adjacent to farming sections. Forest land in public 

 ownership is generally located along the steeper 

 slopes and the less productive ridges. 



Forest Description 



Most of the farms in the northern dairy and Blue 

 Mountain Valley subdivisions are partly in forest 

 (fig. 32). In contrast to these, the two other sub- 



Condition 



The forests of the farming areas are in much better 

 condition than those in the coal fields, or even than 

 those in the extensive forests. Though they com- 

 prise but 48 percent of the total forest area of the 

 Anthracite Forest Region they include 56 percent of 

 the area in pole-timber stands and 62 percent of 



NONFOREST AREA 



FOREST AREA 



NORTHERN 

 DAIRY 



SUSQUEHANNA 

 VALLEY 



DAUPHtN- 

 LEBANON 



BLUE MOUNTAIN 

 VALLEY 







. 















800 



600 400 



ACRES 

 (N THOUSANDS 



200 



400 eoo 



A C R E3 

 JN THOUSANDS 



600 



Figure 32. — Forest in the farming area, by subdivisions. 



divisions include many farms that have no appreciable 

 woodland area. In the north there are a few areas 

 (higher in elevation than the surrounding country) 

 that contain several thousand acres of forest. In the 

 south numerous forested ridges that run through or 

 adjacent to farming sections have been included in 

 the Susquehanna and Blue Mountain Valley subdi- 

 visions. The Dauphin-Lebanon subdivision, which 

 is least forested, embraces the Cornwall Hills. 



About 46 percent of the farming area is in forest. 

 The proportion of forest land in each of the farming 

 area subdivisions is: 



Percent 



Northern dairy 50 



Susquehanna Valley 43 



Dauphin-Lebanon 20 



Blue Mountain Valley 55 



the area in saw-timber stands. All together, they 

 contain about 60 percent of the saw timber and 57 

 percent of the total timber volume in the Anthra- 

 cite Forest Region (fig. 33). 



The northern dairy and Dauphin-Lebanon subdivi- 

 sions are farthest removed from the mines and have 

 the largest proportion of their forest land in farm 

 woodlands. They are also in the best condition. A 

 large percentage of the merchantable acreage is in 

 the northern dairy subdivisions where 74 percent of 

 the saw-timber and 72 percent of the pole-timber 

 stands are located. The condition of the Dauphin- 

 Lebanon forests is as good, but the acreage is much less. 

 The other subdivisions (table 15) are potentially as 

 good as any, but need well planned management to 

 bring them to full productivity. 



44 



Miscellaneous Publication 648, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



