28 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



tain ash. The shade is too heavy for good softwood reproduction, but 

 the reproduction of hardwoods, particularly of sugar maple and beech, 

 is often very thick, with a dense matting of young seedlings covering 

 the ground. Very little of this type is now left in virgin forest in 

 the White Mountain region itself, since it was easily lumbered. 



Spruce and balsam occur at present on the steeper slopes where 

 the soil is shallow, and the hardwoods do not thrive so well. Unmer- 

 chantable spruce and balsam are fovmd on the extreme upper slopes 

 and finally run out into a scrubby growth near the summits. The 

 stand is usually dense. Where the forest has been undisturbed the 

 ground cover is moss. The balsam reproduction is often very thick 

 and the spruce reproduction generally fair. 



Spruce slopes cover the greatest area of any of the forest types 

 in this region. Where these slopes are cut over, if fire is kept out, 

 the softwoods return in the second growth. Where fire runs over 

 the ground after lumbering, however, in many cases the entire soil 

 is burned and washed away and the process or return to forest con- 

 ditions is very slow. In some cases, as on the Sugar Loaves, in the 

 township of Carroll, it ^vill never be complete. 



There is practically no real swamp land in northern New Hamp- 

 shire, although in places the sprUce flats approach such a type. There 

 are, however, small areas of swamp of spruce bogs, chiefly in the 

 northern part of Coos County. These have a very dense, scrubby 

 growth of black and red spruce and balsam. In Maine such bogs 

 are more common, and a number of swamps are found, particularly 

 in the Cufsuftic watershed. 



LUMBEKING AND FIRE. 



Sis large lumber and pulp companies are now engaged in logging 

 operations in this region, besides a large number of smaller concerns. 

 But little virgin spruce timber is now left, and at the present rate of 

 lumbering it can last but a few years longer. As far as possible these 

 companies get their present supplies by purchasing stumpage on 

 small holdings in order to preserve the timber on their own lands as 

 long as possible, and owing to the fact that stumpage can now be 

 bought cheaper than it ever can again. When these small holdings 

 are lumbered in this way, they are almost always "skinned" to the 

 last merchantable stick. Owners of the smaller tracts themselves 

 often cut their woodlands in the same manner in order to get as much 

 present revenue as possible. Throughout the mountains the worst 

 destruction has been done on the high slopes, and fire has often fol- 

 lowed with terrible results. 



Clean cutting is practiced on all the steeper slopes. The spruce 

 logs are rolled down the slope to the road below over the merchant- 

 able stuff and the hardwoods, which are first felled down the slope 

 and thus form a good rolling bed. The hardwoods are left lying on 

 the ground unused. The result is a veritable fire trap that lasts for 

 years. In 1903, 84,250 acres of land were burned over in the White 

 Mountain region. WhUe this land was for the most part cut over, a 

 conservative estimate would place the amount of damage at some- 

 thing over $200,000. This was a particularly bad year for fires, but 

 the, same conditions of drought may occur at any time, and, without 

 proper protection, the area burned over may even exceed that biurned 



