tins AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



The tree thrives best in the immediate vicinity of rivers and creeks. 

 It needs abundance of water for its roots, but is not insistent in its de- 

 mand for deep, fertile soil, for it grows on gravel bars along water courses, 

 provided some soil and sand are mixed with the gravel. Great age is 

 doubtless attained, but records are necessarily lacking in cases where the 

 annual rings of growth must be depended upon; because the hollow 

 trunks have lost most of their rings by decay. 



Sycamore bears abundance of light seed which is scattered short 

 distances by wind and much farther by running water. Its ideal place 

 for germinating is on muddy shores and wet flats. Here the seeds are 

 deposited by wind and water, and in a short time multitudes of seedlings 

 spring up. Though most of them are doomed to perish before they at- 

 tain a height of a few feet, survivors are sufficient to essure thick stands 

 on small areas. The trunks grow tall rapidly, and until they reach 

 considerable size, they remain solid and make good sawlogs. but at an 

 age of seventy-five or 100 years, deterioration is apt to set in; some die, 

 others become hollow, and the result is a good stand of large sycamores 

 is unusual. The veterans are generally scattered through forests of 

 other species. 



The statement has often been made in recent years that sycamore 

 is becoming very scarce and that the annual output is rapidly declining. 

 Statistics do not show a declining output. The cut of sycamore in 1909 

 was approximately twice as great as in 1899. It is true that the supply 

 is not very large, and it never was large compared with some other hard- 

 woods; but it appears to be holding its own as well as most forest trees. 

 The cut in the United States in 1910 was 45,000,000, and it was credited 

 to twenty-six states. Indiana was the largest contributor, and it had 

 held that position a long time. States next below it in the order named 

 were Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. 

 Doubtless some of the sycamore lumber now going to market has grown 

 since old settlers cut the primeval stands when they cleared their fields. 

 It will continue to grow, and since it usually occupies waste places, it 

 may be depended upon to contribute pretty regularly year by year 

 during time to come. It is one of the forest trees which have never 

 suffered much from fires, because it grows in dar^.p situations. 



The wood of sycamore weighs 35.39 pounds per cubic foot, is hard, 

 but not strong, difficult to split and work ; the annual rings are limited by 

 narrow bands of dark summerwood. The rings are very porous. The 

 medullary rays are rather small, but can be easily seen without a glass. 

 They run in regular, radial lines, close together, and the pores are in 

 rows between. The rays of sycamore vary from the rule with most 

 woods, in that they are darker than the body of the wood. 



