68 Eleventh Annual Report 



erii forests, the central hardwood forests, the southern forests, the 

 Rocky Mountain forests and the Pacific Coast forests. A reference 

 to the tables in that report will show that the results obtained in 

 the studies set out in the present paper are in substantial agree- 

 ment with his conclusions. 



In undertaking this study it was assumed that only those por- 

 tions of the State which are untillable could be profitably devoted 

 to timber production. True conservation consists in using every 

 natural resource in the line of its highest value. In Indiana agri- 

 cultural areas should, therefore, be devoted to agriculture and only 

 those regions unfit for this devoted to forestry. In the main these 

 regions lie in the southern counties of the State and more especially 

 in what is known as the " Knobs. 



The material for the first series of studies was collected from 

 the State Forest Reserve in Clark County. The reserve embraces 

 2,000 acres and may be taken as fairly representative of ecological 

 conditions prevalent over wide areas in our southern counties. 



The topography is broken, with elevations ranging from 500 

 f6et above sea-level to 1,000 feet above sea-level. The soil of the 

 tract varies from a loose to a compact clay. Though receiving the 

 average amount of rainfall, the soil is usually hard and dry, not 

 only because of the character of the soil, but also because of the 

 quick run-off. The land is practically untillable, a statement veri- 

 fied by the fact that the tract was purchased for eight ($8) dollars 

 an acre. The timber to meet the future demands in Indian must, 

 in the main, be taken from this region, which is sufficient reason 

 for beginning these studies upon material collected at the State 

 Forest Reserve. 



The sections were taken from trees whose diameters were as 

 near 12 inches, breast high (4^ feet), as could be secured. This 

 size was chosen because at that diameter a tree is not only fit for 

 firewood, poles and posts, but will also furnish a fairly good grade 

 of lumber. Lumbermen, indeed, almost invariably cut below this 

 diameter. Under present conditions trees from 12 to 16 inches in 

 diameter may be classed as ''saw-timber." It is evident that the 

 time required to produce posts, tie, pole and firewood material can 

 be determined as well as the time to produce first-grade timber. 

 The species selected for the study were the following: 

 Scrub or Jersey pine (Pinus virginiana Miller). 

 Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.). 

 Black or pignut hickory (Hicoria glabra (Miller) Britton). 



