REPORT ON FORESTS. 47 



a considerable amount of hemlock, and some red cedar where 

 old clearings have grown up. A considerable portion of this 

 timber is from 40 to 50 years old, and there are a number of 

 large trees which we shall note later in connection with the 

 forests of the main plateau. 



Vernon valley, which separates Pochuck mountain from the 

 main group of the Highlands, is a fertile agricultural district, 

 with a very small amount of forest, but it has a goodly supply 

 of scattering trees which are thrifty and often of large size. 



Passing on to the southwest we come to the Alamuche- 

 Pohatcong range,* the glaciated portion of which includes 

 the district lying between the Lehigh and Hudson River 

 railroad on the west, and the valleys of the Walkill and 

 Lubber's run on the east, and extending from Franklin Furnace 

 southwest to the Vienna and Hackettstown road. We find 

 the conditions as follows : From Franklin Furnace southwest 

 to the line of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Rail- 

 road, this ridge is known as Pimple Hill. The growth of wood 

 is thin, ranging from 2 to 8 inches in diameter, and consisting 

 mainly of chestnut, oak and red cedar, with a few other conif- 

 erous trees scattered throughout the whole district. On the 

 high hill near the railroad and north of Sparta, and also along 

 the ravine southwest of Franklin Furnace, the conifers are 

 quite abundant. The growth, however, is principally chest- 

 nut and oak, the best of which is from 6 to 24 inches in 

 diameter, and 30 to 55 feet high, a good proportion of these trees 

 being about 12 inches in diameter. Not much cord-wood is cut 

 in this section, but the best timber is selected and taken out 

 here and there as needed. Between the New York, Susquehanna 

 and Western railroad and the highway from Sparta to Pinkney- 

 ville there are very few coniferous trees, chestnut and oak being 

 predominant, and somewhat larger than on the Pimple hills, 

 measiiring from 9 to 16 inches in diameter and 30 to 55 feet high. 

 Just northwest of Sparta there is a ridge which has been entirely 

 stripped of timber, but there is no clearing in any of this district 

 for farming purposes, and there does not appear to be much 

 cleared land lapsing back into forest. The flat swamp-land on 

 the Walkill southwest of Sparta has some timber, mostly border- 

 ing the stream. There are maples and elms 12 to 24 inches in 



* The " Western Highlands range" of Prof. Salisbury. 



