2o8 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



opening in the forest canopy, appearing wherever Hght reaches 

 the forest floor. 



3. Hardwood. — The sites characteristic of this type have 

 well-drained soils of considerable depth, and usually the most 

 fertile in the region. In the mountainous section of Vermont and 

 New Hampshire this type occurs on the lower slopes. In the 

 White Mountains it does not run above elevations of 2400 to 

 2500 feet. It occupies the low hills and broad, rolHng valleys in 

 northern New Hampshire and Maine. The type, in proportion 

 to the forest area, is most abundant in the Vermont section. 



Spruce is still present in this type forming on the average 

 twenty to thirty per cent of the stand. But it has yielded the 

 foremost place to three hardwoods: the hard maple, the yellow 

 birch, and the beech. These three species make up sixty per 

 cent or more of the composition. Other species, varying with 

 the locality, mingle with these four trees. 



On the fertile soils of the hardwood land the spruce reaches its 

 best individual development, although numerically less import- 

 ant than in other types. The hardwoods with their thick foliage 

 assist the spruce in clearing its trunk of branches and make clear 

 boles. Being sturdy, deep-rooted species, they support the 

 shallow-rooted spruce, preventing windfall, and allow the latter 

 to reach great size and age uninjured. 



The hardwood timber is much of it overmature and de- 

 teriorating. It has not been lumbered extensively throughout 

 the region, though in a few places heavy cuttings have taken 

 place. To-day in the accessible regions it is rapidly being cut. 

 12,000 to 15,000 feet, board measure, per acre is a fair maxi- 

 mum yield, while the average stand yields much less. 



Most of the best spruce has been removed by loggers and the 

 percentage of hardwoods is on the increase. 



Logging operations have attacked the spruce first and more 

 heavily than the hardwoods, and this, coupled with the fact that 

 the situation is best adapted for hardwood reproduction, pre- 

 vents the spruce from maintaining its position in the type. The 

 reproduction is good, but almost wholly of hardwoods. 



