REPORT ON FORESTS. 75 



to 45 feet high, and including about half a dozen white pines. 

 Along the Black river, from Chester to Pottersville, the best 

 timber has been or is now being cut, and the average growth is 

 from 2 to 10 inches in diameter and 10 to 40 feet high. There 

 are a few hemlocks near this stream. 



Passing southwest, to the Fox Hill district, we still note that 

 chestnut disappears at the edge of the red shale, while the oak 

 and hickory is good, but only small parcels are left standing, 

 most of the country from the foot of the Highlands being cleared. 

 There is also a good deal of cleared land on the plateau, about 

 Fairmount and southwesterly, but the small lots of timber left 

 standing are generally good, ranging from 7 to 16 inches in 

 diameter and 30 to 45 feet high. Still further southwest, about 

 Cokesburg and toward High Bridge, there are only scattering 

 parcels of timber left, and here, as on the south end of Schooley's 

 mountain, what remains is being rapidly cut off. The timber 

 continues to be mainly chestnut and oak, with the usual sprink- 

 ling of other varieties, but here also, as elsewhere, the disappear- 

 ance of chestnut, when we reach the red shale country, is very 

 marked. 



It will be noticed from the foregoing detailed review and 

 description of the Highlands forests, that the severest cutting at 

 present is to the southwest, where the proportion of forested 

 area is the smallest. Further northeast, cutting is by no means 

 severe, and the timber is steadily improving. It is also apparent 

 that there is very little tendency to wastefulness, that the cutting 

 of timber is determined entirely by the demand, and this is true 

 not only as to the amount cut but as to the age at which the 

 timber is cut. In the past it was found profitable to cut timber 

 for charcoal when 20 years old, and more recently for hoop-poles 

 at a still earlier age ; but, owing entirely to a change in the 

 markets, this has all been altered, and the tendency at present is 

 not to cut until the age of 30 years, or thereabout, has been 

 reached. These facts as to the history of the past suggest at 

 once that the same influences must determine how these forests 

 shall be managed in the future. If there should come a demand 

 which would make it profitable to cut at an earlier age than 30 

 years, it is difficult to see how such cutting can be prevented. 

 It appears, however, that owners of the forest are ready for any 



