614 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



season in the cherry woods, because the old bears would grow fierce if 

 molested while feeding. The mountaineers knew enough to stay away 

 from the danger points at that time, unless they went there purposely 

 to engage in a bear fight. It was a common saying among those people 

 that "cherry bears" should be let alone. 



The cherry's chief importance in this country has been due to its 

 lumber. Unfortunately, that value lies chiefly in the past, for the supply 

 is running low. It never was very great, for, though the species has a 

 large range, it is sparingly dispersed through the forests. In many 

 parts of its range a person might travel all day in the woods and see few 

 cherry trees, and perhaps none. The best stands hardly ever cover 

 more than a few acres. Generally the trees grow singly or in clumps. 

 It appears to be nearly wholly a matter of soil and light, for the seeds, 

 which are carried by birds, are scattered in immense numbers, and only 

 those grow which chance to find conditions just right. The tree wants 

 rich ground and plenty of room, which is a combination not often found 

 in primeval forest regions; but, since the country has been largely cleared, 

 cherry trees spring up along fence rows and in nooks and corners. If 

 let alone they grow rapidly, but trunks so produced are of little value 

 for lumber, because too short and limby. In the forest the tree lifts its 

 light crown high on a slender trunk to reach the sunshine, and such 

 trunks supply the cherry lumber of commerce. Near the northern 

 limit of its range it seems to abandon its demand for good soil and is 

 content if it is supplied with light only. It betakes itself to the face of 

 cliffs, sometimes overhanging the sea, and so near it that the branches 

 are drenched in spray thrown up by breakers. It is needless to say that 

 no good lumber is produced under such circumstances. 



The first loss of cherry occurred when the farms were cleared. It 

 stood on the best ground, and the land-hungry Anglo-Saxon wanted 

 that for himself. He cut the tall shapely cherry trees, built fences and 

 barns of some of the logs, and burned the balance in the clearing. Then 

 came the pioneer lumberman who did not take much, because his old 

 up-and-down saw, which was run by water, would cut only about a 

 thousand feet a day, and there was plenty of other kinds of timber. 

 But when the steam mill put in its appearance, cherry went fast. Its 

 price was high enough to pay for a long haul. From that day till this, 

 cherry has gone to market as rapidly as millmen could get to it. 



Next to walnut, it is the highest priced lumber produced in the 

 United States. The average cut per mill, according to returns of those 

 who sawed it in 1909, was only 1 1,200 feet, and the total output that year 

 was only 24,594,000 feet, contributed by twenty-nine states. The five 

 leading producers were, in the order named, West Virginia, Pennsyl- 



