24 WORKING PLAN FOR FOREST LANDS NEAR PINE BLUFF, ARK. 



Saline River, and occupy the lowest levels on the tract. At any con- 

 siderable rise in the streams they are flooded, and during the rainy 

 season (in late winter and spring) they often remain under several feet 

 of water for weeks at a time. Slight differences in level occur 

 throughout these bottoms, and in the depressions or sloughs standing 

 water is always present. (PI. VI, fig. 1.) 



The soil is very deep, rich sandy loam. Its condition varies greatly 

 with the season, because during a part of the year it is subjected to 

 constant inundations, and then again is left dry and exposed to the 

 action of sun and wind. In the fall the surface of the soil is exceed- 

 ingly hard and '•'•cakv.' , Owing to frequent inundation, the leaf mold 

 is washed away and the soil left bare. A peculiarity of these bottom 

 lands is the dense growth of cane {Arutufinnrla tecta), which forms 

 by far the greater part of the ground cover. This cane varies in 

 height from 2 to 10 feet, and often grows so densely that it is hard 

 to walk through. Grass and weeds are present to some extent. 



The forest is of an entirely different character* from that of the pine 

 ridge and pine flat types. It is composed almost entirely of broadleaf 

 species, and the trees show a very different habit of growth from the 

 hardwoods of the pine lands. The locality is distinctly hardwood 

 land, as ridges and flats are pine lands. From the following table the 

 composition of the forest is evident: 



Table No. 10. — Average number of trees per acre, percentage in mixture, and average 

 diameters for the most important species, for trees 12 inches and over in diameter 

 breasthigh. 



HARDWOOD BOTTOM. 

 [Average of 155 acres.] 



The gums, including both Sweet Gum and Black Gum, comprise 

 about a fourth of the total stand, while the hickories (principally 

 Shagbarks, with a very few Pignuts and Bitternuts) are next in 

 number. Cow Oak, White Oak, and Holly are all fairly well repre- 



