22 FOBUSTS OF WISCONSIN: 



HEMLOCK. 



Hemlock is confined to tke gravelly loam and clay lands of 

 tke more humid half of If orth Wisconsin and shares some of 

 the pectdiarities of the white pine growing within these limits. 

 It is generally old timber with little indication of active repro- 

 duction. Over wide areas only large old trees occur, and in 

 many localities even these are gradually dying out. Wherever 

 the forest is partly cleared, where considerable pine is removed, 

 the hardwoods cut out, clearings and roads opened, and also 

 where fire has run, the hemlock with its shallow system of roots 

 at once shows its great sensitiveness to any interference in the 

 moisture of the soil, and all or at least most of the trees succumb. 

 Lx this way a large proportion of the hemlock on the lighter 

 gravelly loams of Price, Savtyer, Chippewa, and other counties 

 has been killed. Much of the timber on heavier lands in the 

 vicinity of pine slashings, etc., has also died and now furnishes 

 great quantities of dead and fallen material for future fires, 

 which in turn will decrease the supply of the much underesti- 

 mated material. 



There is apparently no lack of seed, for like pine the hem- 

 lock in 1897 was full of cones, and yet there is but very little 

 reproduction of this tree. For miles no young growth of any 

 size is seen, and the small trees, often mistaken for saplings, gen- 

 erally prove to be runts, — suppressed individuals, often 150 and 

 more years old. The only places where this tree still seems to 

 hold its own are some of the wet "half-swamps" of the eastern 

 part of this area. The young hemlock stands a great deal of 

 shading and close crowding, but grows slowly both in height and 

 thickness. The tree does not clean itself well of its branches, 

 rarely forks, forms a more tapering trunk than the pines and 

 does not attain their dimensions. In the southern part of its 

 area and on the heavier soils it grows to a height of 85 to 100 

 feet, with a diameter of 24 to 30 inches; in the northern counties 

 and on the lighter gravels it is usually both shorter and smaller, 

 frequently not over 60 feet high and under 20 inches in diameter. 



