297 
(2) Is it reasonably certain that it will be profitably farmed during the 
time required to grow a commercial forest on that site? If that presump- 
tion is not reasonable, then that area belongs in forest and should stay in 
forest.* 
This would temporarily dispose of any questions as to our gullied 
lands or wet undrained bottomlands. 
Of the entire area mapped, 30.8% is wooded; of that east of the 
Mobile and Ohio Railroad 16.1% is wooded; while west of the same 
tracks the woodland area rises to 45.9%. The western upland region, 
with its high per cent of wooded area in rather large tracts, surrounded 
by passable roads, thus forms a distinct unit in any plan of management 
or protection, being the most important as a source of revenue and as a 
protection forest. The Mississippi bottoms are destined to be brought 
under cultivation in time; and much of this land is, in fact, already in- 
cluded in organized drainage projects and is being profitably farmed. 
This 129,846 acres of bottomland can therefore be disregarded excepting 
those parts of it which can not be drained, and these we have not attempted 
to distinguish. The classification of upland and bottomland timber types, 
with their acreages, will be found under the head of “Forest Types,” pp. 
298 and 299. 
THE Forest 
HISTORY 
Originally the entire area was covered by a dense forest. On the up- 
lands white and black oaks predominated, mixed with such other species 
as hickory, beech, black gum, red gum, hard maple, tulip-tree (com- 
monly called yellow poplar) and cucumber-tree, these original forests 
averaging well over 8,000 board feet per acre. White oak and tulip- 
tree were early marketed, the former probably for staves and heading, 
and the latter for exterior finish or framing material for barns and houses. 
The best of hickory was cut for wagon material, and this practice of 
culling out the best species according to the demands of the market has 
continued to the present time. About 1870, commercial orcharding de- 
veloped in this general locality because some of the knobs and slopes were 
found to be usually very free from injury by frost. This made a demand 
for barrels and baskets, so that a market was afforded for many “soft- 
woods” (commercial usage) which has continued down to the present, 
when many of the cheaper species can also be used for veneers. Beech, 
which at one time was practically unused, was then sought in the ravines 
and coves because it was found that, when given a preservative treat- 
ment, it made a good durable railroad tie. Sycamore, hackberry, and soft 
maple could also be so used. 
*Lovejoy, '19. 
