192 THE FOKESTS OF ST. :mAKY"S COUNTY 



small and stunted, but in open places it forms a long conical crown. It 

 produces seed in almudance, but the percentage of gennination is very 

 low. 



Tkansportation". 



The lack of good transportation facilities in central and southern 

 St. ilary's County has had considerable to do with regard to the amount 

 of timber made available. There is very little timber being shipped 

 into the county, and statistics gathered from the sawmills show that 

 less than 2,000,000 board feet are shipped out annually. The bulk of 

 the wood shipped goes out by boat and the remainder by rail. The 

 Washington & Potomac Eailroad runs into the county only a short dis- 

 tance from the north, with its terminus at Mechanicsville, and is con- 

 nected with the Pennsylvania line at Brandywinc, Maryland. This 

 affords very little opportunity for the shipment of forest products by 

 rail, unless sliipments are hauled over sandy roails for long distances. 

 Sitch hauling is so expensive that it does not pay to cut all the useful 

 trees in a forest. Therefore, only the best of certain species, such as 

 will warrant the expense of shipment, are cut. The remainder is left 

 in the forest to rot or to hinder other desirable species from springing 

 up. Accordingly, the owners of forest land in some sections of the 

 county appear to have failed to realize the fullest production from 

 their timber, and are willing to sell it regardless of the result it will 

 have on their forests. 



As a rule the wagon-roads in the county are not suitable for hauling 

 very heavy loads. For the most part they are exceedingly sandy, and 

 where grades occur they are gullied and so narrow at many points that 

 they are almost impassable. 



Present Wood Consumption. 



The principal uses for wood are considered under the following head- 

 ings : 



Sawmills and their products, cordwood. railway ties, pulpwood, veneers, 

 telegraph poles and piles, fence timber and staves. 



