28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



D 



\ 1902 President Roosevelt, in a 

 message to Congress on the subject 

 of an Appalachian park reserve, re- 

 ferring to the forests, rivers and 



mountains of the -■ mt ii ■ ■ r u |>i -l-tii'ii of that 



range, said: 



■ ' Among i he ele\ ations 



of the eastern half of 



the United States Hie 



southern \ ppalachians a i 



of paramount interest for 



geographic, bydrographic 



and forest reasons, and 



as a consequence, for 



economic reasons as well. 



These great mountains 



are old in the histot j of 



the continent which has 



grown up al t them. 



The hardw 1 forests 



were born on their slopes 



and bave spread thence 



over the eastern half of 



the continent. More than 



once in the remote geolog- 

 ic past have they disap 



peared before the sea on 



the east, south and west, 



and before the ice on I he 



north; but here in this 

 southern Appalachian region thej have lived 



on to the present day. 



" Under the vary ing conditions of soil, ele 



vation and clin of the Appalachian 



tree species have developed. Eence it is 



that in this region occur a marvelous variety 

 and richness of plant growth and 



it is the concentration here of so many valu- 

 able species, with such favorable conditions 

 of growth, which lias led forest experts and 



TOPOGRAPHS OP THE COUNTRY. 



lumbermen alike to assert that of all the 

 continent this region is best suited to the 



purposes and plans of a national 1 1 re 



i the hardw I region. 



•• Upon these mountains descends the heav 



ie'st rainfall of the United States, except that 

 of the north Pacific coast. It is often of 

 extreme violence, as much as eight inches 

 having fallen in eleven hours, thirty-one inches 

 in one month, and ore hundred and five inches 

 in a year. 



"The southern Appa- 

 lachian region embraces 

 the highest peaks and 

 largest mountain masses 

 east of the Rockies. It 

 is the great physio- 

 graphic feature of the 

 eastern half of the con- 

 tinent, and no such lofty 

 mountains are covered 

 w ith hardwood forests in 



all North A rica. 



"The rivers which 

 originate in the southern 

 Appalachians How into 

 or along the edges of 

 every state, from ( )hio to 

 the Gulf, and from the 

 Atlantic tn the .Missis- 

 sippi. 



"These are the heav- 

 iest and most beautiful 

 hardwood forests of the 

 continent. In them spo 

 cies from east and west, from north and 

 south, mingle in a growth of unparalleled 

 richness and variety. They contain many 



species ni the li est commercial value, and 

 furnish important supplies which cannot be 



POPLAR. 



RED OAK. 



CIIKSTM'T. 



