Ecological Studies on a Sand Plain. 



153 



The soil is thus rather coarse and the moisture content low. 



The litter is 2 inches in depth and loose. The humus, how- 

 ever, is in a raw condition, the fibres being matted and overlying 

 directly the mineral soil. The gradual opening up of the crown 

 and the entrance of the Vaccinium are probably contributing 

 causes of this condition. The humus layer of the soil is not deep 

 averaging usually one inch. 



An idea of the conditions which will exist on such an area 

 after it has been logged may be obtained by the examination of 

 two pieces of cut-over land which lie immediately adjoining. 

 Both were originally Red Pine- The first which was logged one 

 year previous and practically cut clean now shows a young 

 growth remaining of 950 seedlings, saplings and poles per acre, 

 composed as follows : 



This practically represents the volunteer growth which escaped 

 damage during the logging. The mineral soil has been well ex- 

 posed by the operations and now forms an excellent seed bed. 



The second is a 23-year old cutting which is now covered with 

 a dense and valuable reproduction. As it was evidently cut to a 

 10 inch diameter limit, the remaining seed trees are quite nu- 

 merous and seeding has also been aided by the proximity of the 

 uncut stand. A total of 2.7 acres counted in this growth yielded 

 the following averages which include as before seedlings, sap- 

 lings and poles, and total 1,500 per acre. 



