﻿FOREST 
  PLANTING 
  ON 
  COAL 
  LANDS 
  IN 
  WESTERN 
  

   PENNSYLVANIA. 
  

  

  HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  ORIGINAL 
  FOREST. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century 
  the 
  upper 
  Ohio 
  Valley 
  was 
  covered 
  by 
  a 
  

   dense 
  hardwood 
  forest, 
  in 
  which 
  oak, 
  hickory, 
  ash, 
  yellow 
  poplar 
  

   (tulip 
  tree), 
  walnut, 
  maple, 
  and 
  other 
  valuable 
  species 
  attained 
  fine 
  

   proportions. 
  The 
  white 
  oak 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  trees 
  in 
  

   the 
  forest. 
  Michaux, 
  the 
  French 
  botanist, 
  who 
  traveled 
  through 
  the 
  

   region 
  near 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  century, 
  wrote: 
  "The 
  white 
  oak 
  abounds 
  

   chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  Middle 
  States 
  and 
  in 
  Virginia, 
  particularly 
  in 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  

   Pennsylvania 
  and 
  Virginia 
  which 
  lies 
  between 
  the 
  Alleghenies 
  and 
  the 
  

   Ohio, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  150 
  miles, 
  beginning 
  at 
  Brownsville, 
  on 
  the 
  Monon- 
  

   gahela. 
  Near 
  Greensburg, 
  Macconnelsville, 
  Unionville, 
  and 
  Wash- 
  

   ington 
  Court 
  House 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  large 
  forests, 
  nine-tenths 
  of 
  which 
  

   consisted 
  of 
  white 
  oak 
  whose 
  healthful 
  appearance 
  evinced 
  the 
  favor- 
  

   able 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  soil." 
  ° 
  

  

  Of 
  this 
  great 
  forest 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Appalachian 
  coal 
  

   field 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  percentage 
  remains 
  to-day. 
  The 
  detailed 
  history 
  

   of 
  its 
  consumption 
  is 
  in 
  many 
  respects 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  other 
  

   regions, 
  since, 
  despite 
  some 
  influences 
  which 
  tended 
  toward 
  conserva- 
  

   tion, 
  the 
  forest 
  was 
  ultimately 
  reduced 
  to 
  isolated 
  woodlots. 
  

  

  The 
  soil 
  was 
  early 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  valuable 
  for 
  agriculture, 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  

   the 
  first 
  incentive 
  to 
  clear 
  the 
  land. 
  The 
  trees 
  were 
  felled, 
  rolled 
  into 
  

   piles, 
  and 
  burned. 
  Later 
  the 
  timber 
  on 
  lands 
  near 
  the 
  principal 
  

   rivers 
  was 
  cut 
  for 
  lumber 
  and 
  transported 
  down 
  the 
  Ohio 
  to 
  market. 
  

   When 
  railroads 
  began 
  to 
  intersect 
  the 
  country 
  new 
  territory 
  was 
  

   made 
  accessible 
  to 
  lumbering. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  uncertain 
  when 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  wood 
  for 
  fuel 
  was 
  replaced 
  by 
  coal, 
  

   but 
  it 
  is 
  reported 
  that 
  by 
  1825 
  some 
  3,500 
  tons 
  of 
  coal 
  were 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  Pittsburg, 
  and 
  in 
  1846 
  local 
  consumption 
  had 
  increased 
  to 
  

   464,000 
  tons. 
  In 
  those 
  localities 
  where 
  natural 
  gas 
  was 
  abundant 
  it 
  

   replaced 
  both 
  coal 
  and 
  wood 
  as 
  fuel. 
  But 
  with 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  

   the 
  charcoal 
  iron 
  industry 
  another 
  cause 
  of 
  rapid 
  wood 
  consumption 
  

   arose. 
  Even 
  in 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century 
  a 
  relatively 
  small 
  number 
  of 
  

   blast 
  furnaces 
  for 
  iron 
  making 
  were 
  in 
  operation, 
  but 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  

  

  a 
  The 
  North 
  American 
  Silva, 
  by 
  Francois 
  Andrew 
  Michaux; 
  translated 
  by 
  Augustus 
  L. 
  

   Hillhouse, 
  1819. 
  

  

  (5) 
  

  

  