PRESENT FOREST CONDITIONS IN CONNECTICUT. 13 



fields, with birch more conspicuous in some places and cedar in others. 

 Sooner or later other and more valuable species begin to appear be- 

 neath or between them, and, if left alone, the forest ultimately de- 

 velops into the prevailing mixed hardwoods type. Since the refor- 

 estation of an abandoned field rarely becomes complete in less than 

 50 or perhaps 100 years, the resulting stand is of very uneven age. 

 All stages in the transition from field to merchantable forest may be 

 found: First, the advance growth of birch, cedar, and shrubs of va- 

 rious kinds; then crowded mixtures of these with young trees of more 

 shade-enduring species, fighting vigorously for light and growing 

 space; and, finally, the stand of oaks and chestnut. Once cut over, 

 this becomes the characteristic even-aged woodland. 



EVEN-AGED HARDWOODS. 



Even-aged hardwoods may be termed the characteristic forest of 

 Connecticut. These types are, from the standpoint of forestry, 

 at once the most valuable and the most interesting in the State. 

 From them, all but a small portion of Connecticut's domestic wood 

 supply is obtained. The tree above all others which has contrib- 

 uted to this production is chestnut. Fully one-half of the standing 

 timber in Connecticut is of this species. Chestnut is practically 

 the only tree in the State used for telegraph and telephone poles; 

 it furnishes the greater part of the supply of railroad ties; and is the 

 principal source of firewood. Next to it in importance are the 

 oaks, principally the black oaks. Among the other species which, in 

 less abundance, enter into these types are hickory, red maple, white 

 ash, and, of less importance, aspen, cherry, butternut, and basswood. 



The value and, in fact, the very existence of second-growth hard- 

 wood stands depends largely upon the prolific sprouting capacity 

 of the species which compose them. Much the greater part of the 

 present Connecticut forests originated from sprouts. This is par- 

 ticularly true of chestnut. Indeed, there is reason to believe that 

 the amount of chestnut in Connecticut has increased since cutting 

 began, chiefly through its prodigious sprouting capacity combined 

 with its rapid growth. 



One of the most striking features of these types is their evenness 

 of age. This is the result of the common practice of clean cutting, 

 together with abundant sprouting capacity. Where there is a 

 cordwood market, lumber, tie, or pole operations are usually followed 

 by cordwood choppers, who utilize the logging waste and the smaller 

 trees left by the loggers, and thus complete the total removal of the 

 stand. During the ensuing spring, provided no fire occurs, prac- 

 tically every chestnut stump and most of the smaller stumps of 

 oak and other species send up quantities of rapid-growing sprouts, 

 which, in the course of five or six years, close together and form a 



