OUR FORESTS 11 



of the United States because of the large area of nonagricultural 

 land, the valuable species of hardwoods it can produce, and its 

 proximity to the large markets for forest products. 



Many other species are found in the northern forest region, Those 

 characteristic of the northern portion include red, black, and white 

 spruces ; balsam fir ; northern white, red, jack, and pitch pines ; hem- 

 lock; sugar and red maples; beech; northern red, white, black, and 

 scarlet oaks; yellow, paper, black, and gray birches; several species 

 of aspen and cottonwood; basswood; elms; ashes; northern white 

 cedar ; and tamarack. The species of the southern, or southern Ap- 

 palachian portion, are white, northern red, chestnut, black, and 

 scarlet oaks; chestnut; hemlock; northern white, shortleaf, pitch, 

 and Virginia pines ; black and yellow birches ; basswood ; sugar and 

 red maples; beech; red spruce; southern balsam; cucumber; black 

 cherry; hickories; black locust; black gum; and buckeye. 



CENTRAL HARDWOOD FOREST REGION 



The central hardwood region is the most extensive of the forest 

 regions. It covers the piedmont section east of the Appalachian 

 Mountains, the greater part of the drainage basins of the Mississippi 

 and Ohio Rivers, and extends southwestward through Oklahoma 

 over central Texas. It may be divided into three portions — north- 

 ern, southern, and Texas. 



Three fourths of the timber -producing acreage in this forest 

 region is in farm woodlands, generally 10 to 40 acres in extent, and 

 only one fourth is in comparatively large tracts of practically con- 

 tinuous forest. The largest forest stands are found in the hilly sec- 

 tions, mainly on lands not well suited for farming, in southern Ohio, 

 Illinois, and Indiana, the highland rim of Kentucky and Tennessee, 

 and the Ozark Plateau in Missouri and Arkansas. The farm wood- 

 lands are scattered more thickly throughout the better-developed 

 agricultural sections (fig. 7). 



The present stands of timber in the central hardwood region are 

 largely the culled remnants of former splendid hardwood forests. 

 Continued cutting of the best species and individuals, forest fires, 

 and the heavy pasturing of woodlands have worked havoc, but a 

 few virgin stands are still in existence. 



The central hardwood forest region has a large variety of hard- 

 wood species. The northern portion of the region contains white, 

 black, northern red, scarlet, bur, chestnut, and chinquapin oaks; 

 shagbark, whiteheart, pignut, and bitternut hickories; white, blue, 

 green, and red ashes; American, rock, and slippery elms; red and 

 silver maples; beech; pitch, shortleaf, and Virginia pines; yellow 

 poplar; sycamore; chestnut; black walnut; cottonwood; hackberry; 

 black cherry; basswood; buckeye; and red cedar. The species of 

 the southern portion include white, post, southern red, blackjack, 

 chestnut, swamp chestnut, and pin oaks; red and black gums; white 

 heart, pignut, and southern shagbark hickories; shortleaf and Vir- 

 ginia pines ; white, blue, and red ashes ; yellow poplar ; black locust ; 

 elms; sycamore; black walnut; silver and red maples; beech; buck- 

 eye ; dogwood ; persimmon ; cottonwoods and willows ; red cedar ; and 

 Osage orange. The Texas portion includes post, southern red, and 

 blackjack oaks; and mountain and other cedars. 



