500 



FOREST RESOURCES OF INDIANA. 



Jasper County : 



A narrow strip of deep, rich, alluvial soil, from one to two miles in width, along the 

 southern margin of the Kankakee, is well timbered and highly productive. Gioves 

 and skirts of timber are found along the water-courses, which have been found suffi- 

 cient to supjily the demand for all i)urposes. Much attention is given to growing 

 hedges, and soon the large farms will be inclosed by live fences of Osage orange, which, 

 1 am informed, succeeds well. — {Third and Fourth Reports, 1871-72, p. 298.) 



Jefferson County: 



During the summer of 1873, in the prosecution of some botanical work in Southern 

 Indiana, the writer was led to observe the size and character of the forest trees. Over 

 a thousand trees were measured in this county (the measure of the diameter being 

 taken at 3 feet above the ground), with the following results : 



Beech ( Fafjus ferruginea) 



Keil oak ( Qiurcus rubra) 



White oak ( Quercus alba) 



Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tnlipifera) 



Sa^ar-maple (Acer saccharinum) 



Red maple (Acer rubrum) 



Svcamore (Platanus occidentalis) 



WTiite elm ( Ulmua Americana) 



Bnckeye {^scidus glabra) 



Yellow buckeye (^sculua /lava) 



The largest tree in the county {Plntanus occidtntalis) measured at the base V.i feet G 

 inches. Some lO feet up, the diameter was 8 feet 4 inches, and 25 feet from the ground 

 it was 6 feet. Its top had been broken ofl by storms. The beech and tulip tree attain 

 a size at times that have not been seen in other paits of the State. Some of the laiter 

 are 8 and 11) feet in diameter. Of the former, .") feet is not an unusual measure, and 

 two have been seen over 6 feet. The beech is a very abundant tree in this part of the 

 State, constituting at least 70 per cent. ; but farther north the oak comes into promi- 

 nent notice in their numerous species, forming at least 40 per cent, of the whole. Far- 

 ther north the different genera become more evenly distributed. From a thorough 

 observation of the forest trees of the county, the following percentages may be 

 given : 



Per cent. 



Beech {Fagus ferruginea) 35 



Oaks { Quei-cun) 18 



Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulijnf era). .. 10 



Per cent 



Hickory ( Cari/a alba) 5 



Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) 3 



Buckeye {^sculus glabra) ) „ 

 Yellow buckeye {^scuhis flava) ^ -• •• 



White elm ( Ulmua Americana) 2 



Other species 10 



Red maple (Acer rubrum) 

 Sugar maple (A. saccharinum) i " 

 White ash (Fraximus Ainericana^ 

 Blue ash (Fraximus quadrangulata) ^ 



BhxckWiilnut (Juglans nigra) 1.. 5 100 



Iq this calculation many of the less prominent trees were omitted. — (C. R. Barnes, 

 Madison, lud.) 



Jennings County: 



Was formerly covered with a very heavy growth of timber. The timbered lands of 

 this county may be classed under two heads: First, the Hats, which were originally 

 covered with large, tall timber : White oak, beech, gum, soft-maple, burr-oak, hickory, 

 and some other varieties, with a thick undergrowth in many sections, interwoven with 

 native grape-vines. The undergrowth is the thickest on the wet flats, where the beech 

 was almost entirely killed by the heavy frost of May 8, 1833. In some sections the 

 tops of the white-oak timber were killed. The frost of that S]»ring was late and severe, 

 killing all the fruit in this section of the State, except a few late varieties of apples. 

 Second, the rolling land, where the timber is white oak, black oak, beech, sugar, 

 linden, ash, black walnut, white walnut, cherry, poplar, with an undergrowth on rich 

 bottoms of pawpaw, and an occasional large sassafras. On the land of Joseph Hole, 

 esq., bordering the South Fork, were two sassafras trees, the first measuring 4 feet ia 

 diameter, at 4 feet from the ground, the other something less. These trees stood near 

 each other. The first was cut for saw-stocks and shingles; the top of the last cut, 40 



