210 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



fined to the more rocky and shallow or sandy-soiled crests, and 

 eventually are crowded out; 'either because the broad-leaf trees 

 overshade the mature light-loving pines, or because their shade 

 becomes too deep for the growth of the young plant. 



DISTINCTIVE GROWTH. 



The forests of the lower mountains approach in the character 

 of their economic trees those of the western gneisses of the Pied- 

 mont plateau. The pines, except the short-leaf and the scrub (Jer- 

 sey) are usually kinds which are not frequent in any part of the 

 Piedmont plateau region; the chestnut oak becomes frequent; the 

 post oak and Spanish oak do not occur at all over the larger part 

 of the area; and the red oak, shingle oak, and chestnut oak become 

 conspicuous and valuable trees. 



The forests of the lower mountains are separable into three 

 divisions : (1) that in which the Table mountain and pitch pines 

 are the dominant resinous trees ; (2) that in which the short-leaf, 

 pitch, and scrub pines are dominant ; (3) that in which the white 

 pine is the dominant tree. 



TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE DIVISION. 



The area in which the Table mountain and pitch pines are the 

 important pine timber trees embraces the eastern and southern 

 slopes of the Blue Ridge, with the outl} ing spurs, from Georgia to 

 Virginia, and the groups of the Brushy, South and Sauratown 

 mountains. With these pines is to be found the short-leaf pine, 

 which becomes more abundant as the elevation decreases and the 

 soil become deeper and less rugged. The slopes of this range are 

 steep ; the soils are shallow loams or sandy loams, eroding rapidly 

 under denudation, and, when cleared, restocking slowly on the ces- 

 sation of cultivation. The broad-leaf trees which are associated 

 with the pines are chiefly the scarlet and chestnut oaks and the 

 chestnut. These form alow, open growth, seldom exceeding fifty 

 or sixty feet in height. There is no underwood, and it is only 

 occasionally that young trees are found, and these are for the most 

 part stump or stool-shoots from trees the tops of which have been 



