FOREST CONDITIONS IN TENNESSEE. 23 



industries center which use timber both from this and adjoining 

 regions. In addition to planing mills, furniture and box factories, 

 there are tannic acid plants using both wood and bark, handle and 

 spoke factories, and other wood-using industries. Practically all 

 of the higher grade timber comes from the mountains. 



The forests are very broken in distribution, being largely con- 

 fined to the crests and steeper slopes of the ridges; many of the 

 broader ridge tops, as well as the valleys, are in cultivation. The 

 stands are, for the most part, uneven-aged, except on old fields and 

 on tracts which have been cut clear for charcoal or fuel. The trees 

 are generally from 7 to 18 inches in diameter, with the exception of 

 an occasional old chestnut or other tree which is considered too 

 hollow or decayed to be worth cutting. The silvicultural condition 

 of the forest is poor owing to the prevalence of fire, the grazing of 

 hogs, and the continued culling out of the best trees. 



The forest may be divided into two original types ridge and 

 slope ; and one temporary type old field. The ridge type includes 

 the ridge tops and the upper south slopes, while the slope type is 

 found on north slopes and the more fertile and sheltered southern 

 exposures. Chestnut oak and chestnut are the characteristic trees 

 of the ridge type, although black and Spanish oaks sometimes pre- 

 dominate, especially on high flats. Other common trees of this type 

 are scarlet and post oaks, pignut hickory, black gum, and short-leaf 

 and scrub pines. The slope type is characterized by red oak, white 

 oak, and yellow poplar, with which are associated chestnut, hickory, 

 maple, butternut, an occasional walnut, and many other hardwoods. 



The old-field forests are usually found on lower slopes or on ridge 

 tops which were once cleared for agricultural purposes. The first 

 woody growth on old fields is usually pine, sassafras, and persim- 

 mon; but later the composition becomes more similar to the origi- 

 nal type, except that there is in most cases a much higher propor- 

 tion of short-leaf and scrub pines. Sometimes the pine reproduces 

 in practically pure stands, while it very often forms groups cover- 

 ing from 20 to 50 per cent of the area. In the original types, pine 

 is confined to the poorer situations and rarely occupies more than 

 from 10 to 15 per cent of the ground. The proportion of short- 

 leaf to scrub pine on the old fields varies greatly, and seems to be de- 

 termined chiefly by the proximity of seed trees of one or the other 

 species. Possibly a little over one-half of the old-field pine in the 

 southern counties consists of the more valuable short-leaf pine, 

 while in the northern counties about three-fourths is scrub pine. 



