198 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



Among the hardwoods paper and yellow birch, the aspens,^ 

 hard maple, and beech are most important. The country is still 

 wild and rugged, as yet untouched by settlement, and with soils 

 so thin, steep, or stony as to be useless for agriculture. 



The northern hardwoods region extends through Maine, New 

 Hampshire, and Vermont, into western Massachusetts, having 

 its greatest area in Vermont. 



The forest is composed chiefly of hard maple, yellow birch, 

 and beech — trees commonly spoken of as ''northern hardwoods." 

 Conifers such as red spruce and hemlock play a subordinate part. 

 Owing to the greater depth and fertility of the soils a consider- 

 able part of the region is farmed and, as a whole, it is much 

 better settled than the spruce region. 



Next comes the white pine region, found in all six of the New 

 England States, but centering in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 

 and Maine. White pine rules here, although other species occur 

 commercially. In this region settlement is thickest. Numer- 

 ous towns and cities furnish excellent markets, while a large 

 variety of manufacturing plants create a demand for wood in 

 various forms. 



The sprout hardwoods region Hes at the south in Connecticut, 

 Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, occupying nearly the entire 

 State of Connecticut. Like the white pine region it is a well- 

 settled section, with many manufacturing industries; but the 

 main species of trees are different. Chestnut and the oaks pre- 

 dominate, while conifers in commercial quantities are conspicu- 

 ous by their absence. 



The precipitation is fairly uniform throughout all New Eng- 

 land, ranging between forty and fifty inches annually. In the 

 White Mountain region of New Hampshire it rises to over fifty 

 inches. 



This brief description will serve roughly to distinguish the 

 four regions. In the succeeding chapters may be found a de- 



1 The aspens, in spite of the softness of their wood, are classed among the hard- 

 woods on account of their similarity in mode of growth and because they are all 

 broad-leaved, deciduous trees. 



