346 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



are more liable to frost, western exposures more liable to damage 

 from winds, southern more apt to be hot and to dry out, and north- 

 ern to be coQler and damper, having in consequence a shorter period 

 of vegetation. Hollows and lowlands are more exposed to frosts 

 and more subject to variations in soil moisture, etc. Hence for these 

 various situations it is advisable to select species which can best with- 

 stand such local dangers. 



The use value, or utility, of the species is next to be considered. 

 This must be done with reference to the commercial and domestic 

 demand, and the length of time it takes the species to attain its value. 

 The greater variety of purposes a wood may serve i. e., the greater 

 its general utility and the sooner it attains its use value the better. 

 White pine for the northeastern States as a wood is like the apple 

 among fruits, making an all-round useful material in large quanti- 

 ties per acre in short time. Tulip poplar, applicable to a wider cli- 

 matic range, is almost as valuable, while oak, ash and hickory are 

 standard woods in the market. Other woods are of limited applica- 

 tion. Thus the black locust, which grows most quickly into useful 

 posts, has only a limited market, much more limited than it should 

 have ; hickory soon furnishes valuable hoop poles from the thinnings, 

 and later the best wagon material, not, however, large quantities in a 

 short time; while black walnut of good quantity is very high in 

 price, the market is also limited, and the dark color of the heart- 

 wood, for which it is prized, is attained only by old trees. The black 

 cherry, used for similar purposes, attains its value much sooner. By 

 planting various species together, variety of usefulness may be se- 

 cured and the certainty of a market increased. 



The forest value of the species is only in part expressed by its 

 use value. As has been shown in another place, the composition of 

 the crop must be such as to insure maintenance of favorable soil con- 

 ditions, as well as satisfactory development of the crop itself. Some 

 species, although of high use value, like ash, oak, etc., are poor 

 preservers of soil conditions, allowing grass and weeds to enter the 

 plantation and to deteriorate the soil under thin foliage. Others, 

 like beech, sugar maple, box elder, etc., although of less use value, 

 being dense foliaged and preserving a shady crown for a long time, 

 are of great forest value as soil improvers. 



Again, as the value of logs depends largely on their freedom 

 from knots, ^straightness, and length, it is of importance to secure 

 these qualities. Some valuable species, if grown by themselves, 

 make crooked trunks, do not clean their shafts of branches, and are 

 apt to spread rather than lengthen. If planted in close companion- 

 ship with others, they are forced by these "nurses or forwarders" 

 to make better growths and clean their shafts of branches. 



Furthermore, from financial considerations, it is well to know 

 that some species develop more rapidly and produce larger quan- 

 tities of useful material per acre than others; thus the white pine 

 is a "big cropper," and, combining with this a tolerably good shad- 

 ing quality, and being in addition capable of easy reproduction, it 

 is of highest "forest value," Hence, as the object of forestry is to 



