18 REPORT ON THE TIMBERS 
tion than I could give to it. A course of long and careful 
inquiry in this direction, by some able meteorologist and bot- 
anist, would be of almost incalculable benefit. 
TIMBER IN DETAIL. 
I shall now proceed to give in detail an account of the tim- 
bers to be found in the counties under discussion, and their 
local variations. In the immediate vicinity of Princeton the 
principal timbers noted were bartram oak, white ash, red oak, 
black oak, swamp white oak, sugar-tree (black), black hickory, 
white hickory, and liriodendron (yellow poplar). Bartram oak 
is seldom found, except in low, damp soils, or along streams; 
but near Princeton considerable quantities appear in a flat 
woodland quite high and dry. A large per centage of white 
ash also appears in the same woodland, which lies about one 
mile from Princeton. With the exception of this woodland, 
the timbers are mostly cleared away for two or three miles 
around. The formation is Sub-carboniferous limestone, of 
Chester Group on high ground, and of St. Louis limestone 
on low grounds. 
In going toward Eddyville, the principal swamp or lowland 
timbers are, in addition to those given above, yellow birch, 
pin oak, sweet gum, white and red elm, sycamore, black wal- 
nut, and such small growth as flowering dogwood, pith elder, 
redbud (in small quantities), etc. These. alternate with the 
hill timbers, which are white oak, black oak, scarlet oak, 
black hickory (scrub), post oak, etc., with some laurel oak, on 
both low and high grounds, though in the latter case it is 
always along fence-rows. There is probably 20 or 25 per 
cent. of white oak among the forest timbers here; but among 
the bushes and young trees little or no white oak is to be 
found. The timbers remain essentially the same in all the 
region of country between Princeton, Eddyville, and Mille- 
ville, the swamp timbers being quite good along South Fork 
and the other small streams in the neighborhood. There is 
little present drain upon the forests through here, except 
where the timbers are cut for local saw-mills. 
120 
