FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 19 



Hundreds, where there is much very light sandy land, and also con- 

 siderable undrained swamp land. There are considerable areas, es- 

 pecially where the land is sandy and poor, which were once cultivated 

 and subsequently abandoned after the freeing of slaves in the State. 

 Such areas almost always became seeded up to a thick growth of pure 

 pine, and these stands have become a great source of timber supply and 

 are of immense value. They are cut when 25 to 40 years old, and the 

 land is often again cleared for agriculture. There is now very little 

 old-field growth of any size which has not been cut over, but many 

 promising young stands are constantly springing up. 



The forests of Sussex are composed, for the most part, of irregular 

 and uneven-aged stands both of pine and hardwoods. Although the 

 large areas of abandoned farm land have grown up mostly to regular, 

 even-aged stands of loblolly, yet these have since been extensively 

 culled, and, for the most part, existing stands which are uniform in age 

 and stock, are young and immature. Originally the forests of Sussex 

 County were almost exclusively of hardwoods, but by culling and clear- 

 ing them pine has gradually been established in every part of the 

 county, owing to a superior reproductive power, and it is now a source 

 of greater money returns than the hardwoods. 

 Condition of the Forests 



There is practically no virgin forest in Delaware. The forests con- 

 sist, for the most part, of second-growth stands less than sixty years in 

 age, the original growth having been long since removed, and only oc- 

 casional decrepit veterans of inferior quality left standing. Forest 

 growth all over the State, except in portions of the extreme northern 

 part, is very rapid, and trees reach merchantable size at a comparative- 

 ly early age. There is very little pine over fifty years in age, and it is 

 usually cut before it is forty, as it reaches merchantable dimensions for 

 saw-timber in twenty-five to thirty-five years. In some cases the stands 

 are even-aged and regular, as where the previous one was clear cut, or 

 where pine has taken possession of idle farm land. But more often the 

 forest is irregular, with trees of all ages from young seedlings to scat- 

 tering deteriorating veterans. 



This irregular condition has been brought about by haphazard 

 culling and lack of attention. Ordinarily, woodlot owners cut when 

 material for different purposes is needed, with little or no considera- 

 tion for the future good of the stand, and the trees removed are usually 

 those most easily available. In lumbering in the past the best material 

 was usually cut, and trees of poor quality and inferior species were 



