274: THE FORESTS OF ALLEGANY COUNTY 



frequently met where only a scanty deposit of soil had filled the 

 narrow crevices in the rock. 



Closely associated with the Sugar Maple, but in fewer numbers, 

 are the Red Maple, White Basswood, White Ash, Shagbark Hickory, 

 Locust, Tulip-tree and Beech. These scantily represented species 

 form open forests in which none occur abundantly or continuously, 

 but at irregular and often long intervals. These trees were doubtless 

 more abundant in former years. The present economic value of this 

 growth is small, except for fuel, as no considerable yield of any one 

 kind can be secured without very wide culling. 



DISTRIBUTION OF OCCASIONAL TIMBER TREES. 



Still less prominently represented are a few other valuable timber 

 trees, notably the Black Walnut, Butternut, Mockernut and Pignut 

 Hickory, Swamp White Oak, Cucumber-tree, Black Cherry, Syca- 

 more, Black Ash and Red Juniper. Excepting the Black Ash and 

 Swamp White Oak, which are peculiar only to swampy glades of 

 the high valleys, all of these trees are found as stragglers among 

 the preceding more abundant kinds. Very probably the original 

 forests of this region contained much larger numbers, as the special 

 conditions favorable to their growth are prevalent. 



The other trees enumerated are nearly all small and of little im- 

 portance. They are generally distributed among the more conspicu- 

 ous forest growth. A few only are confined to certain localities, and 

 interesting because of their rarity in this region, or special usefulness 

 in establishing a cover under which better kinds may grow. Among 

 those species are the Sweet Birch and Wild Red Cherry, which occur 

 only on the highest summits. The latter is not a tree of economic 

 value and is mentioned only on account of its rarity. The Sweet 

 Birch supplies an important furniture wood in mountainous parts 

 of the adjacent states where the rocky soil is deep and rich. The 

 timber produced is of large size. In Allegany county, however, this 

 Birch is necessarily small on account of the present extremely sterile 

 soil. 



The Barren Oak is the most conspicuous of small trees in the 



