FOEEST RESOURCES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 477 



2. Black Birch (B. lenia). Found only on mountains. 



3. Yellow BiiiCH {B. excetsa). Near the highest summit of Black Mountain. 



WILLOWS. 



1. Black Willow (Salix nigra). This is the only native willow that becomes a tree. 



It is 15 to 25 feet high. 



2. Gray Willow {S. tristis). In the mountains ; a shrub 1 to 2 feet high. 



3. Bush Willow (^S. humiUs'). In middle and upper districts; rarely in the lower. 



4. Silky-Leaved Willow (S. sericea). A shrub 3 to 6 feet high. 



OTHER DRY-FRUITED TREES. 



Hornbeam; Ironwood {Carpinus Americana). On the banka of streams throughout 

 the State, growing 12 to 15 feet high, and sometimes 30. Wood hard, but too 

 small for une. 



Hop-HoiJXBEAM (Osfrya Virginicn). Very rare in the upper district. 



Sycamore (Flaianus occldenialis). Throughout the State, but least common in the 

 lower district. Wood decays rapidly on exposure. Of rapid growth. 



Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua). Common; growing 40 to 70 feet high, and 2 to 

 3 feet in diameter. 



Tulip Tree, or Poplar (Liriodendron tuJipifera). Native of all parts of the State, 

 but not so common in the lower district. One tree was seen 9 feet in diameter; a 

 more common size is 2 or 3 feet. It grows 60 to 100 feet high, and the timber much 

 valued for building purposes. For rafters and joists it is the best substitute for 

 pine, cedar, and cy^iress. 



1. Basswood ( Tilia Americana). On mountains and in the upper part of the middle dis- 



trict. 



2. White Lixn (T. heterojyhylla). More abundant in the upper district, but sparingly in 



the others. 



3. Southern LiTSS (T.jntbescpns). Lower district; on theborders of swamps and rivers. 

 Sour Wood- (Oxydendrum arboreum). Rare in the lower district; not. uncommon in 



the middle, but most abundant in the lower parts of the mountains. Wood of no 

 value. Leaves sometimes used in dyeing black. 



Loblolly Bay (Gordonia Lasianthus). Within the range of the long-leaved pine, 

 within 100 miles of the coast. Grows 50 to 70 feet, with a diameter of 18 to 24 

 inches. Wood of a rosy hue, silky luster and fine texture, but light, brittle, and 

 subject to rapid decay unless kept dry. Bark might be used for tanning, if 

 abundant. 



Snowdrop Tree {Ralesia teirapiera). Sparingly in the lower district, and found in 

 the middle. Might be cultivated for ornament with advantage. 



Planer Tree (Plancra aquatica). From Cape Fear River southward on the bor- 

 ders of streams and swamps, growing 20 to 40 feet high, and 8 to 15 inches in 

 diameter. Wood hard and strong, but too rare to be of importance. 



The report of Mr. Curtis also contains the names of nearly 150 shrnbs 

 and nearly 30 vines, which are omitted as being unimportant in this 

 connection. 



Although North Carolina appears, from census statistics, to be abun- 

 dantly supplied with timber— and theamountis really very considerable — 

 its distribution is such that timber-planting offers an inviting subject 

 for investment. 



Prof. W. C. Kerr, the present State geologist, in his report of 1875 

 (p. 104), says: 



In some portions of the State already there is not timber enough to repair the annual 

 decay of the fences ; and yet the old habit continues of abandoning half-worn fields to 

 sedge and sassafras, and pines and briers and gullies, and of clearing "new grounds," 

 at a greater expense than would be necessary to restore the old, taking no account 

 of the value of the forest destroyed in the process, which is almost always greater than 

 that of the land after it is cleared ; and this, while there is at least three times as much 

 laud cleared as can be properly tilled by the present agricultural force of the State. 

 And the plau of fencing adopted when the whole country was forest-covered, and as 

 one means of disposing of a considerable part of it, is still continued, long after not 

 only tliis state of things has ceased to exist, but also the main purpose of fencing at 

 all, which was to render available for cattle-grazing the rich natural pasturage which 

 abounded in the " forest primeval," but has be;;n long since extirpated, except in the 

 higher and almost unpeopled regions of the mountains. 



And as tlie pasture-plants of our original forests have disappeared almost entirely 

 from our flora, so under a similar reckless system of forest destruction » • * will 



