494 FOREST GROWTH IN OHIO. 



sea-level, or practically, for tlie greater part, with a vertical range of 

 only about 500 feet, and that there was no tree peculiar to the State, or 

 any that even attained its greatest development within its borders, 

 says : 



Wc are situated on the border of the Northern and Southern region, and this we 

 mus . bear in mind to understand the distribution of our own plants. We are situated 

 on the verge of the cypress, a lumber tree of inestimable value in the South. This 

 tree does not grow indigenous in our State, but in Southern Indiana, on the Wabash, 

 and in Illinois, it attains a size scarcely inferior to what it attains in Louisiana. The 

 cypress, unlike many other trees, will thrive with its roots and the lower part of its 

 trunk wholly immersed iu water. It may be cultivated in any low, wet place, where 

 but few of our timber trees could exist at all. » * * The pecan grows a little far- 

 ther north than the cypress; in fact, on our southern borders. The sweet-gum comes 

 into our southern limits, but does not make a large tree. Both pecan and sweet-gura 

 will grow, if planted, anywhere in Ohio. * * * The persimmon grows in the south- 

 ern half of our State. The white cedar {Cupressus tliuyoidts) comes over our southern 

 border, and the red cedar extends entirely across the State, but only in rare situations 

 furnishes a trunk of sufdcient size for any economic purpose. As we proceed south- 

 ward, we find this tree showing signs of being in a more congenial situation by a 

 larger growth. No farther south than the glades of Tennessee it makes a tree of good 

 sizefor Inmber. * • » On the northeast the hemlock spruce (^&jes Canadensis) comes 

 over our borders from the great forests to the northeast of us. This tree is found grow- 

 ing south of the 40th parallel iu Indiana, in several localities, where it nearly joins 

 the cypress from the south. In Parke County, on Sugar Creek, in that State, is the 

 remnant of a hemlock forest; on the Wabash, a few miles to the south, is also the 

 remnant of a cypress forest — some immense trees. These may point backward to a 

 past chapter of our physical history, but, it would seem, in opposite directions. * » » 

 The white pine • " * is not an important item among our forest-trees, on account 

 of its scarcity and inferior size in this State. It is found in numtrous localities in the 

 northern part of the State. 



The hills of Eastern Ohio form the outlines of the Allegheny Mountains. We may 

 consider the sandstone bordering the Lower Scioto the beginning of the Appalachian 

 system. The flora also indicates a change in the geological formations. The cht stnut 

 begins to be a common feature of the landscape ; so common that it may be regarded 

 as a characteristic feature of the sandstone region of the State. No tree makes a bet- 

 ter promise of reward for cultivation than the chestnut in the porous soils derived from 

 the sandstone of the eastern part of the State. * * * The Magnolia acuminata, or 

 cucumber tree, grows a few miles farther west than the chestnut, and is snited to a 

 more compact soil — that resulting from the decomposition of the black shale. This 

 tree follows the line of the black shale throughout the State, and usually indicates the 

 presence of st, heavy soil. The pitch-pine marks the beginning of the sandstone almost 

 equally well with the chestnut. It does not usually attain a large size, although it 

 is extensively used where it can be obtained. 



As shov/ing our relations to the Allegheny uplift, I mention our broad-leaved ever- 

 greens which belong to the range of mountains to the east of us, but run along the 

 spurs quite half way of the State ; these are the Bhododendron maximum, the Kalmia 

 latifoUa, and, in the extreme south, the Ilex opaca ; although this last does not charac- 

 terize the spurs of the mountains as the two first mentioned. The laurels show by 

 their growth that they are on the borders of their natural province. They continue to 

 increase toward the center of the mountain-chain, where they make such compact and 

 tangled masses that the hunter finds it easier to crawl over the interlaced tojis than to 

 make a path amidst the crooked and interwoven stems and branches, which bears alone 

 can penetrate. 



Coniferous trees in Ohio. 



A large collection of sprigs of these trees, presented by Mr. E. Man- 

 ning, at the Akron meeting of the Ohio State Horticultnral Society in 

 1874, with a detailed account of his successes and failures in planting 

 in Franklin County, Ohio, was made the basis of notes, written out by 

 Dr. John A. Warder, and published in the transactions of the society.^ 

 They are applicable more particularly to Southern Ohio. We condense 

 from these the following data concerning species found worthy of culti- 



' Transact ion8 of Ohio State Horticultural Soc, 1874, p. 84. 



