386 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



found. It is most abundant in the south-eastern part of the state, spring- 

 ing up along sandy plains and around the edges of woodland. Its growth 

 is rapid, rising again, when cut down, by shoots from the root. This 

 species supplies the "gray birch hoop-poles" used in the manufacture of 

 fish barrels. 



Five or six species of oaks are found here. Of these the red oak is 

 the hardiest, but, although the only species found along the water-shed 

 between the Merrimack and Connecticut, it does not extend much beyond 

 the White Mountains, having its upper limit at about one thousand feet 

 above the sea The white and yellow oaks usually appear together, grow- 

 ing on the plains and hillsides along the rivers. The former of these, 

 especially valuable for the strength and durability of its timber, extends 

 northward in the Connecticut valley nearly to the mouth of the Pas- 

 sumpsic, in the Merrimack valley to Plymouth, and, in the eastern part 

 of the state, to the vicinity of Ossipee lake. Its limit in altitude is about 

 five hundred feet above the sea, which is also very nearly that of the 

 frost grape. The barren or scrub oak is abundant on the pine plains of 

 the lower Merrimack valley, thence extending eastward to the coast, and 

 to the sandy plains of Madison and Conway. The chestnut oak seems 

 to be local in this state ; at Amherst and West Ossipee it can be found 

 abundantly. 



The chestnut is found in the same situations as the white oak, but is the 

 first to reach its limit in altitude, which is at a height of about four hun- 

 dred feet above the sea. It occurs in a few localities about Lake Winni- 

 piseogee at a somewhat greater height, the neighborhood of the lake 

 producing less severity of temperature than in the river valleys at the 

 same altitude. 



The American elm attains probably the largest size of any of our 

 deciduous trees. This naturally finds its home in the alluvial soil of our 

 rivers. It has also been the most extensively planted for shade and orna- 

 ment of all our trees, excepting perhaps the sugar maple. Owing to its 

 majestic appearance, it is very conspicuous wherever present, but the 

 number growing together is generally small. 



Butternuts also prefer the borders of streams, and, in the valley of the 

 Pemigewasset, extend northward to the base of the mountains. Hicko- 

 ries are most common in the lower Merrimack valley, the shellbark 



