HARDWOOD TYPE 41 



represent a different type of forest than that farther south, being 

 pure hardwoods, or mixed conifers and hardwoods, in virgin or semi- 

 virgin condition. The primary object of the survey being to determine 

 the conditions on cut-over and burned-over lands, these townships were 

 considered separately. 



The composition of the various forest types as described in the fol- 

 lowing pages was determined by means of sample plots, which for the 

 most part, were made in strips one chain wide and ten chains long, so as 

 to obtain as nearly as possible the average conditions. The trees of the 

 various species were classified as saplings, poles, standards, and veterans. 

 The saplings are from i inch to 4 inches in diameter ; the poles from 4 

 to 12 inches ; the standards from 12 to 24 inches ; and the veterans 

 over 24 inches in diameter. 



The Hardwood Type 



The hardwood forest type occupies a little over one-quarter of 

 the area included in this report, and almost one-third of the total 

 woodland area. Excluding the young growth of all kinds we find 

 that the mature hardwood forest occupies over three-quarters of the 

 entire mature forest ; in other words, pure hardwood is the prevailing 

 type. Within the hardwood type only 0.15 per cent is in virgin con- 

 dition, and 19.7 per cent of it is semi-virgin. On most of the balance 

 nearly all the saw-logs have been removed, that is, it has been severely 

 culled. Young growth less than 40 years old covers less than three 

 per cent of the hardwood area, and second growth, nearly ready for 

 the axe, hardly one per cent. 



The hardwoods occupy the deeper glacial drift soils, which, for 

 the most part, are sandy loams, but stony. They are found on the 

 higher ridges, if these are well covered with soil, without regard to the 

 nature of the underlying rock. They also often occur on the low sandy 

 flats lying betewen the ridges once occupied by pine. There seems 

 to be little difference in the composition of the soil of such sites and that 

 of the adjoining pine lands, except that the water-table is higher, and 

 hence the soil is much more moist. In addition, since these areas have 

 never been burned over, the soil contains more vegetable matter. Such 

 hardwoods as occupy relatively shallow soils are confined to those 

 overlying the sedimentary limestone, which skirts the southern por- 

 tion of the region. 



In the southern two-thirds of the drainage basin, the hardwoods 

 are localized and irregularly distributed in patches, being surroimded 

 by former pine lands. There are, however, some exceptions to this 

 condition. For example, there is a large, continuous block of hard- 



