mores of the Wabash bottoms attained the greatest circumference of 

 American broad-leaves. The largest circumference on record is 42 feet 

 3 inches at a point 5 feet from the ground for a tree standing on the In- 

 diana side of the Wabash (Deam '21). Another, near JMt. Carmel, Illi- 

 nois, in 1875 measured 160 feet in height, with a circumference at the 

 base of 43 feet, and a spread of crown of 134 feet. (Ridgway '83.) 



Probably 80 feet represents the approximate height above ground of 

 much of the better type of forests of Illinois that we are familiar with, 

 and 125 feet represents the height of the present tallest broad-leaved tree, 

 outside of this Wabash region, actually recorded in field work. These 

 splendid bottomland forests of the Wabash country, with an average tree- 

 top level of 130 feet (Ridgway "?3), were above the height of our pres- 

 ent highest trees, while the tallest trees were probably 300 feet in height, 

 nearly twice the height of the tallest trees from other regions of the state. 

 Individual acres of cypress bottomlands and of the mixed hardwoods 

 yielded more than 25,000 B. F., and the average for the bottomland forests 

 of the state was probably 9,000 B. F. to the acre. 



Along the bottomlands of the secondary streams the forests were a 

 rich mixture of hardwoods. Black walnut here found its best develop- 

 ment, and in the northern part of the state basswood often formed an 

 appreciable part of the forest. The average yield for this type in the 

 original stands was about 8,000 B. F. per acre. 



The upland forests of the state showed several notable regional dif- 

 ferences. In the broken, hilly Ozark region, and extending over the dis- 

 sected bluffs bordering the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, and Wabash rivers, 

 was an excellent upland forest characterized by a greater variety and 

 better development of species than elsewhere in the upland forests of the 

 state. The species common to this region were black walnut ; butternut ; 

 shagbark, big-shellbark, mocker-nut, and pignut hickories ; ironwood, 

 water beech ; beech, white, bvu", red, and black oaks ; white and slippery 

 elm, hackberry, red mulberry, cucumber-tree, tulip-poplar, papaw, 

 sassafras, red gum, shadbush, black cherry, honey locust, Kentucky coffee- 

 tree, hard maple, black maple, Ohio buckeye, sweet buckeye, basswood, 

 black gum, persimmon, and white ash. Individual acres of this upland 

 type yielded more than 13,000 B. F., and the average for the type was 

 probably 6,000 B. F. per acre. 



Over the poorly drained area of south-central Illinois where the de- 

 posits of the Lower Illinois glaciation prevail, there is an extensive region, 

 occupied by comparatively poor forests in which but few species were 

 represented. Open inter-stream savannas broke up the continuity of the 

 forests ; post oak grew in pure stands on the poorest soils ; hickory and 

 black oak grew on the better soils ; and the average yield for this post-oak 

 flat type was probably not more than 1,500 B. F. per acre. 



Throughout the remaining forested uplands of the state the forests 

 were largely made up of the oaks, with some hickory. These oak-hickory 

 forests extended along the small streams and carried on a continuous 

 struggle for possession of the prairies. The pioneers describe them as 



