this land is of little value, because of the fact that for the past 

 fifty or sixty years the settlers and owners have gone into the 

 woodlot from year to year and cut the best trees for their 

 particular needs, and have left such kinds as the white elm, 

 the hackberry, the soft maple, the sycamore, the basswood, the 

 water oak, and like worthless species. These, because of their 

 hardiness and ability to compete with other native vegetation, 

 now occupy the ground that might well be producing such 

 trees as the black walnut, bur oak, cottonwood, red cedar, or 

 Austrian pine. 



FIG. 160. A cut-over woodlot in fine condition to plant with acorns, walnuts, pecans, 

 or with seedling trees of some desirable kind. 



The problem to be solved in handling the woodlot is. How 

 can the stand of trees be improved and the yield increased? 

 If we want to grow a crop of corn we plant the seed and culti- 

 vate the growing crop; if we want to grow good fruit we 

 prune and spray the orchard ; if we want to grow high-grade 

 lumber-producing trees we must choose the valuable kinds, 

 plant and care for them as their demands require. 



In the eastern half of the state the natural timber is found 

 on three distinct types of land the overflow land lying along 

 the rivers and their tributaries, the steep hillsides facijng 

 these watercourses, and the gravelly and sandy land found in 

 certain sections of the state. By far the greater area of this 

 is included in the first class mentioned, viz., the overflow lands 

 lying along the watercourses. This is the richest land within 



