F-474967 



Figure 11. — The aspen- 

 birch forest types are pio- 

 neer types that in many 

 places come in on old 

 burns. 



Gray birch is beneficial in that it quickly heals the 

 scars left by fire and destructive logging. The aspen, 

 useful for making pulp, behaves the same way. Pres- 

 ence of the aspen-birch type, however, indicates rela- 

 tively low productive use of the land, except where it 

 is a nurse crop for establishing more valuable trees. 



Paper birch is one of the best woods in the world for 

 turning on a lathe. Little has been known about the 

 management of this type, but it seems likely that, with 

 continued fire protection, paper birch acreage will 

 dwindle unless positive measures are taken to perpetu- 

 ate it. 



The hardwood type group (fig. 12) occupies the 

 remaining 50 percent of the commercial forest land. 



It includes five forest types : 



AcTCi 



Yellow birch-sugar maple-beech 1, 230, 900 



Hardwood-spruce-fir 494, 100 



Hardwood-white pine 444, 500 



Oak 94, 700 



Ash-maple-elm 90, 000 



Total 2, 354, 200 



The yellow birch-sugar maple-beech type is also known 

 as the northern hardwood type. These are the hard- 

 woods found mostly in mixture with spruce and fir. 

 On the other hand, the hardwoods found in mixture 

 with the pines are usually oaks or red maple, at least 

 in the southern counties. 



14 



Forest Resource Report No. 8, U. S. Dcpartnient of Agriculture 



