ditions, and even with low rainfall double that which 

 we have in Minnesota, it can easily be seen that the 

 reports of French nind needed no exaggeration. This 

 thin clay soil would be practically worthless for farm- 

 ing, and apparently only supports the growth of trees 

 having wide, shallow, spreading root systems. The 

 humus? was carefully preserved and was often deeper 

 than the soil itself. 



The forest was almost exclusively a selection type 

 of mixed hardwoods, of which beech was by far the 

 predominant species. Maple, oak, and "blue beech," 

 were the other prominent species. Some ash and bass- 

 wood were to be found also, but in very limited quan- 

 tities. In buying the timber from the French the only 

 classification that was made in our operations was 

 into beech and oak. Everything that wasn't beech 

 therefore was bought for oak. I presume that differ- 

 ent prices were paid for the two species, as the French 

 foresters were very particular that the scale of the 

 two species be kept separate. 



As stated before, in the majority of the forests 

 worked by our men, and especially the Forest of 

 NYufeys. beech was the principal species produced, 

 oak ranked next. Most of the oak produced was, of 

 very small size, averaging from 20 to 30 centimeters 

 in diameter; that is around 10 inches. Measurements 

 were taken at the middle of the log. Some oak up to 

 ."> Onnd 150 Centimeters (20 to 40 inches) in diameter 

 was handled, but this formed a small percentage. The 

 beech was all sizes. Some butt logs measuring 120 

 Centimeters (48 inches) in diameter were sawn. The 

 average, as I remember, was around 40 centimeters 



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