CHARACTER OF BROADLEAF FORESTS 



tered far apart. The region is even 

 bleak and dreary — at least nntil the 

 summer comes; but when everything 

 turns green the season is glorious. As 

 we ride through these woods we real- 

 ize the majesty of their stillness and 

 strength, and cannot help admiring the 

 great oaks and chestnuts that contend 

 for the ground, succmnbing only after 

 centuries in the strife. 



While the broadleaf forests of 

 western ^orth Carolina and eastern 

 Tennessee are characterized princi- 

 pally by grandeur, this is not com- 

 monly a pronounced trait of the leafy 

 forests. Rather are they distinguished 

 for a certain air of cheerfulness, the 

 expression of which will vary in dif- 

 ferent localities; but in some way it 

 will manifest itself almost everywhere. 

 107 



