"488 



FOREST RESOURCES OF KENTUCKY. 



Next to the walnut in value, and fully as scarce, is the black cherry. 

 The wood is so valuable in cabinet work, lor the reason that it is very 

 compact, close grained, and receives a high polish. In a few years, at 

 the present rate of destruction, it will have disappeared from our Ken- 

 tucky forests.^ 



In an examination of the timbers of Grayson, Breckenridge, Ohio, 

 f?nd Hancock Counties, in connection with the geological survey of 

 Kentucky^, Mr. De Friese, an assistant on the survey, remarked, that 

 the younger growth destined to form the future forests of the country, 

 often differed in relative abundance and in species from the original 

 growth. In speaking of the white oak he observes : 



I took particular pains to notice the conditions of g^rowth of the white oak, and I 

 find that, while at present it forms the large per cent, of the forest timbers, in the 

 underjrrowth it falls from 40 or 50 per cent, to about 8, while its place is being taken 

 by such valueless timbers as the pin-oak, black oak, Spanish oak, and black hickory. 

 This proves that the latter are of more rapid and hardy growth, and that in the con- 

 test for supremacy, the white oak will finally be exterminated. The extinction of our 

 white oak would be nothing less than a calamity — one which should be avoided if 

 possible. 



As an indication of the tendency to change, as shown in the forests 

 of Western Kentucky, the following tables are given in the report 

 above oited : 



Black oak 



Pin-oak 



Black walnut. 

 White oak 



Per cent. 



. 36 



. m 



. 19 



. 9.4 



Hickory 6.6 



Black gum 5. 2 



Post oak •> 



Liriodendron 2.36 



Sycamore 1 



Old forest growth. Young forest grotvth. 



Per cent. 



White oak 40 



Liriodendron ]0 



Black gum 9 



Hickory 8^ 



Sugar- tree 8| 



Post oak 7 



Black oak 7 



Spanish oak 2| 



Chestnur, 2 



Dogwood 2 



Sycamore 1 



White ash 1 



Red oak | 



Pin-oak | 



Maple . ^ 



The tendency to deterioration shown by the above comparison, indi- 

 cates the importance of giving timely attention to the young growth in 

 woodlands, by giving it encouragement by the suppression of the less 

 valuable species. 



In a report upon the timber growth of Greenup, Carter, Boyd, and 

 Lawrence Counties, Kentucky, made by A. E. Craudall, in connection 

 "With the geological report of that State,^ a count was made of the num- 

 ber of old forest trees of twenty species, at eight separate stations, and 

 of second growth trees at seven stations, with the view of determining 

 the relative frequency of species in the two conditions. The second 

 growth had been cut off some years before for supplying charcoal to 

 iron-furnaces. In some instances a third growth was examined, but 

 there appeared no material difference when compared with the second. 

 In the following table, wo present the general result as observed of 

 valley, hill-side, and hilltop, and the combined result of all, and have 



•L. H. De Friese, in report on timhers of Grayson, Breckenridge, Ohio, and Hancock 

 Counties. — Geological Survey of Kentucky, part ix, vol. ii, 2d series, p. 8. 

 "Geological Survey of Kentuckij, part ix, vol. ii, 2d series, p. 14, 15. 

 3 Geological Survey of Kentucky, part I,wol. I, 2d series. 



