THE FOKEST LAXDS OF JO DAVIESS COUNTY 

 H. S. Pepoox, Lake View High School, Chicago. III. 



Prelimixaky Statement. 



Jo Daviess county, and the adjacent parts of Stephenson 

 county on the east and Carroll county on the south, occu- 

 jning the northwest corner of Illinois, are of great interest 

 from several viewpoints, geological, topographical, and 

 historical. These aspects are secondary, however, in the 

 present paper to forest conditions, and it is with this latter 

 feature that we are concerned. 



The vital imi)ortance of the woodlands in the natural 

 economy of any region is supposedly too well known to be 

 more than mentioned, and yet it is plain, judging by actual 

 practices prevailing among many of our landholders, that 

 this importance is ignored. There yet seems to be much 

 ignorance of the part forested areas play in the ameliora- 

 tion of local climate, the conservation of ground-water, the 

 vitalization of stream flow, prevention of erosion of the 

 land, the control of floods, as harbors for bird-life. or. from 

 the aesthetic standpoint, as adding color and beauty to the 

 surroundings, and as a valuable resource for timber, fuel, 

 and posts. In other, less manifest, ways their addition to 

 the sum total of rural assets is altogether too important to 

 be ignored in their management. 



The Region in General. 



Jo Daviess county and the areas adjoining it on the east 

 and south may be briefly characterized as a very old 

 region, geologically speaking, that has been rejuvenated by 

 the influence of the glacial age so as to assume in many por- 

 tions the aspect of extreme youth. Xever covered by the 

 continental ice-cap. it was nevertheless so surrounded by 

 this great frozen flood that its preglacial drainage lines 

 were so modified that new ones had to be substituted, and 

 it is these new channels of erosion that make so pronounced 

 an impression on the beholder. 



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