FOREST CONDITIONS IN DELAWARE. 29 



stand should always be cut clean so that the sprouts will have complete 

 light for their development. 



Tulip Poplar 



An important tree occurring throughout the State and in all the 

 forest types, but more in the northern than in the southern half of the 

 State is the tulip poplar. It occurs usually singly or in small patches 

 or groups, and never forms extensive pure stands. It is the most rapid- 

 growing of the hardwoods, and reproduces itself readily by seed wher- 

 ever the stand is open, as after clear cutting ; and it also sprouts vigor- 

 ously from the stump up to the time that the old tree has about reached 

 its sixtieth year. Trees fifteen inches and up in diameter are extreme- 

 ly valuable for lumber ; those 10 to 15 inches can be profitably used for 

 rotary-cut veneer for fruit baskets, and also sawed into box boards; 

 and those under 10 inches bring $4.50 a cord for pulpwood peeled 

 and delivered at the railroad. (See figure 2.) Tulip poplar may be 

 classed with loblolly pine, chestnut, and red oak, as an extremely de- 

 sirable species for commercial timber growing. It is poor economy to 

 cut the small poles for pulpwood, except where the stand needs thin- 

 ning, as it is much more profitable to allow them to grow to veneer or 

 saw-timber size. 



