REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST IQI3 59 
ground, which retarded more than ever the natural course of decay 
with the result that an acid litter developed which favored the 
enormous development of heather which is now troubling the 
foresters in many places. The absence of any limestone in the rock 
formations of the region, which might serve as a source of possible 
neutralization of the acid litter, has produced conditions upon the 
introduction of the oak coppice system not unlike the upland heather 
character of much of the southern Appalachian soils. 
Spruce is the species most desired just now, by reason of its com- 
paratively high value and wide range of utilization, but it has a 
slow initial growth and nowhere has it conquered the heather 
unaided by man, to any marked degree. In some places where the 
heather is not too dense the spruce is slowly forging ahead, but the 
process is slow and thus expensive, and these tracts will yield no 
returns for a long time to come. On a small experimental tract 
of one-fourth acre, with spruce 15 years old, and their tops, or 
some of them, barely showing above the dense mat of heather, the 
oberf6rster has grubbed out the stems and roots of the heather, 
obtaining the enormous quantity of a dozen large loads of the 
dried heather. This was done to see if it would give the spruce a 
chance to get well ahead of the heather before it completely 
dominates the soil again. Shade is fatal to the heather but it is 
difficult for any species unaided to reach a height where it will 
overshade the heather. 
White pine alone shows any marked ability to overcome the 
heather by its rapid height growth and the heavy humus which it 
speedily forms and which seems to choke the heather out of ex- 
istence without much aid from the foresters in charge. Even where 
there is left for the heather under the white pine some overhead 
light the thin layer of needles cast over the heather seems fatal to 
its growth, and it is soon replaced by a smooth carpet of pine 
needles. On the other hand the white pine will not yield any con- 
siderable returns by thinnings and is considered too weak for poles 
and mine props and too soft for firewood. In fact these are 
probably the principal reasons why white pine is not more ex- 
tensively planted in many other places abroad. In the case of the 
Affoltenbach range the foresters in charge plan to get.rid of the 
heather by means of the white pine and then to replace that by 
more desirable species. 
In the small hamlets of the vicinity some characteristic home 
industries which depend upon the forests are to be observed. Hand- 
made split oak shingles are still used to a large extent for roofs and 
