4 REPORT ON THE FOREST TIMBER OF 
questions at once scientific and economic in their value. These 
are only a small part of the questions where the scientific and 
the practical values come together, but they serve in a small 
way to show the essential connection between the two. 
Hitherto all the descriptions given of forest timber have 
been very indeterminate, as far as concerns the size and num- 
ber of the different kinds of trees on given areas. In laying 
out a plan for the work of the Kentucky Survey, it seemed 
desirable to take an account of our forests in such a fashion 
that it would be possible to obtain precise statistics concerning” 
every important feature capable of being accurately measured. 
It was obviously necessary to count the number of trees to the 
acre on several different exposures in each district, taking ac- 
count of the different species, so as to show their relative pro- 
portions and average size. Mr. Crandall has been charged: 
with the execution of this plan, and he has perfected it in 
several essential particulars. His method of indicating the 
distribution of the species of trees on different slopes of the 
same hill is entirely original, and expresses the facts in an ad- 
mirable manner. It is in the plan of the Survey to carry this. 
same system of delineation over the whole of the State, with a 
view to give a record of the present condition of our forests, in 
order that their changes in coming time may be determined, 
and especially that their economic value may be properly ap- 
preciated. I am satisfied that, by properly husbanding our 
timber resources, they will in fifty years become one of the most 
important of the varied sources of wealth to our State. A 
large part of the eastern coal-field of Kentucky is not tillable 
land. The lofty and rugged ridges between the valleys are 
natural nurseries of timber. While they will not serve for 
other forms of cultivation, they will yet do admirably for the 
raising of many of the most valuable woods for our various 
arts. So large a part of the Valley of the Ohio is arable land, 
that the future sources of timber for its use are very limited. 
They will be found in the lofty ridges of the Apalachian Moun- 
tains where the steepness of the slopes will forbid plow till- 
age. 
4 
