolv- 
 ing wood, and which changes at least a part of it into 
 sugarlike substances which are taken into the cells of the 
 mycelium as food. Now decay has begun, and in a short 
 time, if beech or maple is the timber, it is penetrated in 
 all directions. At first the wood is merely discolored, and 
 looks " dead " ; later on it becomes brittle, and finally 
 it becomes a powdery mass, and in keeping with these 
 changes loses its resistance. 
 
THE WOOD 
 
 231 
 
 If kept dry or if kept under water, wood does not 
 decay. Charring the wood gives it a wrapper of charcoal, 
 which the fungus cannot pene- 
 trate ; painting and whitewashing 
 do the same. But if painted before 
 dry, the paint does harm by pre- 
 venting the timber from drying. 
 
 Salts of zinc, copper, and mer- 
 cury, and heavy oils are used to 
 
 Fig. 87 
 
 Fig. 87. "Shelf" Fimgiis on the 
 Stem of a Pine 
 
 a, sound wood; b, resinous "light" 
 wood ; c, partly decayed wood or 
 punk ; d, layer of living spore tubes ; 
 e, old filled-ap spore tubes; /, tinted 
 upper surface of the fruiting body 
 of the fungus, which gets its food 
 through a great number of fine 
 threads (the mycelium), its vegeta- 
 tive tissue penetrating the wood and 
 causing its decay. (After Hartig) 
 
 Fig. 88. 
 
 Fungus Threads in Pine 
 Wood 
 
 a, cell wall of the wood fibers; b, 
 bordered pits of these fibers ; c, 
 thread of mycelium of the fungus; 
 d, holes in the cell walls made by the 
 fungus threads, which gradually dis- 
 solve the walls as shown at e, and 
 thus l)reak down the wood structure. 
 (After Hartig) 
 
232 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 kill the fungi. Usually the wood is boiled in the solution, 
 or else this is injected into the wood. Railway ties are thus 
 made to last much longer than they otherwise would. 
 
 The sapwood of all kinds of trees is very perishable ; 
 but the heartwood is usually more or less resistant. No 
 wood is entirely exempt from destruction by decay. 
 
 All cedars, cypress, redwood, etc., also locust, walnut, 
 white oak, chestnut, mulberry, and catalpa, make a durable 
 timber; maj^le, beech, birch, poplar, ash, red oak, hick- 
 ory, black gum, spruce, balsam, and hemlock are perish- 
 able; while white pine, yellow or hard pine, elm, tulip, 
 and red gum seem to have an intermediate position. 
 
 In dry countries, like our arid West, even perishable 
 woods last a long time ; while in moist and hot districts 
 even durable timber decays fast. Warmth and moisture 
 help, dryness and cold hinder, and full seasoning and 
 complete immersion prevent decay. 
 
 Wood as compaked with Iron 
 
 Much is often learned by comparing a substance with 
 its natural or most important competitor. Examining 
 wood and iron in this way, we find : 
 
 I. Wood is a natural product ; iron the product of a 
 costly, complicated manufacture. Wood may be grown 
 wherever man wishes to use it ; the manufacture of iron 
 is practically confined to particular localities. The mines 
 
THE WOOD 233 
 
 of both iron and coal are exhaustible ; the forest, undei' 
 proper management, produces forever. 
 
 2. Wood is cheap ; metals are dear. Even in the form 
 of lumber, and with the cost of long-distance transporta- 
 tion added, wood rarely costs the consumer in tliis country 
 more than twenty-five cents per cubic foot ; while iron in 
 bars and sheets is Avorth at wliolesale from five to ten 
 dollars per cubic foot. 
 
 3. Wood is soft ; simple tools and small effort suffice 
 to shape it. Iron is hard ; any change of form, whether 
 by casting, rolling, sawing, cutting, planing, turning, 
 filing, boring, or grinding, requires much labor, or else 
 complicated and costly processes and equipments. In 
 the ease and rapidity with which wood can be shaped, 
 reshaped, and combined in structures, it excels all other 
 materials. 
 
 4. Wood cleaves or splits ; metals do not. While this 
 property has its disadvantages, it is one that in some 
 directions determines the usefulness of wood. It permits 
 ready preparation for fencing and firewood, which latter 
 use exceeds in bulk ten times the amount of iron and 
 steel used in this country. 
 
 5. Wood is stronger than is usually supposed. In 
 tensile strength (pull lengthwise or with the grahi of the 
 wood) a bar of hickory exceeds a similar bar of wrought 
 iron of the same length and weight, and it even surpasses 
 steel under the same conditions. 
 
234 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Similarly, a select block of hickory or of longleaf pine 
 sustains a greater weight in compression endwise (jiarallel 
 to the grain of the wood) than a block of wrought iron 
 of the same height and weight, and nearly approaches 
 cast iron in this respect. 
 
 6. Wood is light; iron and steel are heavy. The 
 average weight of all wood used in this country does not 
 exceed thirty-one pounds per cubic foot ; that of iron and 
 steel is from four hundred and thirty to four hundred 
 and fifty pounds per cubic foot. This quality affects ease 
 of handling and transportation ; it permits the floating of 
 most woods when green, and of all of them when dry. 
 
 7. Wood is a poor conductor of heat and electricity. 
 Heated to one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, or 
 cooled below the freezing point of water, iron, steel, and 
 other metals are painful to the touch ; and even far within 
 these limits metals are objectionable on account of their 
 ready conductivity of heat. Wood, on the other hand, is 
 entirely inoffensive as long as its temperature remains 
 within the above limits. The objections to metal dwellings 
 on this account are experienced in heavy-armored ships, 
 which, in spite of the excellence of an ocean climate, are 
 notoriously uncomfortable. 
 
 When exposed to heat, wood is ignited and destroyed 
 by fire. The inflammability and combustibility of wood 
 at high temperatures, though among its most valuable 
 properties, are, at times, a drawback which metals do not 
 
THE W(30D 235 
 
 share ; nevertheless, during conflagrations the behavior 
 of wooden structures is often less objectionable than that 
 of metal structures ; for, though a beam of wood burns, it 
 retains its shape to the last, and the structure may stand 
 and be saved ; while under the same circumstances metal 
 beams twist out of shape and thereby occasion the fall of 
 the entire structure. This behavior of wood in conflagra- 
 tion has induced the best authorities, fire underwriters 
 and others, to recommend the use of wood in all large 
 structures where the combustible contents of the rooms 
 annul the value of fireproof metal construction. 
 
 If wood were a good conductor of electricity, its useful- 
 ness as a material of construction in our large cities 
 would be much impaired, for it appears to be a very 
 serious and constantly growing difficulty to protect life 
 and property against this dangerous but useful force. 
 
 8. Woods are normally inoffensive in smell and taste. 
 Liquors and wines of the most delicate flavors are kept in 
 oaken casks for many years without suffering in quality. 
 Chemical changes, often directly producing poison, pre- 
 vent the use of cheap metals for these purposes. 
 
 9. Owing to their structure, all woods present varieties 
 of characteristic aspects, and possess no small degree of 
 beauty. A plain surface of metal, of whatever kind, is 
 monotonous ; while one of wood, unless marred by paint, 
 presents such a variety of unobtrusive figures that the 
 eye never tires of seeing them. That this beauty is quite 
 
236 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 fully appreciated is best illustrated by the fact that 
 pianos, sideboards, and other elegant furniture are not 
 covered with sheet metal (as they might very cheaply 
 and effectively be), and that the handsome floors of costly 
 structures are neither painted nor carpeted. 
 
 10. Wood is easily and effectively united by the simple 
 process of gluing, so that valuable combinations, whether 
 for behavior, strength, or beauty, are possible. A three- 
 ply veneer board may be not only as pretty but also 
 more serviceable than a simple board of any one of the 
 two or three kinds of w^ood of Avhich it is composed ; and 
 a white-pine door with cherry or walnut veneer is not 
 only fully as handsome as a walnut door, but it is far 
 superior in its behavior, since all shrinking and warping 
 is thereby practically prevented. Iron and steel may be 
 welded ; most metals can be soldered ; but neither of these 
 processes can be compared to gluing in ease of operation. 
 
 So far wood has been regarded only as a material of 
 construction ; but while this is perhaps the most impor- 
 tant consideration, the use of wood as a substance which 
 may be altered physically and chemically is far more 
 important than is generally admitted. 
 
 11. The great mass of mankind is Avarmed and has its 
 food cooked by wood fires. Even in this country to-day, 
 in spite of the great competition of coal, three fourths of 
 all the homes and thousands of manufacturing establish- 
 ments are supplied with heat from wood. 
 
THE WOOD 237 
 
 12. Wood is ground into pulp and made into paper 
 and pulp boards with endless variety of application. 
 Wood pulp, made by chemical processes, results in cellu- 
 lose and its countless derivatives, which are capable of 
 supplying almost anything, from a shirt collar to a car 
 
 wheel. 
 
 13. Distillation of wood furnishes charcoal to the smithy 
 or furnace ; vinegar to the table ; alcohol to the artisan ; 
 creosote to the wood preserver ; gas for fuel and hght ; 
 tar for roof boards ; pyroHgneous, oxahc, acetic, and other 
 acids, as well as acetone, paraffin, naphthalin, etc., to the 
 manufacturing chemist ; and, by a shght variation of the 
 process, lampblack to the printer and painter. 
 
 Wood also differs from the metals in several other 
 respects. It is not fusible ; it cannot be cast ; hence, to 
 duphcate a form in wood requires the same amount of 
 effort as did the original. Changed into pulp, and still 
 more into cellulose, this drawback is largely overcome. 
 Wood cannot be welded, — though, as stated before, this 
 is more than compensated by gluing; nevertheless, an 
 end-to-end junction of the kind produced in iron cannot 
 
 be effected. 
 
 Wood cannot be rolled ; it must be cut into shape ; but 
 owing to its softness and cleavability this requires incompar- 
 ably less effort and equipment than the rolling of metals. 
 
 Wood is hygroscopic ; it contains water under all ordi- 
 narv conditions, and the amount so contained varies with 
 
238 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 external conditions and with it the dimensions of the piece. 
 Though an advantage in a barrel or tube, by making it 
 more secure against leakage, this peculiarity of wood is 
 nevertheless a drawback not belonging to the metals, but 
 corresponding to the drawback in the use of metals 
 occasioned by their annoying expansion and contraction 
 due to change of temperature. 
 
 Wood decays ; iron and steel oxidize or rust. Both are 
 serious drawbacks to the use of these materials ; but since 
 decay dej^ends on living organisms, whose multiplication 
 is sometimes extremely rapid, at other times almost 
 imperceptible, varying with the conditions of the wood 
 (moisture, temperature, etc.), the decay of woods is gen- 
 erally more damaging than the oxidation of metals. 
 Under water, wood lasts longer than steel or iron. 
 
 HOW TO DISTINGUISH OUR COMMON TREES 
 
 Most of us know a few trees sufficiently well to distin- 
 guish one kind from another. Usually it is the general 
 appearance, sometimes the bark or leaf, which we recog- 
 nize ; and often we know the tree only while in its 
 summer dress. 
 
 Let us examine our common trees more closely and 
 note wherein they differ. 
 
 Here is a red-oak tree. Breaking off a twig, we notice 
 that the leaves are simple and not made u}) of several 
 
HOW TO IJISTINOUISH TEEES 239 
 
 leaflets ; that they stand singly, not ni pairs ; and that 
 they are lobed, each lobe with one or two sharp points. 
 Examining the twig of an elm, we find that the leaves 
 are also simple, and alternate, Ijnt that they are finely 
 toothed. On this sprig of maple the leaves are in pairs, 
 they stand opposite, and are both lobed and toothed. On 
 the ash we find each leaf made np of several leaflets ; it 
 is a compound leaf, and we find the leaves opposite or in 
 pairs, while in the hickory the leaves are also compound 
 but not in pairs. 
 
 Thus, the leaves are an excellent guide to the study of 
 trees ; and since opposite leaves also leave opposite scars 
 and lead to opposite buds and branches, they help us to 
 know the trees even in their winter garb. 
 
 We will arrange our common forest trees according to 
 their leaves, and thus make a key which will help us to 
 recognize them with more certainty. Generally we shall 
 be assisted by the fruit, the twigs, the bark, and the buds ; 
 more rarely by the flowers, since these can be seen only 
 during a few days in each year, and in- some cases are 
 even then quite difficult to examine. 
 
 Looking over our trees, we may at once divide them 
 into two large groups : the evergreen or cone-bearing trees, 
 and the broad-leaved or deciduous trees. These names 
 we must not take too strictly, for some evergreens like 
 the tamarack shed their leaves every fall, and some 
 deciduous trees like live oaks are green the year round. 
 
240 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Our important coue-hearing trees all belong to the pine 
 family. In the pines the leaves are needle-shaped and 
 long (up to twelve inches), while in spruce, balsam, etc., 
 they are short, and in most of our cedars they are mere 
 green scales, closely appressed to the twig. 
 
 Arranging the groups of the pine familij according to 
 leaf, fruit, and bark, we have the following simple scheme : 
 
 Conifers 
 I. Pines, spruces, etc. 
 
 Bark smooth or rough but never stringy. Leaves needle-shaped. 
 Fruit a woody cone of many scales. 
 
 A. Leaves in bundles or clusters. 
 
 a. Pines. Leaves in bundles of two to five in a com- 
 mon sheath (Fig. 89). Among pines we have 
 approximately : 
 
 (1) Leaves five in a bundle: tvhite pines (Fig. 45). 
 
 (2) Leaves three in a bundle: yellow pines (Fig. <S9), 
 
 including our southern and western lumber 
 pines. 
 
 (3) Leaves two in a bundle : Norway pine, jack pines, 
 
 and pinons. 
 
 h. Larch or Tamarack. The short, light green leaves, 
 in clusters of ten and more, are not in a common 
 sheath and are deciduous (Fig. 89). 
 
 B. Leaves singly scattered over the twig. 
 
 1. The cones are pendulous, i.e., hang downward ; they cling 
 to the twig for months after they are ripe, and do not 
 fall to pieces by the dropping away of the scales. 
 
Fig. 89. Conifers with Leaves in Bundles 
 
 A, B, C, shortleaf pine; J), larch. A, pine leaves in bundles of two and three; 
 B, pine cones just about ripe ; C, old empty pine cone still clinging to branch ; 
 />, larch ; leaves in bundles of ten or more 
 
 •24] 
 
242 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 a. 
 
 h. 
 
 Spruces. Leaves stiff, mostly four-sided, and pointed; 
 
 the bark scales are never bright red ; the wood is 
 
 white (Fig. 90, A). 
 Hemlocks. Leaves are soft, flat, and short, usually 
 
 two-ranked so that the sprig appears flat ; the bark 
 
 scales when broken off appear red ; the wood has 
 
 a reddish cast (Fig. 90, D). 
 
 Fig. 90. Conifers with Leaves not in Bundles 
 
 A, spruce: leaves stiff and pointed, cones hang down; C, red fir: leaves soft, 
 cones hang down, bracts protrude like little tongues; D, hemlock: leaves 
 short and soft, cones small, bracts do not protrude; B, balsam: cones erect, 
 fall apart after ripening, so that no old cones are found on or under the tree. 
 {A and D after Bureau of Forestry ; B and C after Beissner) 
 
Fig. 91. The Cedars 
 
 A, cypress : the leaves deciduous, cones persist ; B, redwood : the leaves and l 
 
 persist; C, white cedar: leaves are mere scales, cones spherical- D arbor 
 vitae : cones small, elongated, but persistent. (All after Beissner) 
 
 . cones 
 
 248 
 
244 IMRST 1K)0K OF FORESTRY 
 
 c. B,ed Fir. The leaves are flat, soft ; the cones are 
 
 " feathered " by sharp-pointed bracts projecting 
 from between the cone-scales (Fig. 90, C). 
 
 2. The cones stand erect on the twig, and fall to pieces soon 
 after ripening, so that no full-sized cones are seen on 
 the trees nor under them except at the time when the 
 cones approach maturity. 
 
 d. Balsams or White Firs. Leaves mostly soft, flat, and 
 
 blunt ; the bark mostly smooth ; the crown dense 
 and sharp-pointed (Fig. 90, B). 
 
 II. The cedars and their allies. 
 
 The bark has a " stringy " appearance, so that all trees of this 
 group are conspicuous on this account. The leaves are needle- 
 shaped or mere scales ; the fruit is a small cone, and, in one group, 
 a berry. 
 
 A. Leaves needle-shaped. 
 
 a. Cyjyress. Leaves deciduous, the trees bare in winter ; 
 
 the heartwood light brown (Fig. 91, A). 
 
 b. Redwood. Leaves persistent, the heartwood red 
 
 (Fig. 91, ^). 
 
 B. Leaves scalelike, appressed. 
 
 1. Fruit a persistent woody cone, which can be seen at all 
 
 times of the year on or under the trees. 
 
 a. White Cedars. Cone small, spherical ; heartwood light 
 brown (Fig. 91, C). 
 
 h. Bigtree. Cones quite large ; heartwood red. 
 
 c. Arbor Vita's and Incense Cedar. Cones elongated; 
 
 heartwood brownish (Fig. 91, D). 
 
 2. Fruit a berry, usually of a dark bluish color. 
 a. Red Cedars. Heartwood red. 
 
FlG. 92. Broad-Leaved Trees w itli Simple, Alternate, Tooth-Edged Leaves 
 
 A, beech; B, chestnut; C, birch: tlie little cones fall to pieces when ripe: D, 
 
 poplar: the fruit borne on catkins. {A, C, and D from Britton and Brown's 
 
 "Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada." B from Schwartz' 
 
 " Forstliche Botanik ") 
 
 245 
 
246 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Broad-Leaved Trees 
 I. Leaves simple (not compound, i.e., not made up of several leaflets). 
 A. Leaves alternate, not in pairs. 
 1. The edge of the leaf toothed. 
 
 a. Beech. Trees with smooth, grayish green bark; fruit 
 
 a small prickly bur (Fig. 92, A). 
 h. Chestnut. Large trees with rough bark ; fruit a large 
 prickly bur, often two inches wide (Fig. 92, B). 
 
 c. Birches. Trees generally with smooth whitish bark, 
 
 which in most kinds curls up and peels off in thin 
 layers. The bark of the twigs when chewed tastes 
 of wintergreen. Fruit a small soft cone, resembling 
 that of conifers, and falling apart when ripe (Fig. 
 92, (7), thus strewing the ground with the small 
 crosslike scales and the tiny winged seeds. 
 
 d. Foplars and Cottonwoods. Bark smooth on young trees 
 
 and on limbs, rough on older stems ; wood soft and 
 white, very brittle. The fruit is very small and 
 borne on little perishable catkins resembling willow 
 '' pussies " (Fig. 92, D), so that it is not ordinarily 
 met with either on or under the tree. 
 
 e. Elms. Bark dark brown, rough ; the fruit, which ripens 
 
 in spring, is shed and blown away at once, so that 
 it is not commonly seen ; the wood is yellowish 
 to reddish brown when fresh, and is very tough 
 (Fig. 93,^). 
 
 f. Basswood. Bark gray and rough, with a tough stringy 
 
 inner portion, the bast. The fruit is a small round 
 berrylike nut, of which two or more are attached to 
 a long stem coming out of a narrow, specially modi- 
 fied leaf. These leaves and nuts endure for months 
 on and under the tree (Fig. 93, B). 
 
Fig. 1)8. Broad-Leaved Trees \vith Simple, Alternate, Tooth-Edged Leaves 
 
 A, Elm: fruit ripens in spring; B, basswood: fruit persists; C, cherry: bark 
 tastes of almond : D, sycamore : fruit conspicuous and persistent. (After 
 Britton and Brown's " Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada ") 
 
 24^ 
 
248 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRV 
 
 g. Cherry. Bark scaly, of dark color, its inner part witji 
 a taste of cherry seeds ; heartwood of reddish color 
 and hard. The fruit is so perishable that it helps 
 us to distinguish the tree only for a short time in 
 summer (Fig. 93, C). 
 
 h. Sycamore or Buttoii Tree. Bark whitish to greenish 
 gray, smooth, peeling off more or less regularly and 
 thus gives the tree a very conspicuous appearance. 
 The peculiar fruit (Fig. 93, D) persists all through 
 winter and thus helps us to recognize this tree. 
 2. The edge of the leaf lobed. 
 
 i. Oaks. The bark of the older trees is rough ; the fruit, 
 or acorn, is similar in all kinds of oaks, consisting 
 of a scaly cup and a leathery smooth berry or nut 
 containing the fleshy seed. There are three distinct 
 groups of oaks : the white oaks, red oaks (includ- 
 ing the so-called black oaks) and the live oaks. In 
 the different kinds of red and white oaks the leaves 
 vary considerably in size and shape ; some are large 
 and much lobed, others small and almost or entirely 
 without lobes, so that a part of the oaks might well 
 be treated under another group. 
 
 The following scheme helps to separate the principal 
 groups of oaks. 
 
 (1) Leaves with bristlelike tips on their lobes, or at 
 their tips if entire : red oaks. 
 
 (a) Leaves large, much lobed : o'ed, scarlet, black, 
 
 and Spaiiish oaks (Fig. 94,^). 
 
 (b) Leaves broad, little lobed: hlack jack and 
 
 water oaks. 
 
 (c) Leaves mostly entire, narrow, pointed, bristle- 
 
 tipped : willow, laurel, and s/uN(/le oak 
 (Fig. 94, C). 
 
Fig. 94. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, 
 but Lobed Leaves 
 
 A, red oak ; B, white oak ; C, willow oak ; D, live oak (tliis latter really belongs 
 in the next group of trees, if classed by its leaves). {A, C, and D after 
 Dippel; B from Britton and Brown's "Illustrated Flora of the United 
 States and Canada ") 
 
 249 
 
250 FIUST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 (2) Leaves large, lobed, the tip of the lobes rounded 
 
 and not pointed or bristle-tipped : whiter bur, 
 a.\id 2)ost oak (Fig. 94, B). 
 
 (3) Leaves crenate or toothed, resembling those of 
 
 chestnut : chestnut oaks, including the cow oak 
 (Fig. 95, J). 
 
 (4) Leaves small, rounded, leathery, and evergreen : live 
 
 oaks (Fig. 94, D). Really belonging to group 3. 
 
 j. Tulip or Yelloiv Poplar. A rough-barked tree with a 
 leaf so peculiar in shape (Fig. 95, C) that it is 
 never mistaken for any other. The flower resembles 
 a tulip, is green and yellow ; the fruit is a cone 
 which persists all through winter. 
 
 k. Sweet or Red Gum. Trees with long-stalked, five- 
 lobed, finely toothed leaves and rough, long-stalked 
 little balls for fruit. The fruit persists a long time 
 after ripening, so that it may be seen all winter 
 (Fig. 95, D). 
 
 I. Sassafras. Trees with large entire edged leaves, most 
 of which have one large lobe, giving them some- 
 what the shape of a mitten, while some leaves 
 have two lobes and some have none. Fruit a blue 
 berry ripening in summer (Fig. 95, B). 
 
 3. The edge of the leaf neither lobed nor toothed. 
 
 ui. Magnolias, including the Cucumber Tree. Leaves very 
 large (often more than twelve inches long) ; flowers 
 large and showy; fruit a soft-scaled cone (Fig. 96, A). 
 
 n. Tupelo ; Black or Sour Gums. Trees of the swamps, 
 chiefly of the South, with bluish or blackish berries, 
 each containing a stone or pit. In the cotton gum, 
 or large tupelo, some of the leaves have one or a 
 few irregularly disposed notches (Fig. 96, B). 
 
Fig. 95. Broad-Leaved Trees with Simple, Alternate, 
 but Lobed Leaves 
 
 A, chinquapin oak; B, sassafras; C, tulip poplar: cones persist all winter; D, 
 sweet gum : fruit persists. (A after Dippel ; B, C, and D from Britton and 
 Brown's " Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada ") 
 
 251 
 
C . D 
 
 Fig. 96. Leaves Simple, Alternate, but with Entire Edge, 
 and Trees with Opposite Leaves 
 
 A, magnolia : B, tupelo, or sour gum ; C, catalpa : leaves Avith edges entire, fruit 
 a long pod : T), sugar maple : leaves lobed, fruit two-pronged, winged. (From 
 Britton and Brown's " Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada ") 
 
 252 
 
f D 
 
 Fig. 97. Compound Leaves, but Alternate 
 
 Af honey locust : with large thorns and large pods ; B, blac^k locust (Robinia) : 
 small pods and thorns ; C, butternut ; D, hickory. (A, B, and C from Bi-itton 
 and Brown's " Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada" ; D after 
 Dippel) 
 
 253 
 
254 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 B. Leaves opposite or in pairs. 
 
 a. Majiles. Rough-barked trees, with five-lobed, notched 
 
 or toothed leaves, and a peculiarly shaped winged 
 twin-fruit, which is so persistent that it may serve 
 in most cases to identify the tree (Fig. 96, D). 
 
 b. Catalpa or Indian Bean. Leaves large, entire (occa- 
 
 sionally three-lobed) ; flowers in large clusters, very 
 showy ; fruit a long (twelve inches and more) 
 brown pod, resembling that of the bean (Fig. 96, C). 
 
 II. Leaves compound, or made up of several leaflets. 
 
 A. Leaf feather-shaped, the leaflets arranged on two sides of 
 a straight stem (Fig. 97, A). 
 
 1. Leaves alternate. 
 
 a. The edge of the leaflets entire, i.e., not toothed. 
 
 Locusts (Fig. 97, A and B). Of these, the honey 
 locust has large thorns and broad brown pods six 
 to ten inches long ; and the black locust, or Bobinia, 
 has practically no thorns, and small pods two to 
 three inches in length. 
 
 b. The edge of the leaflets toothed. 
 
 Walnuts and Hickories, including Tecan. In the 
 walnut, black walnut, and white walnut, or butter- 
 nut, there are usually thirteen to twenty-three leaf- 
 lets to one leaf and the husk of the nut does not 
 split open along definite lines ; in the hickories, 
 including the pecan, the husk opens along well- 
 defined lines and the number of leaflets varies 
 usually from five to nine, being nine to fifteen only 
 in the pecan and water hickory (Fig. 97, C and D). 
 
Fig. 98. Compound Leaves, 
 Opposite 
 
 A, box elder : fruit of maple ; B, white 
 ash: the fruit persists all through 
 winter ; compouud leaves, palmate ; 
 C, buckeye, or horse-chestnut. (From 
 Britton and Brown's " Illustrated 
 Flora of the United States and 
 Canada") 
 
 255 
 
256 FIKST BOOK OF FOKESTKi' 
 
 2. Leaves opposite. 
 
 a. Ashes. Rough-barked trees, with the leaflets of their 
 leaves entire or toothed and the singularly shaped 
 winged fruit in persistent clusters (Fig. 98, B). 
 
 h. Box Elder. This tree is really one of the maples, 
 has a typical maple fruit which clings to the twigs 
 all through winter, but has a compound leaf, con- 
 sisting of three to five, toothed or notched leaflets 
 (Fig. 98, .4). 
 
 B. The compound leaf palmate, its leaflets arranged like the 
 fingers of the hand. 
 
 Buckeye or Horse- Chestnut, well illustrated by the 
 common European horse-chestnut, whose large buds 
 and large, smooth chestnut-brown nut inside of a 
 prickly bur are familiar to every one (Fig. 108 C). 
 
 How TO USE THE KeY 
 
 It is early fall ; the leaves are still on our broad-leaved 
 trees. Here is a tree ; what may be its name ? Let ns 
 get a twig and examine it. It has simple, toothed leaves ; 
 they are alternate (not in pairs), there is no fruit, the bark 
 of the tree is dark and rough, the twigs are fough. Let 
 us glance over our Key. 
 
 Evidently it belongs to the broad-leaved trees, and to 
 the first group under I, ^, 1. 
 
 Were it beech, chestnut, sycamore, basswood, or birch, 
 we should find some fruit on or under the tree. 
 
HOW TO DISTINGUISH TREES 257 
 
 For poplar the bark is too dark, the twigs too dark and 
 tough; so it must be either cherry or ehn. Let us cut 
 into the bark and taste its inner part. Evidently it has 
 no cherry-seed taste, and moreover the bark is not scaly. 
 Hence we conclude it to be an elm. 
 
 It is late in the fall, the leaves are largely shed, but 
 there is no snow on the ground. Here is a rough-barked 
 tree, and we would like to know its name. 
 
 There are a few small bean pods clinging to some of 
 its twigs, the tree is not thorny, and on the ground we 
 find some compound leaves. Looking over our Key, we 
 note that we have only two kinds of trees with bean-pod- 
 like fruits, — the catalpa and the locusts. 
 
 Having evidently had compound leaves, we decide it 
 to be a locust, and since the pods are small and the 
 tree is not beset wdth large thorns, it must be a black 
 locust. 
 
 Here is a cone-bearing tree. The needle-shaped leaves 
 are in bundles, five leaves in one sheath. From our Key 
 we see that this evergreen is evidently a pine, and that it 
 belongs to the white pines. 
 
 Here is a small evergreen with scalelike leaves ; the 
 bark is " stringy," but there is no fruit either on or under 
 the tree. Let us cut off one of the larger limbs ; the 
 wood is reddish in the inner or heartwood portion. Going 
 over our Key, we place it at once among the cedars ; and, 
 finding a red heartwood in this small gnarly tree, we 
 
258 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 conclude it to be a red cedar, whose berries have been 
 eaten by the birds so that we could not find any friut. 
 
 In this way some practice will soon enable us to tell 
 our common trees with ease, and we shall then be better 
 prepared to learn how these different trees behave and what 
 they need. Having gained this enjoyable familiarity with 
 our friends, we are aljle to learn for ourselves what is 
 required to make them produce the largest amount of the 
 most valuable material in the shortest time and at the 
 least expense. 
 
 t:>^^ 
 
APPENDIX I 
 
 THE DOYLE-SCRIBNER LOG SCALE 
 
 Inches in 
 
 12 Feet 
 
 14 Feet 
 
 16 Feet 
 
 Inches in 
 
 12 Feet 
 
 14 Feet 
 
 16 Feet 
 
 DiAMKTER 
 
 Long 
 
 Long 
 
 Long 
 
 Diameter 
 
 Long 
 
 Long 
 
 Long 
 
 10 
 
 27 
 
 32 
 
 36 
 
 36 
 
 768 
 
 896 
 
 1024 
 
 11 
 
 37 
 
 43 
 
 49 
 
 37 
 
 817 
 
 953 
 
 1089 
 
 12 
 
 48 
 
 56 
 
 64 
 
 38 
 
 867 
 
 1011 
 
 1156 
 
 13 
 
 61 
 
 71 
 
 81 
 
 39 
 
 910 
 
 1070 
 
 1225 
 
 14 
 
 75 
 
 88 
 
 100 
 
 40 
 
 972 
 
 1134 
 
 1296 
 
 15 
 
 91 
 
 106 
 
 121 
 
 41 
 
 1027 
 
 1198 
 
 1369 
 
 16 
 
 108 
 
 126 
 
 144 
 
 42 
 
 1083 
 
 1264 
 
 1444 
 
 17 
 
 127 
 
 148 
 
 169 
 
 43 
 
 1141 
 
 1331 
 
 1521 
 
 18 
 
 147 
 
 171 
 
 196 
 
 44 
 
 1200 
 
 1400 
 
 1600 
 
 19 
 
 169 
 
 197 
 
 225 
 
 45 
 
 1261 
 
 1471 
 
 1681 
 
 20 
 
 192 
 
 224 
 
 256 
 
 46 
 
 1323 
 
 1544 
 
 1764 
 
 21 
 
 217 
 
 253 
 
 289 
 
 47 
 
 1387 
 
 1618 
 
 1849 
 
 22 
 
 243 
 
 283 
 
 324 
 
 48 
 
 1452 
 
 1694 
 
 1936 
 
 23 
 
 271 
 
 313 
 
 359 
 
 49 
 
 1519 
 
 1772 
 
 2025 
 
 24 
 
 300 
 
 350 
 
 400 
 
 50 
 
 1587 
 
 1850 
 
 2116 
 
 25 
 
 331 
 
 386 
 
 441 
 
 51 
 
 1657 
 
 1933 
 
 2209 
 
 26 
 
 363 
 
 423 
 
 484 
 
 52 
 
 1728 
 
 2016 
 
 2304 
 
 27 
 
 397 
 
 463 
 
 530 
 
 53 
 
 1801 
 
 2101 
 
 2401 
 
 28 
 
 432 
 
 504 
 
 576 
 
 54 
 
 1875 
 
 2187 
 
 2500 
 
 29 
 
 469 
 
 547 
 
 625 
 
 55 
 
 1951 
 
 2276 
 
 2601 
 
 30 
 
 507 
 
 591 
 
 676 
 
 56 
 
 2028 
 
 2366 
 
 2704 
 
 31 
 
 547 
 
 638 
 
 729 
 
 57 
 
 2107 
 
 2458 
 
 2809 
 
 32 
 
 588 
 
 686 
 
 784 
 
 58 
 
 2187 
 
 2551 
 
 2916 
 
 33 
 
 631 
 
 736 
 
 841 
 
 59 
 
 2269 
 
 2647 
 
 3025 
 
 34 
 
 675 
 
 787 
 
 900 
 
 60 
 
 2352 
 
 2744 
 
 3136 
 
 35 
 
 721 
 
 841 
 
 961 
 
 
 
 
 
 Example : If the log is 22 inches in diameter at the smaller end and is 14 feet long, 
 look for 22 inches under Diameter, and you will see in the column under 14 feet 283, 
 which is the number of board feet in this log. 
 
 If the log is 18 feet long, it contains if as much as a 12-foot log. 
 
 Logs 24 feet and over should be measured every IG feet, or fraction thereof. This 
 is not generally done, but neglect to do so causes much inaccuracy. 
 
 259 
 
APPENDIX II 
 
 TABLE OF CIRCLES 
 
 Inches in 
 Diameter 
 
 Area in 
 
 Square 
 
 Feet 
 
 Inches in 
 Diameter 
 
 Area in 
 
 Square 
 
 Feet 
 
 Inches in 
 Diameter 
 
 Area in 
 
 Square 
 
 Feet 
 
 2 
 
 0.022 
 
 26 
 
 3.68 
 
 50 
 
 13.63 
 
 4 
 
 0.087 
 
 28 
 
 4.27 
 
 52 
 
 14.74 
 
 6 
 
 0.196 
 
 30 
 
 4.90 
 
 54 
 
 15.90 
 
 8 
 
 0.349 
 
 32 
 
 5.58 
 
 56 
 
 17.10 
 
 10 
 
 0.545 
 
 34 
 
 6.30 
 
 58 
 
 18.34 
 
 12 
 
 0.785 
 
 36 
 
 7.06 
 
 60 
 
 19.63 
 
 14 
 
 1.069 
 
 38 
 
 7.87 
 
 62 
 
 20.96 
 
 16 
 
 1.396 
 
 40 
 
 8.72 
 
 64 
 
 22.34 
 
 18 
 
 1.767 
 
 42 
 
 9.62 
 
 66 
 
 23.75 
 
 20 
 
 2.181 
 
 44 
 
 10.55 
 
 68 
 
 25.22 
 
 22 
 
 2.639 
 
 46 
 
 11.54 
 
 70 
 
 26.72 
 
 24 
 
 3.141 
 
 48 
 
 12.56 
 
 72 
 
 28.67 
 
 260 
 
APPENDIX III 
 
 LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT WOODS AND TREES OF 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 [Arranged alphabetically] 
 
 A. — CONIFEROUS WOODS 
 
 Woods of simple and uniform structure, generally light and soft, but 
 stiff; abundant in suitable dimensions and forming by far the greatest 
 part of all the lumber used. 
 
 CEDAR. — Light, soft, stiff, not strong, of fine texture ; sap and heart 
 wood distinct, the former lighter, the latter a dull grayish brown, or 
 red. The wood seasons rapidly, shrinks and checks but little, and is 
 very durable. Used like soft pine, but owing to its great durability 
 preferred for shingles, etc. Small sizes used for posts, ties, etc.^ Cedars 
 usually occur scattered, but they form, in certain localities, forests of 
 considerable extent. 
 a. White cedars. — Heartwood a light grayish brown. 
 
 The Arbor Yit.es and Incense Cedar 
 
 1. White cedar (Thuja occidentalis) (arbor vitfe) : Scattered along 
 
 streams and lakes, frequently covering extensive swamps ; rarely 
 large enough for lumber, but commonly used for posts, ties, etc. 
 Maine to Minnesota and northward. 
 
 2. Canoe cedar (Thuja gigantea) (usually called red cedar in the 
 
 West): In Oregon and Washington a very large tree, covering 
 
 1 Since almost all kinds of woods are used for fuel and charcoal, and in the construction 
 of fences, sheds, barns, etc., the enumeration of these uses has been omitted in this list, 
 
 261 
 
262 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 extensive areas ; in the mountains smaller, skirting the water 
 courses ; an important lumber tree. Washington to northern 
 California and eastward to ]\Iontana. 
 
 3. White cedar (Libocedrns derurrens) (incense cedar) : A large tree, 
 
 abundantly scattered among pine and fir ; wood fine grained. 
 Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains of Oregon and California. 
 
 The White Cedars Proper 
 
 4. White cedar (^CJiamcecyparis tJiyoides) (often called juniper) : 
 
 Medium-sized tree; wood very light and soft. Along the coast 
 from Maine to Mississippi. 
 
 5. White cedar (^Chamcecyparis lawsoniana) (Port Orford cedar, 
 
 Oregon cedar, Lawson's cypress, ginger pine) : A very large tree, 
 extensively cut for lumber ; heavier and stronger than the pre- 
 ceding. Along the coast line of Oregon. 
 
 6. Yellow or Alaska cedar (Chamcecyparis nootkatensis): Medium- 
 
 to large-sized tree. Mountains of Washington, coast from Puget 
 Sound northwards. 
 
 6. Red cedars. — Heartwood red. 
 
 1. Red cedar {Juniperus virginiana) (Savin juniper) : Similar to 
 
 white cedar, but of somewhat finer texture. Used in cabinet- 
 work, in cooperage, for veneers, and especially for lead pencils, 
 for which purpose alone several million feet are cut each year. A 
 small- to medium-sized tree scattered through the forests, or, in 
 the West, sparsely covering extensive areas (cedar brakes). The 
 red cedar is the most widely distributed conifer of the United 
 States, occurring from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from 
 Florida to Minnesota, but attains a suitable size for lumber only 
 in the Southern, and more especially the Gulf States. 
 
 2. Redwood {Sequoia sempervirens) : Wood in its quality and uses 
 
 like white cedar; the narrow sapwood whitish; the heartwood 
 light red, soon turning to brownish red when exposed. A very 
 large tree, limited to the coast ranges of California, and forming 
 considerable forests, which are rapidly being converted into 
 lumber. 
 
Ai^rEXDix III 263 
 
 CYPRESS. 
 
 Cypress (Taxot/im/i r/istic/nnu^ (bald cypress; black, white, and red 
 cypress) : Wood in appearance, qnality, and uses similar to white 
 cedar. "Black cypress" and " white cypress " are dark and light 
 forms of the same species. The cypress is a large deciduous tree, 
 occupying much of the swamp and overflow land along the coast 
 and rivers of the Southern States. 
 
 FIR. — This name is frequently applied to wood and to trees which are 
 not fir ; most commonly to spruce, but also, especially in English 
 markets, to pine. It resembles spruce, but is easily distinguished from 
 it, as well as from pine and larch, by the absence of resin ducts. 
 Quality, uses, and habits similar to spruce. The trees furnishing this 
 wood are generally called balsams. 
 
 1. Balsam (Abies h(dsumea) : A medium-sized tree, scattered throughout 
 
 the northern pineries ; cut, in lumber operations whenever of 
 sufficient size, and sold with pine or spruce. Minnesota to Maine 
 and northward. 
 
 2. Balsam or white fir (.Ji/e.v grantlis and Abies concolor) : Medium- 
 
 to very large-sized tree, forming an important j^art of some of the 
 western mountain forests. The former occurs from Vancouver 
 to central California and eastw^ard to Montana ; the latter from 
 Oregon to Arizona and eastward to Colorado and Xew Mexico. 
 
 3. Mountain balsam (Abies amabilis) : Good-sized tree, often forming 
 
 extensive mountain forests. Cascade Mountains of Washington 
 and Oregon. 
 
 4. Balsam or white fir (Abies nobilis) (sometimes called red Jir ; not 
 
 to be confounded with Douglas fir or red fir) : Large to very large 
 tree ; occurs with A . amabilis in the forests on the slope of the 
 mountains between three thousand and four thousand feet eleva- 
 tion. Cascade Mountains of Oregon. 
 
 5. Balsam or white fir (Abies magnijicci) : Very large tree, in forests 
 
 about the base of Mount Shasta. Sierra Nevada Mountains of 
 California, from Mount Shasta southward. 
 
 HEMLOCK. — Light to medium weight, soft, stiff but brittle, commonly 
 crossgrained, rough, and splintery ; sapwood and heartwood not well 
 
264 FIKST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 defined; the ANoud t>t' a liglit reddish gray color, free from rosin ducts, 
 moderately durable, shrinks and warps considerably, wears rough, 
 retains nails firmly. Used principally for dimension stuff and timbers. 
 Hemlocks are medium- to large-sized trees, commonly scattered among 
 broad-leaved trees and conifers, but often forming forests of almost 
 pure groM'th, 
 
 1. Hkmj.ock (Tsuga canadeyisis) : medinm-sized tree ; furnishes almost 
 
 all the hemlock of the eastern market. INIaine to Wisconsin ; 
 also following the Alleghenies southward to Georgia and Alabama. 
 
 2. Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana^ : Large-sized tree; wood claimed to 
 
 be heavier and harder than the eastern form and of superior 
 quality. Washington to California and eastward to Montana. 
 
 LARCH or TAMARACK. — Wood similar to hard pine in appearance, 
 quality, and uses, and, owing to its durability, used in shipbuilding, 
 and for telegraph poles and railroad ties. Our eastern tamarack is not 
 fully appreciated ; the western form is used extensively as ordinary 
 lumber. In its structure it resembles spruce. The larches are decidu- 
 ous trees, occasionally covering considerable areas, but usually scattered 
 among other conifers. 
 
 1. Tamarack (Larix laricina) (hackmatack) : Medium-sized tree, 
 
 often covering swamps. Maine to Minnesota, and southward to 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 2. Tamarack (Larix occidentalis) : Large-sized treevS, scattered, locally 
 
 abundant. Washington and Oregon to Montana. 
 
 PINE. — Very variable, very light and soft in " soft " pine, such as white 
 pine ; of medium weight to heavy, and quite hard in " hard " pine, of 
 which longleaf or Georgia pine is the extreme form. Usually it is stiif, 
 very strong, of even texture, and more or less resinous. The sapwood 
 is yellowish white ; the heartwood, orange brown. Pine shrinks 
 moderately, seasons rax)idly and without much injury ; it works easily ; 
 is never too hard to nail (unlike oak or hickory) ; it is mostly quite 
 durable and, if well seasoned, is not subject to the attacks of boring 
 insects. The heavier the wood, the darker, stronger, and harder it is, 
 and the more it shrinks and checks. Pine is used more extensively 
 than any other kind of wood. It is the principal wood in common 
 
APPENDIX III 265 
 
 carpentry, as well as in all heavy construction, — bridges, trestles, etc. 
 It is also used in almost every other wood industry : for spars, masts, 
 planks, and timbers in shipbuilding, in car and wagon construction, 
 in cooperage, for crates and boxes, in furniture work, for toys and 
 patterns, railway ties, water pipes, excelsior, etc. Pines are usually 
 large trees with few branches, the straight, cylindrical, useful stem 
 forming by far the greatest part of the tree ; they occur gregariously, 
 forming vast forests, a fact which greatly facilitates their exploitation. 
 Of the many special terms applied to pine as lumber, denoting some- 
 times differences in quality, the following deserve attention : 
 
 "White pine," " pumpkin pine," "soft pine," in the eastern markets 
 refer to the wood of the white pine (^Pinus strobus) ; on the 
 Pacific coast to that of the sugar pine (Pinus lamhertiand), and in 
 the northern Rockies to the white pine (Pinus monticola). 
 " Yellow pine " is applied in the trade to all the southern lumber 
 pines ; in the Northeast it is also applied to the pitch pine {Pinus 
 rigidci) ; in the AVest it refers mostly to Pinus ponderosa. 
 " Yellow longieaf pine," " Georgia pine," chiefly used in advertise- 
 ment, refers to longieaf pine (Pinus palustris). 
 " Hard ]3ine " is a common term in carpentry, and applies to every- 
 thing except white pine. 
 " Pitch pine " includes all southern pines and also the true pitch pine 
 (Pinus rigidd), but is mostly applied, especially in foreign markets, 
 to the wood of the longieaf pine (Pinus palustris). 
 
 a. Soft pines. 
 
 1. White pine (Pinus strobus) : Large- to very large-sized tree ; for 
 
 the last fifty years the most important timber tree of the Union, 
 fm-nishing the best quality of soft pine. Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
 Michigan, New England, and along the Alleghenies to Georgia. 
 
 2. Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) : A very large important lumber 
 
 tree. Oregon and California. 
 
 3. White pine (Pinus monticola) : A large tree, at home in Montana, 
 
 Idaho, and the Pacific States. 
 
 4. White pine (Pinus fexilis) : A small tree, scattered in the 
 
 mountain forests of the eastern Rocky Mountain slopes, Mon- 
 tana to New Mexico. 
 
266 FIRST BOOK OF FOFvESTKY 
 
 b. Hard pines. 
 
 1. LoNGLEAF PINE (Puius palustris) (Georgia i>ine, yellow pine, long 
 
 straw pine, etc.) : Large tree ; forms extensive forests and fur- 
 nishes the hardest and strongest pine lumber in the market. 
 Coast region from North Carolina to Texas. 
 
 2. Yellow pine (Pimis ponderosa) : Medium- to very large-sized 
 
 tree, forming extensive forests in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain 
 regions ; furnishes most of the hard pine of the West ; sapwood 
 wide ; wood very variable. 
 
 3. Loblolly pine (Pinus tceda) (shortleaf pine, old field pine, rose- 
 
 mary ]3ine, sap pine, etc.) : Large-sized tree, forms extensive 
 forests ; wider ringed, coarser, lighter, softer, with more sapwood 
 than the longleaf pine, but the tw-o often confounded. This is 
 the common lumber pine from Virginia to South Carolina, and 
 is found extensively in Arkansas and Texas. Southern States 
 and Virginia to Texas and Arkansas. 
 
 4. Norway pine {Pinus resinosa) : Large-sized tree, usually scattered 
 
 or in small groves, together with white pine ; largely sapwood 
 and hence not durable. Minnesota to Michigan, also New 
 England to Pennsylvania. 
 
 5. Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) (North Carolina pine, yellow 
 
 pine, etc.) : Resembles loblolly pine ; often approaches in its 
 wood the Norway pine. The common lumber j^ine of Missom'i 
 and Arkansas. North Carolina to Texas and Missouri. 
 
 6. Cuban pine (Pinus cuhensis) (slash pine) : Resembles longleaf 
 
 pine, but commonly has wdder sapwood and coarser grain ; does 
 not enter the markets to any great extent. Along the coast from 
 South Carolina to Louisiana. 
 
 7. Bull pine (Pinus jeffreyi) (black })ine) : Large-sized tree, tree 
 
 and wood resembling yellow pine (Pinus jxmderosa^ ; used locally 
 in California, replacing Pinus ponderosa at high altitudes. 
 The following are small- to medium-sized pines known generally as 
 
 Jack pines, not commonly offered as lumber in the market ; used locally 
 
 for timber, ties, etc. : 
 
 8. Jack pine (Pinus rnurrayana) (lodge-pole pine, black ]>ine, white 
 
 pine, tamarack) : Rocky Mountains and Pacific regions. 
 
APPENDIX III 267 
 
 9. Pitch pine (Phius rigldo) : Along the coast from New York to 
 Georgia and along the mountains to Kentucky. 
 
 10. Scrub, jack, or Jersey pine (Pinus virginiand) (scrub pine) : As 
 
 before. 
 
 11. Jack pine (Pinus divaricata) (scrub i:)ine) : Maine, Vermont, and 
 
 Michigan to Minnesota. 
 
 REDWOOD. (See Cedar.) 
 
 SPRUCE. — Resembles soft pine, is light, soft, stiff, moderately strong, less 
 resinous than pine ; has no distinct heartwood, and is of whitish color. 
 Used like soft pine, but also employed as resonance wood and preferred 
 for paper pulp. Spruces, like pines, form extensive forests ; they are 
 more frugal, thrive on thinner soils, and bear more shade, but usually 
 require a more humid and colder climate. 
 
 1. Red or black spruce (Picea mariand) : Medium-sized tree ; forms 
 
 extensive forests in northeastern United States and in British 
 America; occurs scattered or in groves, especially in low lands 
 throughout the northern pineries. Important lumber tree in 
 eastern United States. Maine to Minnesota, British America, 
 and on the AUeghenies to North Carolina. 
 
 2. White spruce (Picea canadensis) : Generally associated with the 
 
 preceding ; grows largest in Montana and forms the most impor- 
 tant tree of the subarctic forest of British America. Northern 
 United States, from Maine to Minnesota, also from Montana to 
 Pacific, British America. 
 
 3. White spruce (Picea engelmanni) : Medium- to large-sized tree, 
 
 forming extensive forests at elevations from five thousand to ten 
 thousand feet above sea level ; resembles the i^receding, but occu- 
 pies a different station. The common spruce of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains and Cascades. 
 
 4. Tide-land spruce (Picea sitchensis) : A large-sized tree, common 
 
 in the coast-belt forest. Along the seaeoast from Alaska to 
 central California. 
 
 RED FIR or DOUGLAS SPRUCE. — Spruce or fir in name, but resembling 
 hard pine or larch in the appearance, quality, and uses of its wood. 
 
268 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Red fir {Pseudotsuga douglam) (yellow fir, Oregon pine, Douglas 
 spruce) : The most important tree of the western United States ; 
 grows very large in the Pacific States, to fair size in all parts of 
 the mountains, in Colorado up to about ten thousand feet above sea 
 level ; forms extensive forests, often of pure growth. Wood very 
 variable, usually coarse grained and heavy, with very pronounced 
 summer wood, hard and strong (" red " fir), but often fine grained 
 and lighter (" yellow " fir). Tt replaces hard pine and is especially 
 suited to heavy construction. From the plains to the Pacific Ocean 
 and from Mexico to British America. 
 
 TAMARACK. {See Larch.) 
 
 YEW. — AVood heavy, hard, extremely stiff and strong, of fine texture, 
 with a pale yellow sapwood, and an orange red heart; seasons well, and is 
 quite durable. Yew is extensively used for archery, bows, turner's ware, 
 etc. The yews form no forests, but occur scattered with other conifers. 
 
 Yew (Taxus brevifolia) : A small- to medium-sized tree of the Pacific 
 region. 
 
 B. — BROAD-LEAVED WOODS (Hardwoods) 
 
 Woods of complex and very variable structure and therefore differing 
 widely in quality, behavior, and consequently in applicability to the arts. 
 
 ASH. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, stiff, quite tough, not durable in con- 
 tact with soil, straight grained, rough on the split surface, and coarse in 
 texture. The wood shrinks moderately, seasons with little injury, and 
 stands well. In carpentry ash is used for finishing lumber, stairways, 
 panels, etc. ; it is used in shipbuilding, in the construction of cars, 
 wagons, carriages, etc., in the manufacture of farm implements, 
 machinery, and especially of furniture of all kinds, and also for har- 
 ness work ; for barrels, baskets, oars, tool handles, hoops, clothespins, 
 and toys. The trees of the several species of ash are rapid growers, of 
 small to medium height, with stout trunks ; they form no forests, but 
 occur scattered in almost all our broad-leaved forests. 
 
 1. White ash (Fraxinus americana) : Medium-, sometimes large-sized 
 tree. Basin of the Ohio, but found from Maine to Minnesota and 
 Texas. 
 
APPENDIX III 269 
 
 2. Red ASH (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) : Small-sized tree. North Atlantic 
 
 States, but extends to the Mississippi. 
 
 3. Black ash (Fraxinus nigra) (hoop ash, ground ash) : Medium-sized 
 
 tree, very common. Maine to Minnesota, and southward to 
 Virginia and Arkansas. 
 
 4. Blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata) : Small- to medium-sized. 
 
 Indiana and Illinois; occurs from Michigan to Minnesota and 
 southward to Alabama. 
 
 5. Green ash (Fraxinus lanceolata) : Small-sized tree. New York to 
 
 the Rocky Mountains, and southward to Florida and Arizona. 
 
 6. Oregon ash (Fraxinus oregana) : Medium-sized tree. Western 
 
 Washington to California. 
 ASPEN. (See Poplar.) 
 
 BASSWOOD. 
 
 1. Basswood (Tilia americana) (lime tree, American linden, lin, bee 
 
 tree) : Wood light, soft, stiff but not strong, of fine texture, and 
 white to light brown color. The wood shrinks considerably in 
 drying, works and stands well; it is used in carpentry, in the 
 manufacture of furniture and wooden ware, both turned and carved, 
 in cooperage, for toys, also for panehng of car and carriage bodies. 
 Medium- to large-sized tree, common in all northern broad-leaved 
 forests ; found throughout the eastern United States. 
 
 2. White basswood (Tilia heterophylla) : A small-sized tree, most 
 
 abundant in the Allegheny region. 
 BEECH. 
 
 Beech (Fagus americana) : Wood heavy, hard, stiff, strong, of rather 
 coarse texture, white to light brown, not durable in the ground, 
 and subject to the inroads of boring insects ; it shrinks and checks 
 considerably in drying, works well and wears smooth. Used for 
 furniture, in turnery, for handles, plane stocks, lasts, etc. Abroad 
 it is very extensively employed by the carpenter, millwriglit, and 
 wagon maker, in turnery as well as wood carving. The beech is 
 a medium-sized tree, common, sometimes forming forest; most 
 abundant in the Ohio and Mississippi basin, but found from 
 Maine to Wisconsin and southward to Florida. 
 
270 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 BIRCH. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture ; sapwood whitish, 
 heartwood in shades of brown with red and yellow ; very handsome, 
 with satiny luster, equaling cherry. The wood shrinks considerably in 
 drying, works and stands well, and takes a good polish, but is not 
 durable if exposed. Birch is used for finishing lumber in building, 
 in the manufacture of furniture, in wood turnery for spools, boxes, 
 wooden shoes, etc., for shoe lasts and pegs, for wagon hubs, ox yokes, 
 etc., also in wood carving. The birches are medium-sized trees, form 
 extensive forests northward, and occur scattered in most of the broad- 
 leaved forests of the eastern United States. 
 
 1. Cherry birch (Betida lento) (black birch, sweet birch, mahogany 
 
 birch) : Medium-sized tree ; not common. Maine to Michigan 
 and to Tennessee. 
 
 2. Yellow birch {Betula luteci) (gray birch) : Medium-sized tree ; 
 
 the common birch of the market. Maine to Minnesota and south- 
 ward to Tennessee. 
 
 3. Red birch (^Betula nigra) (river birch) : Small- to medium-sized 
 
 tree ; very common ; lighter and less valuable than the preceding. 
 New England to Texas and Missouri. 
 
 4. White or paper birch (^Betula papyrifera) : Generally a small tree ; 
 
 common, forming forests ; wood of good quality but lighter. All 
 along the northern boundary of United States and northward, from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 BLACK WALNUT. {See Walnut.) 
 
 BLUE BEECH. 
 
 Blue beech (Carpinus caroJiniana) (hornbeam, water beech, iron- 
 wood) : Wood very heavy, hard, strong, very stiff, of rather fine 
 texture and white color ; not durable in the ground ; shrinks and 
 checks greatly, but works and stands well. Used chiefly in 
 turnery for tool handles, etc. Abroad much used by millwrights 
 and wheelwrights. A small tree, largest in the Southwest, but 
 found in nearly all parts of the eastern United States. 
 
 BOIS D'ARC. {See Osage orange.) 
 
 BUCKEYE — HORSE-CHESTNUT. — Wood light, soft, not strong, often 
 quite tough, of fine and uniform texture and creamy white color. It 
 
APPENDIX III 271 
 
 shrinks considerably, but works and stands well. Used for wooden ware, 
 artificial limbs, paper pulp, and locally also for building lumber. Small- 
 sized trees, scattered. 
 
 1. Ohio buckeye (.Esculus r/labra) (fetid buckeye) : Alleghenies, 
 
 Pennsylvania to Indian Territory. 
 
 2. Sweet buckeye (^E.sculus octandra) : Alleghenies, Pennsylvania to 
 
 Texas. 
 
 BUTTERNUT. 
 
 Butternut (Juglans cinerea) (white walnut) : Wood very similar to 
 black walnut, but of light brown color. Used chiefly for finishing 
 lumber, cabinetwork, and cooperage. Medium-sized tree, largest 
 and most common in the Ohio basin; Maine to Minnesota and 
 southward to Georgia and Alabama. 
 
 CATALPA. 
 
 Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) : Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle, 
 durable, of coarse texture and brown color ; used for ties and 
 posts, but well suited for a great variety of uses. Medium-sized 
 tree ; lower basin of the Ohio River, locally common. Extensively 
 planted, and therefore promising to become of some importance. 
 
 CHERRY. 
 
 Cherry {Prunus serotina) : Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture ; 
 sapwood yellowish white, heartwood reddish to brown. The wood 
 shrinks considerably in drying, works and stands well, takes a 
 good polish, and is much esteemed for its beauty. Cherry is 
 chiefly used as a decorative finishing lumber for buildings, cars, 
 and boats, also for furniture and in turnery. It is becoming too 
 costly for many purposes for which it is naturally well suited. 
 The lumber-furnishing cherry of this country, the wild black 
 cherry (Prunus serotina), is a small- to medium-sized tree, scattered 
 through many of the broad-leaved woods of the eastern United 
 States. Other species of this genus as well as the hawthorns 
 (Crataegus) and wild apple (Pyrus) are not commonly offered in 
 the market. Their wood is of the same character as cherry, often 
 even finer, but in small dimensions. 
 
272 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 CHESTNUT. 
 
 1. Chestnut (Castanea dentata) : Wood light, moderately soft, stiff, 
 
 not strong, of coarse texture ; the sapwood light, the heartwood 
 darker brown. It shrinks and checks considerably in drying, works 
 easily, stands well, and is very durable. Used in cabinetwork, 
 cooperage, for railway ties, telegraph poles, and locally in heavy 
 construction. Medium- to large-sized tree, very common in the 
 Alleghenies, occurs from Maine to Michigan and southward to 
 Alabama. 
 
 2. Chinquapin (Castanea pumila) : A small-sized tree, with wood 
 
 slightly heavier but otherwise similar to the preceding; most 
 common in Arkansas, but with nearly the same range as the 
 chestnut. 
 
 3. Chinquapin (Casfanopsis chrysophijlki) : A medium-sized tree of the 
 
 western ranges of California and Oregon. 
 
 COFFEE TREE. 
 
 Coffee tree (Gynmocladus dioica) (coffee nut) : Wood heavy, hard, 
 strong, very stiff, of coarse texture, durable ; the sapwood yellow, 
 the heartwood reddish brown ; shrinks and checks considerably in 
 drying ; works and stands well and takes a good polish. It is 
 used to a limited extent in cabinetwork. A medium- to large- 
 sized tree ; not common. Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Arkansas. 
 
 COTTONWOOD. (See Poplar.) 
 
 CUCUMBER TREE. (See Tulip.) 
 
 ELM. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, very tough ; moderately durable in 
 contact with the soil ; commonly crossgrained, difficult to split and 
 shape, warps and checks considerably in drying, but stands well if 
 properly handled. The broad sapwood whitish, heart brown, both 
 with shades of gray and red ; on split surface rough ; texture coarse 
 to fine; capable of high polish. Used in the construction of cars, 
 wagons, etc., in boat and ship building, for agricultural implements and 
 machinery; in rough cooperage, saddlery and harness work, but par- 
 ticularly in the manufacture of all kinds of furniture, where the 
 beautiful figures, especially those of the tangential or bastard section, 
 are just beginning to be duly appreciated. The elms are medium- to 
 
AIM/E^'DIX 111 273 
 
 large-sized trees, of fairly rapid growth, \vith stout trunk, form no 
 forests of pure growth, but are found scattered in all the broad-leaved 
 w^oods of our country, sometimes forming a considerable portion of the 
 arboreal growth. 
 
 1. White elm (Ulmus americand) (American elm, waterelm) : Medium- 
 
 to large-sized tree, common. Maine to Minnesota and southward 
 to Florida and Texas. 
 
 2. Rock elm (Ulmus racemosa) (cork elm, hickory elm, white elm. cliff 
 
 elm) : Medium- to large-sized tree. Michigan, Ohio, from Ver- 
 mont to Iowa and southw ard to Kentucky. 
 
 3. Red elm (Ulmus fulva) (slippery elm, moose elm) : Small -sized tree, 
 
 found chiefly along water courses. New York to Minnesota and 
 southward to Florida and Texas. 
 
 4. Cedar elm (Ulmus crassifoUa) : Small-sized tree, quite common. 
 
 Arkansas and Texas. 
 
 5. Winged elm {Ulmus alata) (wahoo) : Small-sized tree, locally quite 
 
 common. Arkansas, Missouri, and eastward to Virginia. 
 GUM. — This general term refers to two kinds of wood usually distinguished 
 as sweet or red f/iun, and sour, black, or tupelo gum, the former being 
 a relative of the witch-hazel, the latter belonging to the dogwood 
 family. 
 
 1. Tupelo (Xyssa sylvaticd) (sour gum, black gum) : AVood heavy, hard, 
 
 strong, tough, of fine texture, frequently crossgrained, of yellowish 
 or grayish white color, hard to split and work, troublesome in 
 seasoning, warps and checks considerably, and is not durable if 
 exposed ; used for w^agon hubs, wooden ware, handles, wooden 
 shoes, etc. Medium- to large-sized trees, with straight, clear 
 trunks ; locally quite abundant, but never forming forests of pure 
 growth. Maine to Michigan and southward to Florida and 
 Texas. 
 
 2. Tupelo gum {Nyssa aquatica) (cotton gum) : Lower Mississippi 
 
 basin, northward to Illinois and eastward to Virginia, otherwise 
 like preceding species. 
 
 3. Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) (red gum, liquidambar, bilsted) : 
 
 Wood of medium weight, rather soft, quite stiff and strong, tough, 
 
274 FIRST BOOK OF FOKESTUY 
 
 commonly crossgrained, of fine texture ; the broad sapwood whitish, 
 the heartvvood reddish brown : tlie wood shrinks and warps con- 
 siderably, but does not check badly, stands well when fully seasoned, 
 and takes good polish. Used in carpentry, in the manufacture of 
 furniture, for cut veneer, for wooden plates, plaques, baskets, etc., 
 also for wagon hubs, hat blocks, etc. A large-sized tree, very 
 abundant, often the principal tree in the swampy parts of the 
 bottoms of the lower Mississippi valley; occurs from New York 
 to Texas and from Indiana to Florida. 
 
 HACKBERRY. 
 
 Hackberry (^('eltis occidental^) (sugar berry): The handsome wood 
 heavy, hard, strong, quite tough, of moderately fine texture, and 
 greenish or yellowish white color ; shrinks moderately, works well, 
 and takes a good polish. So far but little used in the manufacture 
 of furniture. Medium- to large-sized tree, locally quite common, 
 largest in the lower Mississippi valley. Occurs in nearly all parts 
 of the eastern United States. 
 
 HICKORY. — Wood very heavy, hard, and strong, proverbially tough, of 
 rather coarse texture, smooth and of straight grain. The broad sap- 
 wood white, the heart reddish nut-brown. It dries slowly, shrinks and 
 checks considerably ; is not durable in the ground or if exposed, and, 
 especially the sapwood, is always subject to the inroads of boring insects. 
 Hickory excels as carriage and wagon stock, but is also extensively used 
 in the manufacture of implements and machinery, for tool handles, 
 timber pins, for harness work, and cooperage. The hickories are tall 
 trees with slender stems, never form forests, occasionally small groves, 
 but usually occur scattered among other broad-leaved trees in suitable 
 localities. The following species all contribute more or less to the 
 hickory of the markets : 
 
 1. Shagbark HICKORY (iy/cona oi-a^a) (shellbark hickory) : A medium- 
 
 to large-sized tree, quite common; the favorite among hickories. 
 Best developed in the Ohio and Mississippi basins; from Lake 
 Ontario to Texas and west to Minnesota. 
 
 2. Mocker nut hickory (Hicoria alha) (black hickory, bull and black 
 
 nut, big bud, and white-heart hickory) : A medium- to large-sized 
 
APPENDIX 111 27-J 
 
 tree, with the same range as the foregoing ; common, especially in 
 the South. 
 
 3. Pignut hickory (Hicoria rjlahra) (brown hickory, black hickory, 
 
 switch-bud hickory) : Medium- to large-sized tree, abundant. All 
 eastern United States. 
 
 4. Bitter nut hickory (Hicoria minima) (swamp hickory) : A medium- 
 
 sized tree, favoring wet localities, with the same range as the 
 preceding. 
 
 5. Pecan (Hicoria ])ecan) (Illinois nut) : A large tree, very common 
 
 in the fertile bottoms of the western streams. Indiana to 
 Nebraska and southward to Louisiana and Texas, 
 HOLLY. 
 
 Holly (Ilex opaca) : "Wood of medium weight, hard, strong, tough, of 
 fine texture and white color ; works and stands well. Used for 
 cabinetwork and turnery. A small tree. Most abundant in the 
 lower Mississij)pi valley Gulf States, but occurring eastward to 
 Massachusetts and north to Indiana. 
 
 HORSE-CHESTNUT, (See Buckeye.) 
 
 IRONWOOD. (See Blue beech.) 
 
 LOCUST. — This name applies to both of the following: 
 
 1. Black locust (Rohinia pseudacacia) (yellow locust) : Wood very 
 
 heavy, hard, strong, and tough, of coarse texture, very dm^able in 
 contact with the soil, shrinks considerably and suffers in season- 
 ing ; the very narrow sapwood yellowish, the heartwood brown, 
 wdth shades of red and green. Used for wagon hubs, tree nails 
 or pins, but especially for ties, posts, etc. Abroad it is much used 
 for furniture and farm implements and also in turnery. Small- 
 to medium-sized tree. At home in the Alleghenies : extensivelv 
 planted, especially in the West. 
 
 2. Honey locust (Gleditschia triacanthos) (sweet locust, thi'ee-t horned 
 
 acacia) : Wood heavy, hard, strong, tough, of coarse textui-e, sus- 
 ceptible of a good polish, the narrow sapwood yellowy the heart- 
 wood brownish red. So far, but little appreciated except for 
 fencing and fuel ; used to some extent for wagon hubs and in 
 
276 FIliST BOOK OF FOKESTEY 
 
 rough constructiou. A medium-sized tree. Found from Pennsyl- 
 vania to Nebraska and southward to Florida and Texas ; locally 
 quite abundant. 
 
 MAGNOLIA. (See Tulip.) 
 
 MAPLE. — Wood heavy, hard, strong, stiff, and tough, of fine texture, fre- 
 quently wavy grained, this giving rise to " curly " and " blister " figures ; 
 not durable in the ground or otherwise exposed. Maple is creamy 
 white, with shades of light brown in the heart; shrinks moderately, 
 seasons, works and stands well, wears smoothly, and takes a fine polish. 
 Used for ceiling, flooring, paneling, stairway, and other finishing 
 lumber in house, ship, and car construction ; also for the keels of boats 
 and ships, in the manufacture of implements and machinery, but espe- 
 cially for furniture, where entire chamber sets of maple rival those of 
 oak. Maple is also used for shoe lasts and other form blocks, for shoe 
 pegs, for piano actions, school apparatus, for wood type in show-bill 
 printing, tool handles, in wood carving, turnery, and scroll work. The 
 maples are medium-sized trees, of fairly rapid growth ; sometimes form 
 forests and frequently constitute a large proportion of the arboreal growth. 
 
 1. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) (hard maple, rock maple): Medium- 
 
 to large-sized tree, very common, forms considerable forests. 
 Maine to Minnesota and southward to northern Florida; most 
 abundant in the region of the Great Lakes. 
 
 2. Red maple (Acer ruhrum) (swamp or water maple) : Medium-sized 
 
 tree ; like the preceding, but scattered along water courses and 
 other moist localities. 
 
 3. Silver maple (Acer saccharinum') (soft maple, silver maple) : 
 
 Medium-sized, common ; wood lighter, softer, inferior to hard 
 maple. Valley of the Ohio, but occurs from Maine to Dakota 
 and southward to Florida. 
 
 4. Broad-leaved maple (Acer macrophylluni) : Medium-sized tree, 
 
 forms considerable forests, and like the preceding has a lighter, 
 softer, and less valuable wood. Pacific coast. 
 
 MULBERRY. 
 
 Red mulberry (Morus rubra) : Wood moderately heavy, hard, strong, 
 rather tough, of coarse texture, durable ; sapwood whitish, heart 
 
APPENDIX 111 277 
 
 yellow to orange brown ; shrinks and checks considerably in 
 drying. Used in cooperage and locally in shipbuilding and in 
 the manufacture of farm implements. A small-sized tree, common 
 in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, but widely distributed in the 
 eastern United States. 
 
 OAK. — Wood very variable, usually very heavy and hard, very strong and 
 tough, porous, and of coarse texture ; the sapwood whitish, the heart 
 " oak " brown to reddish brown. It shrinks and checks badly, giving 
 trouble in seasoning, but stands well, and is little subject to attacks 
 of insects. Used for many purposes : in shipbuilding, for heavy 
 construction, in common carpentry, in furniture, car, and wagon work, 
 cooperage, turnery, and even in wood carving ; also in the manufacture 
 of all kinds of farm implements, wooden mill machinery, for piles and 
 wharves, railway ties, etc. The oaks are medium- to large-sized trees, 
 forming the predominant part of a large portion of our broad-leaved 
 forests, so that these are generally " oak forests," though they always 
 contain a considerable proportion of other kinds of trees. The wood 
 of three well-marked kinds, white, red, and live oak, are distin- 
 guished and kept separate in the market. Of the two principal kinds 
 white oak is the stronger, tougher, less porous, and more durable. 
 Red oak is usually of coarser texture, more porous, often brittle, less 
 durable, and even more troublesome in seasoning than white oak. In 
 carpentry and furniture work red oak brings about the same price 
 at present as white oak. In the forest the red oaks everywhere 
 accompany the white oaks, and, like the latter, are usually represented 
 by several species in any given locality. Live oak, once largely 
 employed in shipbuilding, possesses all the good qualities (except that 
 of size) of white oak, even to a greater degree. It is one of the 
 heaviest, hardest, and most durable building timbers of this country; 
 in structure it resembles the red oaks, but is much less porous. 
 
 1. White oak (Quercus alha): Medium- to large-sized tree. Common 
 
 throug-hout the eastern United States. 
 
 2. Bur oak {Quercus macrocarpa) (mossy-cup oak, over-cup oak) : 
 
 Locally abundant, common. Bottoms west of Mississippi ; range 
 farther west than preceding. 
 
278 FIRST BOOK OF FOIIESTEY 
 
 3. Swamp white oak (^Quercus platanoides') : Most abundant in the 
 
 Lake States, but with range as in white oak. 
 
 4. Yellow OAK (^Quercus prinoides) (chestnut oak, chinquapin oak): 
 
 Southern Alleghenies and eastward to Massacliusetts. 
 
 5. Basket oak (Quercus michauxii) (cow oak): Locally abundant. 
 
 Lower ]\Iississippi and eastward to Delaware. 
 
 6. Over-cup oak (Quercus lyrata^ (swamp white oak, sM^amp post 
 
 oak) : Rather restricted ; ranges as in the j^receding. 
 
 7. Post oak (Quercus minor^ (iron oak) : Texas to New England and 
 
 northward to Michigan. 
 
 8. White oak (Quercus durandii) : Medium- to small-sized tree. 
 
 Texas, eastward to Alabama, 
 
 9. White oak (Quercus garryand) : Medium-sized tree. Washington 
 
 to California. 
 
 10. White oak (Quercus lohata) : Medium-sized tree; largest oak on 
 
 the Pacific coast. California. 
 
 11. Red oak (Quercus rubra) (black oak) : Medium- to large-sized tree ; 
 
 common in all parts of its range. Maine to Minnesota and south- 
 ward to the Gulf. 
 
 12. Black oak (Quercus velutina) (yellow oak) : Very common in the 
 
 Southern States, but occurring north as far as Minnesota and 
 eastward to Maine. 
 
 13. Spanish oak (Quercus digitatd) (red oak): Common in the South 
 
 Atlantic and Gulf region, but found from Texas to New York 
 and northward to Missouri and Kentucky. 
 
 14. Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea): Best developed in the lower 
 
 basin of the Ohio, but found from Maine to Missouri, and from 
 Minnesota to Florida. 
 
 15. Pin oak (Quercus palustris) (swamp Spanish oak, water oak) : 
 
 Common along borders of streams and swamps. Arkansas to 
 Wisconsin and eastward to the Alleghenies, 
 
 16. Willow oak (Quercus phellos) (peach oak): New York to Texas 
 
 and northward to Kentucky. 
 
 17. Water oak (Quercus nigra) (duck oak, possum oak, punk oak) : 
 
 Medium- to large-sized tree, of extremely rapid growth. Eastern 
 
APPENDIX TTI 270 
 
 Gulf States, eastward to Delaware, and northward to Missouri 
 and Kentucky. 
 
 18. Live oak (Quercus virginiand): Short- but heavy-bodied tree, scat- 
 
 tered along the coast from Virginia to Texas. 
 
 19. Live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) (maul oak, Valparaiso oak) : Medium- 
 
 sized tree. California. 
 
 OSAGE ORANGE. 
 
 Osage orange (Tojci/lon pomiferuni) (bois d'arc) : Wood very heavy, 
 exceedingly hard, strong, not tough, of moderately coarse texture, 
 and very durable ; sapwood yellow, heart brown on the end, yellow 
 on longitudinal faces, soon turning grayish brown if exposed; it 
 shrinks considerably in drying, but once dry it stands unusually 
 well. Formerly much used for wheel stock in the dry regions of 
 Texas; otherwise employed for posts, railway ties, etc. Seems too 
 little appreciated ; it is well suited for turned ware and especially 
 for wood carving. A small-sized tree, of fairly rapid growth. 
 Scattered through the rich bottoms of Arkansas and Texas. 
 
 PERSIMMON. 
 
 Persimmon (Diospi/ros virghiinna) : Wood very heavy and hard, strong 
 and tough ; resembles hickory, but is of finer texture ; the broad 
 sapwood cream color, the heart black. Used in turnery for shut- 
 tles, plane stocks, shoe lasts, etc. Small-sized tree. Common 
 and best developed in the lower Ohio valley, but occurs from New 
 York to Texas and Missouri. 
 
 POPLAR and COTTONWOOD (see also Tulip wood). — Wood light, very 
 soft, not strong, of fine texture and whitish, grayish to yellowish color, 
 usually with a satiny luster. The wood shrinks moderately (some 
 crossgrained forms warp excessively), but checks little ; is easily worked, 
 but is not durable. Used as building and furniture lumber, in cooper- 
 age for sugar and flour barrels, for crates and boxes (especially cracker 
 boxes), for wooden ware and paper pulp. 
 
 1. Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) : Large-sized tree ; forms consider- 
 able forests along many of the western streams, and furnishes most 
 of the Cottonwood of the market. New England to the Rocky 
 Mountains; most abundant in the Mississippi valley. 
 
280 FIRST BOOK OF FOFvESTIiY 
 
 2. Balsam poplar (Popubix hdlfmrnifera) (V)alm of Gilead) : Medium- 
 
 to large-sized tree. Common all along the northern boundary of 
 the United States. 
 
 3. Black cottonwood (^Populus trichocarpa) : The largest deciduous 
 
 tree of Washington ; very common. Northern Rocky Mountains 
 and Pacific region. 
 
 4. Cottonwood (^Populus fremontii var. wislizeni) : Medium- to large- 
 
 sized tree, common. Texas to California. 
 
 5. Poplar (Populus gramlldentatd) (large-toothed aspen) : Medium- 
 
 sized tree, chiefly used for pulp. Maine to Minnesota and south- 
 ward along the Alleghenies. 
 
 6. Aspen (Populus tremuloides) : Small- to medium-sized tree, often form- 
 
 ing extensive forests and covering burned areas. Maine to Washing- 
 ton, south in the western mountains to California and New Mexico. 
 
 RED GUM. (See Gum.) 
 
 SASSAFRAS. 
 
 Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras) : Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle, 
 of coarse texture, durable; sapwood yellow, heart orange brown. 
 Used in cooperage, for skiffs, fencing, etc. Medium-sized tree, 
 largest in the lower Mississippi valley. From New England to 
 Texas and from Michigan to Florida. 
 
 SOUR GUM. (See Gum.) 
 SWEET GUM. (See Gum.) 
 SYCAMORE. 
 
 1. Sycamore (Platanus occldentalis') (buttonwood, buttonball tree, water 
 
 beech) : Wood moderately heavy, quite hard, stiff, strong, tough, 
 usually crossgrained, of coarse texture, and white to light brown 
 color ; the wood is hard to split and work, shrinks moderately, 
 warps and checks considerably, but stands well. Used extensively 
 for drawers, backs, bottoms, etc., in cabinetwork, for tobacco boxes, 
 in cooperage, and also for finishing lumber, for which it has too 
 long been underrated. A large tree, of rapid growth. Common 
 and largest in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, at home in nearly 
 all parts of the eastern United States. (The California species). 
 
 2. Platanus i^acemosa, resembles in its wood the eastern form. 
 
APPENDIX III 281 
 
 TULIP WOOD. 
 
 1. Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipiferd) (yellow poplar, whitewood) : 
 
 Wood quite variable in weight, usually light, soft, stiff but not 
 strong, of fine texture, and yellowish color ; the wood shrinks 
 considerably, but seasons without much injury ; works and stands 
 remarkably well. Used for siding, for paneling and finishing 
 lumber in house, car, and ship building, for sideboards and panels 
 of wagons and carriages; also in the manufacture of furniture, 
 implements, and machinery, for pump logs, and almost every 
 kind of common wooden ware, boxes, shelving, drawers, etc. An 
 ideal wood for the carver and toy man. A large tree, forming 
 forests, best developed in the Ohio basin. Occurs from Xew 
 England to Missouri and southward to Florida. 
 
 2. Cucumber tree (^Magnolia acuminata) : A medium-sized tree resem- 
 
 bling, and probably confounded with, tulip wood in the markets. 
 Most common in the southern Alleghenies, but distributed from 
 New York to Arkansas, southward to Alabama and northward to 
 Illinois. 
 
 TUPELO. {See Gum.) 
 
 WALNUT. 
 
 Black walnut (Jaglans nigra) : Wood heavy, hard, strong, of coarse 
 texture ; the narrow sapwood whitish, the heartwood chocolate 
 brown. The wood shrinks moderately in drying, works and 
 stands well, takes a good polish, is quite handsome, and has 
 been for a long time the favorite cabinet wood in this country. 
 Walnut, formerly used even for fencing, has become too costly for 
 ordinary uses, and is to-day employed largely as a veneer, for 
 inside finish and cabinetwork ; also in turnery, for gunstocks, 
 etc. Black walnut is a large tree, with stout trunk, of rapid 
 growth, and was formerly quite abundant, especially in the Ohio 
 valley. Occurs from New England to Texas and from Michigan 
 to Florida. 
 
 WHITE WALNUT. (See Butternut.) 
 WHITEWOOD. (See Tulip, and also Basswood.) 
 YELLOW POPLAR. (.See Tulip.) 
 
INDEX 
 
 Acid, wood, 142 ; factory, 142. 
 
 Age of trees and how to read it, 8 . 
 
 Animals, protection against larger 
 ones, 130; grazing animals, 131, 
 178; game animals, 180; see 
 Insects, 115. 
 
 Annual or yearly rings in wood, 217. 
 
 Artificial method of starting a young 
 growth by seeding and planting, 
 76 ; use of this method in our coun- 
 try, 76; in Europe, 76; advantages 
 of method, 77; nursery work, 
 78; gathering and care of seed, 
 79 ; seedlings, 85 ; planting, 87 ; 
 artificial sowing of tree seeds in 
 the woods, 90 ; starting of willows, 
 poplars (cottonwoods, etc.), from 
 cuttings, 92 ; where planting 
 should be done, 92 ; method criti- 
 cised, 93 ; objections, 93 ; where 
 it pays and how it pays, 94. 
 
 Ash, how to distinguish, 256 ; the 
 wood, different kinds and where 
 they grow, 268. 
 
 Aspen, see Poplar, 246, 279. 
 
 Balsam, how to distinguish the trees, 
 244 ; the wood, 263 ; distribution, 
 263 ; different kinds, 263. 
 
 Bark beetles, 120. 
 
 Basswood, how to distinguish, 246 ; 
 the wood, different kinds and 
 where they occur, 269. 
 
 Beech, how to distinguish, 246 ; its 
 wood and its uses, 269. 
 
 Birch, how to distinguish the tree, 
 246 ; the wood, the different kinds 
 and their distribution, 270. 
 
 Bird's-eye structure in wood, 226. 
 
 Black walnut, see Walnut, 254,281. 
 
 Blazes on trees, how they heal and 
 what they tell, 10. 
 
 Blue beech, 270. 
 
 Bois d'arc, see Osage orange, 279. 
 
 Border of the woods, 1. 
 
 Broad-leaved trees, see Hardwoods, 
 246. 
 
 Buckeye, in the Key to different 
 kinds, 256 ; its wood and occur- 
 rence, 270. 
 
 Bm-n, a tract of burned-over forest 
 land, see Fire, 104, 
 
 Business of the forest, 182 ; simple for 
 small w^ood lot, increases in com- 
 plexity with size, 183; requires 
 survey, mapping, description ; this 
 leads to forest management; the 
 employment of men leads to forest 
 
 288 
 
284 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 administration, 183; an orderly 
 business requires forest regula- 
 tion, 184. 
 Butternut, in Key, 254 ; in list of 
 woods, 271. 
 
 Canopy of the woods, 1. 
 
 Care and protection of the forest, 
 97 ; need for this care, 97 ; thin- 
 ning and cleaning, 98 ; see Pro- 
 tection, 104. 
 
 Catalpa, in Key, 254 ; in list of 
 woods and trees, 271. 
 
 Caterpillars, see Insects, 115. 
 
 Cedar, how to distinguish, 244 ; 
 wood of, 261 ; different kinds in 
 United States, 261. 
 
 Cellulose, see Pulp, 142. 
 
 Cherry, in Key to trees, 248 ; in list 
 of woods, 271. 
 
 Chestnut, how to distinguish, 246 ; 
 the wood, different kinds and 
 where they grow, 272. 
 
 Circles, table of, 260. 
 
 Cleaning of trees ; how trees clean 
 themselves of limbs, 16; shade 
 required; helped by crowding; 
 usefulness of cleaning, 17. 
 
 Climate, as modified by forest, 207 ; 
 as modifying the trees and for- 
 ests, see Temperature, 32 ; and 
 moisture, 24, 
 
 Coffee tree, 272. 
 
 Cold, see Temperature, 32. 
 
 Conifers, growth in height (leaders), 
 17; are frugal, 20; in swamps, 
 28 ; in cold regions, 34 ; cover the 
 
 mountains, 38 ; not suited to 
 coppice, 48 ; yield more log mate- 
 rial than hardwoods, 64, 171; 
 yield in cords per acre, 74 ; conif- 
 erous seeds, 80 ; sowing in seed 
 bed, 82 ; seedlings, their growth, 
 85; numl)er of trees per acre in 
 well-stocked woods, 102 ; more 
 prone to fire, 104; logging of 
 conifers, see Lumbering and Uses 
 of wood ; coniferous lumber, 150; 
 for prairie planting, 195 ; our 
 coniferous forests, 210; how to 
 distinguish, 240 ; wood and its 
 uses, different kinds and their 
 distributions, 261. 
 
 Contents of trees (in lumbering), 
 165. 
 
 Cooperage stock, kinds of timber 
 used, how gotten out, 149. 
 
 Coppice woods, 45 ; what trees are 
 suited, 46 ; yield of woods, 46 ; 
 poor stumps, 47 ; how to cut the 
 stumps in coppice, 47 ; tan-bark 
 coppice, 50 ; rotation in coppice, 
 50 ; standard coppice, 52. 
 
 Cord as legal measure, 136. 
 
 Cord wood, see Firewood, 136. 
 .Creosote from wood, 144, 
 
 Crowding, helps to clean trees of 
 limbs, 16. 
 
 Cruising, in timber, 165. 
 
 Curly structure in wood, 226, 
 
 Cuttings of willow and poplar, 79. 
 
 Cypress, 29 ; knees, 31 ; how to dis- 
 tinguish, 244 ; its wood and where 
 it grows, 263. 
 
INDEX 
 
 285 
 
 Diffuse-porous woods, ^22. 
 
 Doniiuaiit trees, 2. 
 
 Doyle rule (scale rule), 173 ; table 
 
 of, 259. 
 Durability of woods, 230. 
 
 Elm, how to distinguish, 246 ; the 
 wood, the different kinds and 
 their distribution, 272. 
 
 Erosion or washing of the earth and 
 how it is modified by the vegeta- 
 ble cover, 203. 
 
 Estimating and measuring timber, 
 164; cruising, 165; contents of 
 trees, 165 ; covering the entire 
 forty, 167 ; calculations of vol- 
 ume, 168; arrangement of note- 
 book, 169 ; factor of shape (or 
 taper), 170. 
 
 Export timber, 147. 
 
 Fir, red fir, how to distinguish, 
 244 ; its wood, 267 ; white fir or 
 balsam, see Balsam, 244, 263. 
 
 Fire in forests, the greatest enemy, 
 104 ; large fires in our times and 
 country, 105 ; behavior of fires, 
 106 : degi-ee of destruction, 106 ; 
 how it starts, 108 ; a proper camp 
 fire, 108 ; how to fight fires, 108 ; 
 trenching and back fires, 110; 
 fire lines, 110. 
 
 Firewood, 136; measure, 136; 
 weight, 138. 
 
 Forest, as a protective cover, 203 ; 
 how the water acts, how it is 
 stored in the earth, and how it 
 
 washes the layer in which it 
 should be stored, 203 ; i-un-ott' on 
 surface and underground, 204 ; 
 how the forest modifies erosion, 
 206 ; effect on climate, 207 ; 
 experience abroad and in our 
 country, 208 ; weeds and how they 
 are killed, 4 ; reserves, 213. 
 
 Forestry, general, 41 ; what it is, 
 41-45. 
 
 Forests of our country, 209 ; general 
 description and division, 209 ; 
 our hardwood forests, 212 ; our 
 eastern belts of conifers, 212 ; 
 amounts still left, 213 ; ownership 
 of our forests, 213 ; forest reserves, 
 213 ; state reserves and parks, 
 214. 
 
 Frost, injures trees; protection 
 against, 112. 
 
 Fungi, their usefulness in the woods 
 and their destructiveness, 12 ; 
 how the fungus acts, 230. 
 
 Game and fish, 180 ; benefit from, 
 
 number should be controlled ; 
 
 feed for game, care of game, 
 
 180. 
 German forests and forestry, 216. 
 Grain in wood, 224. 
 Grazing in woods, 131, 178. 
 Growth of trees, in height as seen 
 
 from leaders, 18 ; of seedlings and 
 
 sprouts, 17. 
 Gum, how to distinguish, 250 ; the 
 
 wood and its uses ; different kinds 
 
 and their distribution, 273. 
 
286 
 
 FIEST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Hackberry, 274. 
 
 Hardwoods, in ordinary wildwoods, 
 1 ; require a loam or clay soil, 18 ; 
 require a milder climate, 35 ; do 
 not endure high altitudes, 38 ; in 
 coppice, 46 ; in timber forest, 53 ; 
 yield less log material than coni- 
 fers, 64; seeds, 79; in nursery, 80; 
 seedlings, 85 ; sowing in forest, 
 92 ; more resistant to fire, 112 ; 
 hardwood lumber, 158; hardwood 
 forests of the United States, 210 ; 
 how to distinguish different 
 kinds, 246 ; the wood and its 
 use, the different kinds and their 
 distribution, 268. 
 
 Heartwood, see Wood, 217. 
 
 Heat and cold, see Temperature, 32. 
 
 Hemlock, how to distinguish the 
 tree, 242 ; its wood, the different 
 kinds and their distribution, 263. 
 
 Hickory, how to distinguish, 254; 
 the wood, different kinds and 
 where found, 274. 
 
 History, a few notes on the history 
 of forestry, 214 ; ancients appre- 
 ciated forests, 214 ; old forests in 
 Switzerland, 215; bad effects of 
 deforestation in France, 216 ; Teu- 
 tonic nations early lovers of the 
 forests, forests of Germany, 216. 
 
 Holly, 275. 
 
 Ice, injurious to trees, protection 
 against, 112. • 
 
 Insects, injurious and helpful to for- 
 est, 115 ; damage in the past, 116 ; 
 
 how they .accomplish great dam- 
 age, 117 ; different kinds of injury 
 by insects, 118 ; the bark beetle 
 and his work, 120 ; how to ward 
 off and fight the bark beetle, 121 ; 
 "trap trees," 122 ; moths and their 
 larvae, 124; what caterpillars do, 
 126 ; protection against cater- 
 pillars, 126 ; enemies of the inju- 
 rious insects, 128 ; the ichneumon 
 fly and its work, 129 ; diseases help 
 out in most insect calamities, 129. 
 
 Intolerant trees, 4. 
 
 Iron and wood compared, 232. 
 
 Key to our common trees, 240 ; how 
 to use the Key, 256. 
 
 Knots, in trees, 9 ; in timber, struc- 
 ture of, 226. 
 
 Larch or tamarack, how to tell it, 
 240 ; its wood, different kinds 
 and where they grow, 264. 
 
 Leaders of pine, etc., growth of, 18. 
 
 Leaf beetle, see Insects, 119. 
 
 Light and shade, 14; too much light 
 encourages weeds and shrubs, 15 ; 
 struggle for light, 16 ; a lack of 
 liR-ht stunts but also cleans trees 
 of limbs, 16. 
 
 Limbs, how shed ; leading to knot 
 holes and decay, 9. 
 
 List of important woods and trees 
 in the United States, 261. 
 
 Lumber, 1.50; general term, 150; 
 sizes and measurement, 150 ; rift 
 and bastard, 151-153; grading 
 
INDEX 
 
 287 
 
 of lumber, 152 ; quantities used 
 in our country, 152; how logged 
 and lumbered, 153 ; white-pine 
 lumber, 154 ; hard pine, longleaf, 
 pitch pine, 154 ; yellow pine, 
 155; spruce, 155; redwood, red 
 fir, cypress, 156 ; liemlock, hard- 
 woods, 158 ; advantage to carpen- 
 ter and consumer of having stock 
 sizes, 159 ; carpenter's lumber, 160. 
 
 Lumbering, 133, 166; tools, 137; 
 skidding, 138; scaling, 139; the 
 landing, 141 ; - rolling in," 143 ; 
 lumbering compared with farmer's 
 use of woods, 61 ; lumbering not 
 forestry, 41 ; lumbering the big 
 tree, 157 ; lumbering cypress, 159 ; 
 cooperative lumbering, 162. 
 
 Lumberman, his method compared 
 with that of farmer, 61. 
 
 Maple, how to distinguish the trees, 
 254 ; the wood and its uses, dif- 
 ferent kinds and where they 
 occur, 276. 
 
 Measuring timber, 164 ; measuring 
 diameter and height, 171, 172; 
 measuring logs (scaling timber), 
 172. 
 
 Methods of reproduction, coppice 
 or by sprouts, 45 ; by selection or 
 picking over, 58 ; by starting the 
 young growth under seed trees, 
 64 ; by natural seeding from the 
 side, 71 ; by artificial seeding and 
 planting. 76 : methods compared, 
 95 ; table of comparison, 96. 
 
 Mining timber, 147. 
 
 Mistletoe, 133. 
 
 Moisture, its effect on woods, 24 ; 
 transition from moist to dry dis- 
 tricts, 24 ; lack of moisture leads 
 to simple and stunted forests, 27 ; 
 flooding may kill timber, 27 ; 
 some trees are used to water, 28 ; 
 swamp woods, 28 ; moist air fa- 
 vors tree growth, 30. 
 
 Moth and caterpillar, see Insects, 115. 
 
 Mountains, the forests of high moun- 
 tains become simpler upwards, 
 38 ; conifers prevail at high alti- 
 tude, 38 ; extreme height stunts 
 and finally prevents tree growth, 
 40. 
 
 Mulberry, 276. 
 
 Naval stores, industry of, see Resin 
 
 and turpentine, 174. 
 Non-porous woods, 222. 
 Nursery work, gathering seed, 79 ; 
 
 care of seeds, 80 ; seed beds, 82 ; 
 
 sowing in seed bed, 82 ; quality of 
 
 seeds, 84 ; yield of plants, 85 ; 
 
 seedlings, 85; protection of, by 
 
 screens, etc., 87 ; planting, 87 ; 
 
 planting tools, 89 ; on prairies. 
 
 89 ; shipment of plants, 89 ; spring 
 
 and fall planting, 90. 
 
 Oak, how to distinguish oaks, 248 ; 
 the wood and its many uses, 
 the different kinds and their dis- 
 tribution, 277. 
 
 Osage orange, 279. 
 
288 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Parks, state parks, 214. 
 
 Pasturage in forests, 178 ; damage 
 by browsing and trampling, 
 where practiced, 178 ; where 
 advisable, where it should be 
 forbidden, 179. 
 
 Persimmon, 279. 
 
 Physical properties of wood, 227. 
 
 Pine, white pine, yellow pine, etc., 
 as lumber, 154 ; how to distin- 
 guish pine, 240 ; list of different 
 pines and description of their 
 wood, 264. 
 
 Pith rays in woods, 222. 
 
 Plantations of trees on prairies, 195; 
 much has been accomplished, 197 ; 
 kinds raised and success, 196, 
 197. 
 
 Planting, see Nursery work, 87 ; 
 tools, 89 ; on prairies, 89 ; diffi- 
 culties, 89 ; spring and fall plant- 
 ing, 90. 
 
 Poles and piling, 146. 
 
 Poplars and cottonwood, in the 
 Key, 246 ; in the list of woods 
 and kinds, 279. 
 
 Pores in wood, 219. 
 
 Posts, 144. 
 
 Prairie plantations, see Plantations, 
 195. 
 
 Protection of forest, 97 ; again-st 
 fire, 104 ; against storms, frost, 
 snow, and ice, 112 ; against 
 insects, 115; against larger ani- 
 mals, 130; against grazing ani- 
 mals, 131 ; against injurious 
 plants, 131. 
 
 Protective forests, 203. 
 Pulp, wood pulp, how made, 140. 
 Pulp wood, 140 ; kinds, sizes, and 
 qualities, 140. 
 
 Red fir, see Fir, 244, 267. 
 
 Related topics, or matters akin to 
 forestry, 203. 
 
 Reproduction of the forest, in wild- 
 woods, 2 ; in coppice, 45 ; in 
 ordinary selection woods, 58 ; 
 under seed trees, 64 ; by natural 
 seeding from the side, 71 ; by 
 artificial seeding and planting, 76. 
 
 Ring-porous woods, 222. 
 
 Resin and turpentine, 174 ; method 
 of bleeding or tapping, 174 ; 
 yield, 176. 
 
 Rotation, 50. 
 
 Run-off, surface and underground, 
 204. 
 
 Sand dunes, 198; where we have 
 them, 198 ; what injury, 200 ; 
 how reclaimed, 201. 
 
 Saplings, 16. 
 
 Sapwood, see Wood, 217. 
 
 Sassafras, 280. 
 
 Scale insect, 121. 
 
 Scaling timber, see Measuring, 172. 
 
 Second-growth wood, 138. 
 
 Seed beds, see Nursery, 82. 
 
 Seeding from the side, method of 
 reproducing the forest, 71 ; how 
 nature has done this in our coun- 
 try, 71; how the timber should 
 be cut, 72 ; width of stri])s, 73 ; 
 
INDEX 
 
 289 
 
 guarding against damage from 
 storm, 72 ; regulation of work 
 where large tracts are handled, 
 73 ; yield that may be expected, 
 74 ; what trees can be used, 75 ; 
 experience in Europe with this 
 system, 75 ; where it may be 
 used with us, 70 . 
 Seedlings, growth of, 17; iji seed 
 
 bed, 85. 
 Seeds of trees, 6 ; their care, 79 ; 
 seed and mast as useful product, 
 177. 
 Selection forest, 58. 
 Selection method, 58 ; an old 
 
 method, 60. 
 Shade, prevents weeds and pre- 
 vents reproduction, 2 ; excessive 
 shade kills, 16 ; helps to clean 
 trees, 16 ; tolerance of ^hade, 4. 
 Ship timber, 148. 
 Shrinkage of wood, 228. 
 Sihlwald, a forest under proi3er care 
 
 for one thousand years, 215. 
 Site is a combination of soil, mois- 
 ture, temperature (climate), and 
 other conditions which affect the 
 growth of trees, 46. 
 Slash, a piece of forest land strewn 
 with the tops, limbs, and other 
 debris of lumbering ; usually 
 more or less burned, 43, 
 Snow, injury from and protection 
 
 against, 112. 
 Soil, its eifect on the w-oods, 18 ; 
 loam and clay soils produce mixed 
 hardwoods, 11 ; sands produce 
 
 l)ure stands of conifers, 20; 
 
 •• hummock " soil, 20 ; what the 
 
 forest does for the soil, 23. 
 Special kinds of forests, 1 84 ; the 
 
 wood lot, 184; waste lands, 194; 
 
 prairie plantations, 195 ; sand 
 
 dunes, 198. 
 Spiral grain in wood, 225. 
 Spring wood, 218. 
 Sprouts from stumps grow faster 
 
 than seedlings, 17. 
 Spruce, how to distinguish, 242 ; 
 
 the wood, the different kinds, 
 
 w^here they grow^, 267 ; as lum- 
 ber, 155. 
 Stand of timber, mature stand and 
 
 mixed stand, 2 ; pure stand, 20. 
 Standard, 52. 
 
 Standard coppice, see Coppice, 52. 
 Storms, injury of, and protection 
 
 against, 112. 
 Strength of wood, 229. 
 Strip method, see Seeding from the 
 
 side, 71. 
 Sugar bush, 54, 185, 187, 189. 
 Summer wood, 218. 
 Suppressed trees, 2. 
 Swiss forestry, historic note of, 215. 
 Sycamore, how to distinguish the 
 
 trees, 248 ; the wood and the 
 
 distribution of the trees, 280. 
 Systems of forestry, see Methods of 
 
 reproduction . 
 
 Tables, of Doyle rule, 259 ; of cir- 
 cles, 260. 
 Tamarack, see Larcli, 240, 264. 
 
290 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 
 
 Tail bark, coppice for, 50 ; how got 
 out, 173. 
 
 Tar from wood, 177. 
 
 Temperature, how heat and cold 
 affect the w^oods, 32 ; cold cli- 
 mates produce simple woods and 
 trees of small size, 32 ; temper- 
 ate climates, more species, larger 
 size, 34 ; hot climates, different 
 species, great variety, 35 ; north 
 or cold side of hill (north expo- 
 sure) and high altitude act like 
 cold climates, 36 ; extreme cold 
 prevents tree growth, 37. 
 
 Thinning, in timber forest, 56 ; 
 thinning, in general, 98 ; which to 
 take out, 99 ; it costs money to 
 thin, 100 ; degree of thinning 
 decided, 100 ; about how^ many 
 trees to leave, 102 ; different kinds 
 need different degrees of thinning, 
 102. 
 
 Timber cruising, 165. 
 
 Timber forest, of ordinary hard- 
 woods, 53 ; its border, 54 ; thin- 
 ning in, 56 ; method of treating, 
 58 ; kinds of trees to use, 59 ; 
 difficulties, 59 ; an old method, 
 60 ; system applied in United 
 States, 60 ; preferably handled 
 in an orderly way (regulated). 
 64. 
 
 Tolerant and intolerant trees, 4. 
 
 Tough wood, 229. 
 
 Trap trees, see Insects, 122. 
 
 Trees, how to distinguish the most 
 common ones, 238; leaves the 
 
 principal help, 239 ; key to com- 
 mon trees, 240 ; pine family, pine 
 and larch, 240 ; spruce, hemlock, 
 242 ; red fir, balsam, cypress, 
 cedars, and redwood, 244 ; broad- 
 leaved trees, beech, chestnut, 
 birch, poplar, elm, bassw^ood, 246 ; 
 cherry, sycamore, oak, 248 ; tulip 
 or jrellow poplar, sweet gum, sas- 
 safras, magnolia, sour gum, black 
 gum or tupelo, 250 ; maple, 
 catalpa, locust, walnut, hickory, 
 and pecan, 254 ; ash, box elder, 
 buckeye or horse-chestnut, 256 ; 
 how^ to use the Key, 256 ; list of 
 important trees of United States, 
 261. 
 
 Tulip poplar or yellow poplar, 281. 
 
 Twisted grain in wood, 225. 
 
 Under seed trees, method of start- 
 ing young growth, 64 ; different 
 cuts, 65 ; when seed trees should 
 be removed, 66 ; what trees can 
 be started in this way, 66 ; where 
 the method is used, 66 ; where 
 it may be used in our country, 
 66 ; rotation in this system, 68 ; 
 how to pick out the cuttings or 
 felling area, 68 ; fail places should 
 be filled, 70 ; application to large 
 tracts, 71. 
 
 Use of the forest, 133; to primitive 
 man, 133 ; to human progress, 
 133 ; firewood, 136 ; tools used 
 in timber cutting, 137 ; pulp 
 wood, 140; acid wood, 142 ; posts 
 
INDEX 
 
 291 
 
 (fence posts, etc.), 144 ; raihvay 
 ties, 145; poles and piling, 140; 
 mining timber, 147 ; export tim- 
 ber, 147; lumber, 150; estimat- 
 ing timber in lumbering, 164 ; 
 tan bark, 17''); resin and turpen- 
 tine, 174 ; seeds and mast, 177 ; 
 pasturage, 178 ; game and fish, 
 180. 
 
 Walnut, black walnut and white 
 walnut, 254, 281. 
 
 Wastefulness of nature in wild- 
 woods, 11. 
 
 Waste lands, 193; where we have 
 them, 193; how they have been 
 utilized and made to bear valu- 
 able crops, 194. 
 
 Weight of wood, 227. 
 
 AYildwoods, 1. 
 
 Wood, a chapter on wood, 217 ; 
 structural features, 217 ; sap and 
 heart wood, 217 ; the yearly or 
 annual ring, 217 ; spring and 
 summer wood, 218; pores in 
 wood, 219; ring-porous, diffuse- 
 porous, and non-porous woods, 
 222 ; pith rays, 222 ; grain of 
 wood, 224 ; straight and spiral 
 grain, 225 ; bird's-eye and curly 
 structure, 226 ; knots in wood, 
 
 226 ; physical properties of wood, 
 
 227 ; weight of wood, 227 ; mois- 
 ture in wood, 227 ; shrinkage of 
 
 wood on drying, 228; checking 
 during shrinkage, 228 ; strength 
 of wood, 229 ; tough woods, 229 ; 
 chemical properties, 230; dura- 
 bility and decay of wood, 230. 
 
 Wood acid or wood vinegar, 142. 
 
 AVood and iron, a comparison of 
 the two, 232 ; wood is a natural 
 product, 232 ; wood is cheap and 
 soft, cleaves, is strong, 233 ; wood 
 is light, poor conductor of heat 
 and electricity, 234 ; wood is inof- 
 fensive and handsome, 235 ; wood 
 can be glued, wood burns and fur- 
 nishes heat, 236 ; wood can be 
 made into pulp and converted 
 into many useful substances, 237. 
 
 Wood lot, or small tracts usually 
 belonging to farms, 184; what 
 to raise, 188 ; a sugar bush, 189 ; 
 utilizing the timber, 190 ; actual 
 results obtained, 191. 
 
 Wood pulp, see Pulp wood, 140. 
 
 Yearly or annual ring, 217. 
 
 Yellow pine, see Lumber, 155. 
 
 Yellow poplar, see Tulip poplar, 250, 
 281. 
 
 Yew, its wood and where found, 268. 
 
 Yield or cut per acre that may be 
 expected in coppice, 46 ; in pine 
 timber, if fully stocked, 74 ; of 
 log timber in hardwood and coni- 
 fers, 64. 
 
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