MARYLAND WEATHER SERVICE 231 



The plants which occur in the region a little further to the west, 

 as in the neighborhood of Ennnittsburg do not differ to any con- 

 spicuous degree until one reaches the wooded slopes of the hills. 

 The more level ground has been cultivated for a long period, and 

 the common weeds are abundant; the woods have been culled in a 

 series of commercial cuttings, taking at one time the merchantable 

 trees of Hickory, White Oak, or Black Walnut, and at a later time 

 removing such of the remaining species as may seem to the owner 

 to be most marketable. In consequence the woodlots are not at 

 all uniform in species, in those localities which are easily reached 

 by roads or saw mills. In the more remote places there is a greater 

 uniformity in the forest stand, but the commercial interests of the 

 individual owner have had a considerable influence even in these 

 cases which can not be estimated in the study of the present stand, 

 except to a slight degree by making a large series of comparisons 

 of separate wooded areas. This has not been practicable, and the 

 species present have been recorded with no attempt to allow for the 

 influence of wood cutting. 



Woodlots. — The groves, or isolated woodlots upon the separate 

 farms, do not differ materially from the similar pieces of wood- 

 land which were described just above, being composed chiefly of 

 Oaks and Chestnuts, with a scattering of Hickory. As the higher 

 ground is approached in the lower slopes of the Blue Bidge, a more 

 marked difference becomes apparent, and the character of the for- 

 est stand becomes quite changed from the type about the West- 

 minster section of Parr's Bidge. 



Emmittsburg lies at the northern end of the Frederick Valley 

 and is surrounded by farm lands, which extend furthest on the east- 

 ern and southern sides. On the west the farming land is less broad 

 because of the near approach of the Blue Bidge and its foot hills. 



Blue Bidge Area. 



The Blue Bidge area, like Parr's Bidge, consists of a central axis 

 of considerable elevation with flanking ridges of lesser height more 

 or less parallel with the main ridge. These are dissected into 

 rounded hills by the water courses draining the area. In detail 



