REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST I913 59 



ground, which retarded more than ever the natural course of decay 

 with the result that an acid litter developed which favored the 

 enormous development of heather which is now troubling the 

 foresters in many places. The absence of any limestone in the rock 

 formations of the region, which might serve as a source of possible 

 neutralization of the acid litter, has produced conditions upon the 

 introduction of the oak coppice system not unlike the upland heather 

 character of much of the southern Appalachian soils. 



Spruce is the species most desired just now, by reason of its com- 

 paratively high value and wide range of utilization, but it has a 

 slow initial growth and nowhere has it conquered the heather 

 unaided by man, to any marked degree. In some places where the 

 heather is not too dense the spruce is slowly forging ahead, but the 

 process is slow and thus expensive, and these tracts will yield no 

 returns for a long time to come. On a small experimental tract 

 of one-fourth acre, with spruce 15 years old, and their tops, or 

 some of them, barely showing above the dense mat of heather, the 

 oberforster has grubbed out the stems and roots of the heather, 

 obtaining the enormous quantity of a dozen large loads of the 

 dried heather. This was done to see if it would give the spruce a 

 chance to get well ahead of the heather before it completely 

 dominates the soil again. Shade is fatal to the heather but it is 

 difficult for any species unaided to reach a height where it will 

 overshade the heather. 



White pine alone shows any marked ability to overcome the 

 heather by its rapid height growth and the heavy humus which it 

 speedily forms and which seems to choke the heather out of ex- 

 istence without much aid from the foresters in charge. Even where 

 there is left for the heather under the white pine some overhead 

 light the thin layer of needles cast over the heather seems fatal to 

 its growth, and it is soon replaced by a smooth carpet of pine 

 needles. On the other hand the white pine will not yield any con- 

 siderable returns by thinnings and is considered too weak for poles 

 and mine props and too soft for firewood. In fact these are 

 probably the principal reasons why white pine is not more ex- 

 tensively planted in many other places abroad. In the case of the 

 Affoltenbach range the foresters in charge plan to get rid of the 

 heather by means of the white pine and then to replace that by 

 more desirable species. 



In the small hamlets of the vicinity sonic characteristic home 

 industries which depend upon the forests arc to lie observed. Hand- 

 made split oak shingles are still used to a large extent for roofs and 



