FORESTS OF THE LOOSE GRAY LOAMS. 201 



To the eastward in Person, Orange and Alamance counties the 

 small shagbark hickory is frequent along the crests of sandy ridges, 

 forming in a few places as much as 10 per cent, of thegrow^th over 

 limited areas. 



Where high hills occur with sandy or gravelly crests, and espe- 

 cially if boiildery, as the river-hills along the Deep and Haw, and 

 the elevated ridges in Person county which centre around Fuller 

 mountain, the chestnut oak becomes conspicuous, and in culled and 

 coppiced woodland rapidly propagates, seeding at an early age, 

 and abundantly reproducing from stool shoots. * 



Coppiced and culled woods deteriorate in two directions accor- 

 ding to -the kind of soil on which they grow ; if on sandy soils the 

 early seeding black-jack oak and post oak increase, their seedlings, 

 appearing among the stool shoots, the trees of these species becom- 

 ing large enough to prodnce seed before those other kinds; on the 

 stitfer red soils where the black-jack oak is w^anting, the sourwood 

 increases rapidly for the same reason, it seeding at a very early 

 age, especially from shoots. 



On the hillsides in culled woods many maple seedlings occur, 

 and reach a height of 20 or 30 feet, and then die. The black gum 

 does the same, small trees of this species often forming a consider- 

 erable proportion of the young growth ; but although it reaches a 

 much larger size than the red maple, and persists for afar longer 

 time, it, too, is finally suppressed by more rapid-groAving trees 

 which are better suited for the dry soils. To a less extent the same 

 is true of the sweet gum, but unless in rather favored localities its 

 seedlings, which appear in many places in the w^oods, die after a 

 few years growth. 



Where the soils are not too sandy or thin there is a growth of 

 broad-leaf trees nearly as excellent in quality as that on the com- 

 pact red loams. Its average height, however, will scarcely exceed 

 85 feet, and as the soil becomes more silicious there are fewer 

 small-nut and shagbark hickories and black oaks, these being- 

 supplanted by post and Spanish oaks ; or, if thecountrj- is rugged 

 and the crests of the hills rocky and gravelly, especially if with 

 quartz fragments, the scarlet oaks and pignut hickories enter 

 largely. 



