THE SPROUT HARDWOODS REGION 345 



Long belts of forest occur on these trap ridges, elsewhere a 

 broken distribution of the woodland is the rule. However, in 

 some of the rougher sections of the highland eighty to ninety 

 per cent of the country is in forest, while in other places, with 

 gentler topography, the per cent of open land and forest is 

 reversed. 



This is a country in which the first settlement dates back 

 many years, and as a consequence the original forest has dis- 

 appeared with but rare exceptions. In the present forest the 

 growth is made up chiefly of sprout trees, often of the third 

 and fourth generation. Timber exceeding one hundred years 

 of age is extremely rare. 



The forest is composed of even-aged mixed hardwood stands. 

 These are characterized by the abundance of chestnut, which 

 often occurs pure and frequently forms more than one-half the 

 growth over large districts. Commercially chestnut is even 

 more important than the area in the forest occupied by it would 

 indicate, on account of its rapid growth, and because it has a 

 wider range of uses than any of the other species in the region. 



Next in importance rank the oaks, the following five being 

 the most important; white, red, black, scarlet, and chestnut 

 oaks.^ 



Chestnut oak makes its only appearance in New England in 

 this region. 



Not a single species finds its optimum range in the sprout 

 hardwoods region. The oaks and chestnut all secure conditions 

 for their optimum development farther to the south. Gray 

 birch comes as near as any tree to securing optimum conditions, 

 but thrives somewhat better in the white pine region. 



Conifers are scarce, and not an important factor in the present 

 forest. Originally quite large bodies of pitch and white pine 

 occurred, but they were on the sandier soils in the lowland 

 region, on lands easy to clear, and adjacent to the earlier settle- 

 ments. Hence the large stands disappeared long ago. Occa- 

 sional isolated individuals or small clumps of these conifers may 



^ Several other species of oak occur botanically withih the region. 



