868 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



balsam or even with white spruce on wet slopes where the soils are thin 

 and where a bog flora occupies the forest floor. When black spruce is 

 found on the higher, well-drained land it develops into a tree of good 

 size, reaching 18 inches in diameter. 



Dry heath land which would grow black spruce and tamarack with 

 some white pine in the eastern forest, has mixed stands of white and 

 black spruce with varying quantities of jack pine in Algoma. The 

 amount of jack pine depends upon the sandiness of the soil, becoming 

 pure jack pine on very sandy sites, similar to the condition found in 

 Michigan. 



The abrupt, broken southern slopes of the ridges have an over- 

 study of white pine, while the northern, more gradual slopes are mixed 

 forest, becoming pure maple at the higher elevations. 



In contrast to this, the Adirondack types and features are so familiar 

 to the members of this section that a general review of them is unnec- 

 essary. Some of the features that are in contrast may be recalled. 

 The Adirondack swamp may be pure black spruce but is usually a 

 mixture of this species and balsam. The flat lands and slopes, having 

 mixtures of very tolerant species, create a dense crown cover which 

 precludes a thrifty advanced growth. Balsam does not go up the 

 slopes into the hardwood land, nor is there much pure hardwood area 

 without a mixture of red spruce, to compare with the hard maple ridges 

 of Algoma. The presence of beech and the maples with the softwoods 

 on the eastern upland results in a forest 200 to 250 years old large- 

 ly kept in an over-mature condition by its density and the old age of 

 its members before they reach a place in the crown cover. The topo- 

 graphy of Algoma is comparatively low with ridges not usually 

 exceeding 1,800 feet, which combined with the deep soils on the north 

 slopes, eliminates the spruce upper slope type of the eastern section, 

 and gives place to the sugar maple type 100 per cent pure over large 

 sections. This factor is important, since the maple type will not carry 

 fire on the ground after nightfall. This fact of practical immunity 

 of the maple type was noted in a 2,000 acre fire in early June, 1920. 



The Algoma district studied has certain resemblance to the topo- 

 graphic and cHmatic conditions of the western Adirondacks. The gen- 

 eral elevation is about the same, as is the situation east of one of the 

 Great Lakes. They are different in regard to the direction of 

 storms, however, since the storm path of the summer months is south 

 of the Algoma district, resulting in east to north easterly storms, 



