RED OAK AND WHITE ASH 
A STUDY OF GROWTH AND YIELD 
SUCCESSION OF TYPES 
THESE studies were carried out on the Harvard Forest and 
surrounding woodlands. The country here is physiograph- 
ically simple and consists of wide open valleys running north 
and south. The bed rock is gneiss and this gives rise gen- 
erally to a sandy or light soil, but heavier soils also occur. 
The forest is not original, but is practically all second growth. 
Just prior to the Civil War, the farmers of central New 
England began to abandon their farms, partly on account of 
the opening up of the West, partly because of the growth of 
manufactures and later because of the Civil War. The 
ground was very stony and rough and the climate very bitter. 
No extensive cultivation was possible owing to the results of 
the glacial period. Boulders abound, particularly at the 
lower elevations, which normally are the most fertile. The 
higher elevations are the freest from stones, but they are also 
the most exposed. This had been a region of dense forests 
when first settled and the original homes bear witness of the 
magnificent trees which grew in those forests. As in every 
case of pioneer settlement, the rich stores of timber were 
swept away and this rock strewn, boulder-covered land was 
converted to farmland. This region is peculiar in that while 
the soil may be regarded as agricultural, the land as a whole, 
owing to the boulders, must be regarded as forest land. 
Once abandoned, the land was at once attacked by the 
forces of nature. The lightest seeded trees, white pine and 
gray birch, seeded up the greatest part. It would appear 
from many fields at present that the longer an area is left un- 
seeded the more difficult it becomes to establish tree growth 
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