STATE FOREST PROBLEMS TX MAinLAXD 



447 



GOOD SPECIMENS OK I'ORI'.ST (,RO\VN WHITE OAKS, KENT COUNTY. 



and for the years 1913 and 1914 the 

 sum of $84,500 becomes available. It 

 should be added that $58,500 of the 

 last biennial appropriation is for the 

 purchase of lands, leaving $26,000 for 

 maintenance and publications. 



State work is necessarily of an ex- 

 tensive character, rather than inten- 

 sive. The position of Maryland is per- 

 haps unique in the great variety of 

 natural conditions that exist within her 

 borders. From the extreme southeast- 

 ern to the extreme northwestern cor- 

 ners of the State is practically 265 miles 

 in a straight line and between these two 

 extremities are found as great a vari- 

 ety of soil conditions, tree species, and 

 forest types, as can probably be found 

 in any state. This gives a diversity of 

 conditions that is not usually found 

 elsewhere. In the extreme southeast- 

 ern part of the State are pure stands 

 of red gum, cypress and loblolly pine, 

 such as are common to the south ; while 

 in the extreme western part, in the 

 mountain region, the white pine, tama- 

 rack, hemlock, spruce, yellow birch, 

 sugar maple and other trees of the 

 northern type are found. Between 

 these extremes is a variety of hard- 



woods that would be difficult to dupli- 

 cate in any other equal area in the 

 United States. Likewise this field pre- 

 sents nearly every form and degree of 

 forestry from the worst kind of mis- 

 management to the most intensive 

 form. In the central part of the State 

 where the best agricultural soils are 

 found, the woodlands are confined, as 

 a rule to relatively small woodlots, re- 

 ceiving in most cases fairly intense for- 

 est management under the selection 

 system. In the southeastern part of 

 the State, where pure stands of lob- 

 lolly pine are found, the form of man- 

 agement approaches the clear cutting 

 svstem. Southcrti Maryland is a sec- 

 tion in which large areas, that were 

 formerly cultivated, prior to the Civil 

 War, are now grown up in pines and 

 hardwoods. In the mountain forests 

 of the western section, destructive 

 methods of lumbering and severe for- 

 est fires afford excellent examples of 

 what to avoid in the practice of fores- 

 try. There are two million acres of 

 woodland in the State, which repre- 

 sents 35% of the total land area, so 

 that according to the ideal arrange- 

 ment in an agricultural state, the per 



