448 Karl M. Wiegand and Arthur J. Eames 



Summit Marsh. There were also large tracts in the upper part of Cascadilla valley, 

 on Turkey Hill, and the pine-land extended north in narrow belts from this region, 

 penetrating the tracts of elm and maple of that region. About Ithaca on the hills 

 were 'openings' of oak and hickory and on both shores of the lake, these with other 

 hardwoods prevailed. In the valley near Ithaca, near Buttermilk Falls, and on both 

 shores of the lake there were apple-orchards, and cleared fields, cultivated by the 

 Indians. On the bank near the Fleming schoolhouse was an Indian town called Core- 

 organel, destroyed by Sullivan's army in 1779, and about the site Indian apple-trees 

 existed down to a comparatively recent date. Although the Moravian missionaries, 

 and particularly Bishop David Zeisberger, traversed this valley not infrequently, as 

 early as 1750, it was not settled by white men till 1789, so that all the changes in 

 vegetation which have taken place have come about in less than a century." 



The condition now is not greatly different from that described by Dudley. The 

 primitive forest has all been cleared away except one or two very small areas con- 

 taining a few trees each. Roughly stated, the general composition of the present 

 forest is as follows : On the hills at the southern and southeastern end of the basin 

 two contrasting types of forest are found, each with its own typical undergrowth 

 of shrubs and herbs. One of these types consists principally of beech, yellow birch, 

 and sugar maple, the other of chestnut, dyer's oak, and scarlet oak. These two types 

 often alternate over rather small areas. South of Ithaca the chestnut-oak forest 

 predominates, while in the McLean region the beech-maple alone is found. The 

 dense stand of white pine, which was for the most part coincident with the distribu- 

 tion of the chestnut-oak forest, was largely cleared away before Dudley's time, and 

 now, in general, only scattered trees of second or third growth are left. At present 

 the stump fences constructed from white pine stumps are the best indication of the 

 former range, which is given in the foregoing quotation from Dudley. A beauti- 

 ful tract of the primitive white pine forest, about ten acres in extent, was pre- 

 served in the valley at North Spencer until about twenty years ago, and was 

 known as Signer's Woods. The trees in this grove were magnificent specimens of 

 white pine, with trunks several times larger than those of the average second- 

 growth pine trees now found. The trunks were perfectly straight, and extended 

 unbranched to a great height. At present the only first-growth pine trees in the basin 

 are probably a few in a woodland on West Hill northwest of Ithaca, and others in 

 a tract of forest on the hill east of White Church. 



On the lower plateau from Varna, Ithaca, and Enfield northward, forests of beech 

 and hard maple alternate with woods of basswood, elm, hickory, white oak, and red 

 oak, with soft maples abundant on the lower grounds. Scarlet oak, dyer's oak, and 

 chestnut occur very rarely and in isolated colonies. From Ovid northward on the 

 Ontario plain, silver and red maples, elms, black and white ashes, and bur oak, become 

 the dominant trees. Along the lake shores the prevailing timber is hardwood. Red 

 cedar is fairly abundant on the lake cliffs and the steep dry hillsides bordering the 

 lake valley. Hemlock is frequent in the ravines and about the swamps, and in the 

 primitive forest was an important timber tree. Arbor vitae is confined to the Ontario 

 plain. Black spruce and balsam fir are limited to a few peat bogs. 



EXPLORATIONS 



An excellent account of the explorations in the Cayuga Lake Basin previous to the 

 publication of Dudley's Flora is given by Dudley in the introduction to his work, and 

 is here reprinted : 44 



"The first professional botanist to penetrate any portion of this basin was John 



Bartram in 1743 His journey [to Onondaga] was not primarily 



a botanical one, and his book entitled : 'Observations on the Inhabitants etc., in 

 Travels from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario/ was printed in London, 1751, and is 

 now a rare work. 



44 The Cayuga Flora, page xxi. By William R. Dudley. 



