CHAPTER XII. 

 PRESENT FOREST CONDITIONS. 



As emphasized in the preceding pages, the New England 

 forest in its virgin condition, although often uniform over broad 

 areas, yet showed important differences in character; especially 

 as the observer traveled in a general north and south direction 

 across the whole territory. Tht differences in character were 

 expressed mainly by changes in composition {i.e., in the species 

 of trees making up the forest) brought about by variations in 

 climatic conditions and in soil and amount of moisture in the 

 ground, as explained in the chapter on Silvics. 



With the advent of settlement, which is always accompanied 

 by lumbering, forest fires, and the clearing of land for farms, 

 conditions which had for centuries governed the growth and 

 development of the New England forest were changed, and as 

 a result of this interference with the natural conditions forests 

 now prevail which often differ widely from the original growth. 

 Settlement has not only occasionally changed the original char- 

 acter of the forest, but it has everywhere emphasized its varia- 

 tions in character throughout the region. 



New England now is naturally divided into four forest regions 

 within each of which the forest has a distinctive character of its 

 own. The chief species of trees are not the same in any of the 

 four regions; and, what is even more significant, the density of 

 settlement and the available markets for forest products vary 

 immensely from region to region. From the standpoint of forest 

 management these two factors (density of population and avail- 

 able markets for forest products) are of much more importance 

 than the character of the forest. For without suitable oppor 

 tunities for the sale of wood no forestry can be practiced. 



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