FOREST RESOURCES OF TEKNESSEE. 485 



per M feet. The red oak (Q. rubra) grows everywhere in the State, and makes 

 good roof-boardi, staves for tobacco-hogsheads, flour-barrels, *&c. It is more 

 widely distributed than white oak, and is largely used in making charcoal. The 

 post oak (Q. obtusiloba) prefers a dry, thin, gravelly soil, and is found in every part 

 of the State. It is highly prized for railroad-ties and posts, and is more durable 

 than the white oak. The chestnut oak ((?. castauea) delights in high, poor, barren, 

 and rocky soil, in which it may be found in every part, especially on the leached 

 soils of the Highland Rim. It is chiefly valued for its bark in tanning, and much 

 bark is shipped to other States. Souie trees on the Highland Rim and in East 

 Tennessee will make a cord of bark, which sells, when ground, in Saint Louis, at 

 §18. The black oak {Q. linctoria) occurs in considerable quantities on the High- 

 land Rim, especially in a rich loamy soil, as in Montgomery County and parts of 

 Stewart and Robertson. This tree is deemed the most valuable for boards. It 

 splits easily, does not curl up when nailed on a roof, and is largely used for staves 

 of flonr-barrels. It is a very valuable species, and forests of it sell very high. The 

 scarlet oak {Q. coccinea) abounds in East Tennessee, and grows in moist places. 

 It also occurs in small swampy spots in Middle and West Tennessee, but not in 

 profitable quantities. The timber in quality and uses resembles the red oak. The 

 black-jack oak {Q. nigra) is of not much account, though it covers a portion of the 

 Barrens. It prefers a red clay, ferruginous, cherty soil, usually poor and thin, but 

 sometimes fertile, a^ in the northern parts of Stewart and Montgomery Counties, 

 which are very productive. These fertile lands, unlike the Barrens, have an under- 

 growth of gum, dogwood, and hazel, and of scrub hickory. This wood is least 

 injured by the annual fires on the Barrens. It perishes in three years when made 

 into rails, and is almost valueless except for fuel, and the abundant yield of potash. 

 During the late war, much of it was converted into ashes for the manufacture of 

 saltpeter. The remaining oaks of Tennessee have no economical importance, being 

 limited in quantity, such as the swamp white oak, the overcup, the yellow oak, 

 the small chestnut oak, laurel oak, Spanish oak, willow oak, bear oak, and per- 

 haps other species. A specimen of nearly every tree mentioned may be found in 

 the valley of East Tennessee, as the rich high ridges of that region give almost 

 every condition of soil and climate. 



Pines. These are among the most abundant and valuable of the forest growth. The 

 two species of most value are the yellow or short-leaf {Pinus initis) and white pine 

 (P. strobus). The former grows in considerable quantities near Knoxville and on 

 many of the parallel ridges of East Tennessee. It forms extensive forests on the 

 Cumberland table-land and belts in Hardin and Lawrence Counties. Patches are 

 found on the south sides of the hills in Wayne and less in several of the counties 

 of the Highland Rim, and in West Tennessee. It abounds on poor soils, usually of 

 sandstone, or on red clay with gravel. It takes possession of old fields and grows 

 rapidly where the soil is too poor for other vegetatation. Its wood is used for lum- 

 ber, being fine-grained, resinous, strong, and durable. The white pine is less abun- 

 dant, buc is found on the slopes of the Unaka Mountains and locally on the 

 Cumberland table-lands. It grows to a larger size, and its wood is highly valued. 

 The supply is limited, and much of it is inaccessible. 



Poplar {Liriodendron tuUpifera). There are several varieties, known as blue, white, 

 and yellow poplar, the* latter being by far the most valuable. It grows on rich 

 soil almost everywhere, the finest being seen in Obion and Dyer Counties, of 

 West Tennessee, and Maury and Macon, in Middle Tennessee. This tree grows 

 to a great size, and is found twenty to twenty-five feet in girth, and sixty to 

 seventy feet to the limbs, and yielding 10,000 feet or moie of good lumber. It 

 is extensively made into lumber, and is more used in building than any other 

 wood. Its greatest defect is the liability to shrink and swell in changes from dry 

 to wet weather. It is not attacked by the borer. As rails, it will last fifty years. 

 This lumber sells in market at $1.5 to $20 per 1,000 feet, and at the mills at $10 to 

 $1.'?. About 10,000,000 feet of logs of this timber are annually floated down the 

 Cumberland in rafts to Nashville. 



Sassafras (Sassafras officinale). Common as a shrub in every part of the State, espe- 

 cially in the valley of Middle Tennessee and on the Higlilaud Rim. In West Ten- 

 nessee it becomes a stately tree. One specimen measured GO inches across inside 

 of the bark. The wood is soft, brittle, rigid, close-grained, and is used for stud- 

 ding, and to some extent for furniture. The sprouts of this tree are extremely 

 troublesome in fields. The roots have been used as a tea. The pith is scraped 

 out with an awl-shaped instrument, and is valuable for mucilage, being worth 

 when dry §3 to $4 a pound. 



Sycamokk (Platanus occidtntalis). Grows along the margins of streams in every part 

 of the State. Its wood is used in making furniture. The timber does not split 

 easily, and decays very soon in the weather. It is troublesome on account of 

 sprouts that it sends up from the stump. 



