OF THE TRADEWATER REGION. 13 
and liriodendron (yellow poplar), which, after all, are the great 
stapie timbers of Kentucky, I believe the time will come, and 
that far sooner than those who have not investigated the sub- 
ject suspect, when they will disappear entirely from our forests, 
unless some earnest effort is made to avoid such a calamity. 
The second question then presents itself, viz: How can the 
present variety and distribution of Kentucky timbers be main- 
tained? Ihave two methods to suggest, neither of which will, 
I fear, be acted upon until the people become alarmed at the 
condition of their forests, and show more energy in caring for 
and perpetuating them than they have shown in the past. 
One of these methods is to plant trees of the same kind as 
rapidly as the old timbers are cut away, or as the land is 
exhausted and ‘turned out,” and to keep down other growths 
until the planted trees get a start. This needs no discussion. 
It is the method that mast be adopted in introducing a new 
variety of timber into a forest, as well as in perpetuating 
some varieties. I believe that the black walnut, for instance, 
can be preserved only in this way. 
The second method, which can be employed only where, as 
is the case to a large extent in Kentucky, the present forest 
is the kind desired, is perhaps the more available of the two. 
It is well known to all observers of timber growth, that if a 
tree be cut down toward the spring of the year, just before 
the sap begins to rise, a large number of shoots or “‘sprouts’’ 
will spring from the stump of the fallen tree. If those who 
are cutting timber to float out would cut as late in the winter 
as possible consistently with meeting the spring freshets, the 
sap rising in the stumps of the lately cut trees would cause 
this growth of shoots. Then if the undergrowth of the dif- 
ferent varieties, which already have such a start as to soon 
smother the tender bushes springing from the stumps of the 
fallen trees, were merely cut away, these bushes would get 
such a start as to hold their ground, and the present forest 
timbers would be preserved in about their present proportions. 
This would really require very little labor; and, while I have 
mever seen the experiment tried on a large scale, I believe it 
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