28 REPORT ON THE TIMBERS 
The gradation of white oak into black oak, and black oak 
into post oak, as leading timbers at different heights above 
drainage, is well marked. Of the young growth, black oak is 
the leading timber in all three positions. The hill here given 
is a good representative of the timbers between this point 
and the Ohio river. 
The numbers given in the foregoing tables include the num- 
bers cut also, so that the proportions of sound, decayed, cut 
and uncut timbers, can be readily seen. Of course, no gener- 
alizations from these tables could be relied upon as perfectly 
accurate; for it is impossible, even with the utmost care, to 
choose a plot of ground whose timbers are perfectly repre- 
sentative of the locality. Still, the tables were prepared very 
carefully, and any generalizations made from them can be 
relied upon as accurate enough for ordinary purposes. Bya 
small amount of computation,a great deal of interesting and 
important information can be gained from them. I give below 
a table which shows, at a glance, some of the most important 
inferences to be drawn from the preceding tables: 
Per cent. un- | Per cent. cut. | Per cent. dead.| Per cent. de- 
Name. cut. cayed. 
WWGENODE Eire ae) ne eo 70+ 30 nearly. I.I+ 8 + 
Liriodendron (poplar). .| 70 30 Less than one.} 10 
Whiterash 15 essa) ae OOn.) Deanly. 1 + ae 14 + 
EMCKONICS. we rsteel taney Vistar | bt 5-4+ 3.64 7.2+ 
POSEIOANS (ot) ES cme Le 100 AG Less than one.| Less than one.| 24.4 nearly. 
BACK OAK ses cotter ei (OA aint 5-5+ 1.4 nearly. I4 es 
Red oak . ters es 88 + eo Less than one.| 1m + 
MIPAMISMOAlC ses nels ls 100 os Less than one.| Less than one.} 18.2 
Scarlet oak sy. a fs 2] ROO ae Less than one.| Less than one.| 14 + 
From this table we learn that, so far, at least, as this part 
of Kentucky is concerned, the hickories are the soundest 
timbers, and next to them ranks the white oak, while the post 
oak furnishes the largest per centage of unsound timber. I 
suspect the reason for this to be, that the post oak is a hill 
growth almost entirely, and among all timbers there are more 
decayed branches and unhealthy trunks on high ground than 
on low ground. This view is partially sustained by the fact, 
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