SECTION FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER “TO; POUND GAP. Ly 
ravines are necessary conditions of their introduction andi 
growth. On the other hand, all these timbers grow and 
flourish on ground in this part of the State, which has less. 
of those very characteristics than grounds further west, on 
which they do not grow at all. So far as I can see, the only 
difference is, that there are high mountains in Southeastern 
Kentucky, and there are no high mountains in Western Ken- 
tucky. The subject of the growth and distribution of these 
timbers is full of interest, and should be investigated. 
I should speak, also, before leaving this head, of the oaks. 
in Kentucky and the West generally. So far as their classifi- 
cation is concerned, they are in a very unsatisfactory condi- 
tion; and in dealing with them, our botanies are practically 
worthless. In all of them, the best of which are those of 
Gray, Wood, and Chapman, the basis of distinction is their 
eaf or fruit. About the former, a great deal of space is 
occupied discussing distinctions which do not exist at all; for- 
the leaves of the oaks, with a few marked exceptions given: 
below, shade into one another in such a way that it is impos- 
sible to distinguish the trees in that way. It is nearly as. 
bad with the fruit, with the additional inconvenience that it 
is only for a short portion of the year that such a distinction 
is available at all. I am convinced that the only character- 
istic suitable for a basis of classification in forestry, is the 
bark, and that seems to have been studiously ignored by our 
best authorities. For my own part, while I desire to be very 
conservative in speaking on a subject which requires much 
labor and study, the more attention I devote to the oaks, the 
more I am inclined to believe that there is no foundation in. 
fact for more than seven oaks in this part of the United States, 
viz.: white oak, black oak, red oak, Spanish oak, post oak, laurel 
oak, and chestnut oak. There is exceedingly small basis for a 
distinction between the red oak and black oak, and I question 
if they merit the dignity of separate species. All of the 
many species of our oaks, beyond these six or seven, rest, 
I believe, upon illusory distinctions, and can be traced through 
all gradations into one of the seven divisions here given. Of 
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