REPORT ON FORESTS. 93 



West of Raritan and north of the railroad the timber contains 

 some old trees up to 24 inches in diameter and 60 feet high, but 

 the most of it averages 8 inches in diameter. South of the rail- 

 road is some heavy timber, from 18 to 42 inches diameter and 

 50 to 60 feet high, and a count gave 204 trees per acre. 



At the mouth of Middle brook, north of Burnt Mills, is the 

 McDowell tract, from which the timber has recently been cut. 

 The trees ran from 8 to 36 inches in diameter, and a count gave 

 95 oaks, 95 hickories and 6 maples to the acre, 196 trees in all. 

 One tree was sold recently for $16, at the rate of one and one- 

 half cents per foot, which would make the tree yield 1,066 feet 

 B. M. Two years ago the owner was offered $500 for 10 acres of 

 timber. A piece south of river was sold for $i,ooo, and con- 

 tained 20 acres. Tracts north contain some trees as large, but 

 they are not so numerous. 



Red cedar trees are numerous in this country, and especially 

 so east of Mechanicsville. In nearly all cases no land has been 

 permanently cleared for cultivation, and very little has been 

 entirely cut off. The larger timber is cut out as needed. 



Serious wash or erosion of the soil was observed between 

 Greater Crossroads and Lamingtop, worse than has been observed 

 elsewhere in the State. About a mile west of Readingtoii a 

 tract of 40 acres has been cut off and permanently cleared up. 

 An oak stump here showed 190 rings and measured 30 inches 

 diameter. 



North of Barley Sheaf a count gave 380 trees per acre, meas- 

 uring from 6 to 24 inches diameter and 40 to 50 feet high. Most 

 of these were 14 to 18 inches in diameter. Cushetunk moun- 

 tain has not much heavy timber. It ranges from 4 to 16 inches 

 in diameter, and is chestnut, oak and hickory. 



On Sourland mountain the area of forest is considerable, aggre- 

 gating over 10,000 acres, but it is not heavy timber, perhaps 

 mostly from 6 to 15 inches in diameter. It is mostly oak, hickory 

 and chestnut, with some maple, beech and other varieties. 



In the valley northwest of Sourland mountain, from Fleming- 

 ton to I/ambertville, the red shale is deforested, only wood-lots 

 remaining, attached to farms and representing perhaps 5 per 

 cent, of the acreage. The trees of the several parcels range from 



