62 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



chestnut and oak still prevail, with some hickory, and many 

 other kinds of timber distributed throughout. For the most 

 part, it is from 30 to 40 years old, and some scattering parcels, 

 much younger, between Charlottesburg and Marcella, and also 

 between Bloomingdale and Brook valley. This younger portion 

 is considerably mixed with cedar, white birch, &c. There 

 is very little brush or stump land to be seen, and very little 

 timber less than 10 years old. A tract of several thousand acres 

 is now held as a private preserve about Stickle pond, and its 

 forests are likely to be cared for. 



The clearings in this district are almost entirely confined to 

 the valleys of Green Pond brook, Beach Glen, Stony brook and 

 the Rockaway river. The high lands are almost entirely 

 covered with forest, the area of which amounts to some 75 per 

 cent, of the whole district. The cleared portions are almost 

 entirely grass lands. The population is decreasing, but there 

 does not appear to be any considerable amount of cleared land 

 which shows signs of lapsing back into forest. Between Rock- 

 away and Mount Hope the timber is oak and chestnut, ranging 

 from 4 to 24 inches in diameter. Between Mount Hope, 

 Hibernia and Denmark the timber ranges from 35 to 50 years 

 old, and cutting appears to be more by culling out the best trees 

 than by clearing off the entire tract, the smaller growth being 

 preserved. West of Rockaway there is thrifty timber, from 8 

 to 12 inches in diameter, and 40 to 60 feet high, said to be about 

 60 years old. The timber continues to be excellent, to and 

 about Mount Pleasant mine. About Baker and Richards 

 mines it is apparently as old, but the best has been culled 

 out. Still, it continues to be fair on over to the valley of 

 Green Pond brook. On the mountains, between Rockaway and 

 Hibernia, the timber ranges from about 40 years old, near 

 Beach Glen valley, to 60 years old further west. Some portions 

 have been recently cut, and some are from 10 to 20 years old. 

 But generally the range is from 6 to 20 inches in diameter and 

 from 30 to 60 feet in height. It is mainly oak and chestnut, 

 with a few white pines and other conifers on the top and the 

 more rocky slopes. Between Beach Glen and Meriden, it ranges 

 from 12 to 34 inches in diameter and 50 to 60 feet in height, with 

 a few coniferous trees as before. South and west of Split Rock, 



