23 



A plot measured in a 65-year old stand growing on a bench site in- 

 dicates the relatively slow growth produced on these heavy soils. See 

 table following. 



This is a region where many factors favor the practice of forestry, 

 not alone in the bottomlands, but on the uplands as well. The land is 

 largely held by coal companies. They are heavy consumers of the kind 

 of wood produced in this region, and import large quantities from dis- 

 tant regions while their local holdings are not producing to full capacity. 

 Fires which ravage the higher lands rarely damage these bottoms. Abun- 

 dant natural regeneration insures heavy stocking, and permits the encour- 

 agement of the faster growing species and the removal of inferior species. 

 Based on an average annual growth of 40 cubic feet per acre, of which 

 39.6 cubic feet is merchantable material, and on the average requirement 

 of .246 cubic feet of wood for a ton of coal mined, each acre of bottom- 

 land can supply timber for 120 tons of coal annually for all time. Thus 

 a mine with a yearly capacity of 100,000 tons requires 833 acres of such 

 land continuously devoted to timber production. 



The Kaskaskia River System 



The Kaskaskia is a medium-sized river flowing through a flat region. 

 In certain parts the gradient is as low as 10 feet to the mile for several 

 miles away from the river, although definite bluffs occur where the stream 

 has cut through glacial eminences and river terraces. The soils are gen- 

 erally deep gray silt loams, though sandy soils are not uncommon. North 

 of Carlyle, drainage districts are in the process of organization ; south of 

 Carlyle, few drainage projects have been attempted. 



One quarter of the area in good bottomland timber for the entire 

 state is in the Kaskaskia bottoms. Of the 161,285 acres of bottomland 

 forest in this region 64,678 acres, or 40 per cent, are growing timber of 

 good saw-log size; and the average yield per acre is 2,169 B. F. as com- 

 pared with the 1,393 B. F. average for all bottomlands of the state. 

 Usually the stands near the river have been culled, and defective or low- 



