BARREN AND EDMONSON COUNTIES. 15 
The sweet gum (Liguidambar styraciflua) is still very abun- 
dant on the river and its tributaries. This tree has not been 
sought after so much as the tulip tree, and, consequently, has 
not been removed to so great an extent. It is a soft wood, and 
valuable for most purposes where poplar has been used. For 
all kinds of structures, where there is no immediate exposure 
to the weather, this is a valuable wood. The trees are of im- 
mense size, being frequently found in the counties lying next 
down the river from Edmonson county, four and a half feet in 
diameter and seventy to eighty feet high, with scarcely a limb. 
They equal the largest poplars. There is not much “xx or 
bass-wood (Zilia Americana) found on the tributaries of Green 
river. The trees found are small and of little value for saw- 
ing. 
Hard-wood.—The species of oak, known among wood-work- 
ers as white oak, attains an enormous development along Green 
river. The white oak, burr oak, and swamp white oak, form 
immense trunks, reaching to a height of eighty feet, where 
they still seem to be three feet in diameter. One could hardly 
determine which to admire most—their number, their size, or 
grand uniform straight trunks. Although for thirty years the 
trade in French butts via New Orleans has existed, one cannot 
see that even an impression has been made on the supply. 
Timber which has stood the test for such a long period of time 
in the manufacture of wine-casks needs no recommendation 
from any one. 
The Spanish oak is very plentiful in some localities. The 
timber of this species of oak is valued for wagon-work of all 
kinds, and is scarcely, if at all, inferior for such manufactures to 
white oak. The bark is also used in tanning. 
Chestnut oak is abundant on the ridges on both sides of 
Green river, but especially to the west of it. The largest 
beech trees | have ever seen are very abundant on Green river. 
Their trunks are finely formed, running up forty to fifty feet 
without any large branches, and as much as three feet in diam- 
eter three feet from the ground. 
The chestnut is abundant also. 
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