6 



UNITED STATES. 



Others to the Mississippi, the realms of forest have 

 experienced but slight infringements on their do- 

 main. 



If the whole of the country could be taken in at 

 one view, we should perceive this forest to be divid- 

 ed into three grand districts, distinguished from 

 each other by the kind, species, and aspect, of the 

 trees that compose it. The species of these trees, 

 according to the remark of the Americans, indicate 

 the nature and qualities of the soil, on which they 

 grow. 



The first of these districts, which may be called 

 the southern forest, includes tlie maritime parts of 

 Virginia, of the two Carolinvis, i;f Georgia, and of the 

 Floridas, and extends, generally speaking, from 

 Chesapeak bay to the river St. Mary, on a soli of 

 gravel and sand, occupying, in breadth, from eig;hty 

 to a hundred und tiiirty miles. The whole of this 

 space, covered with pines, firs, larches, cypresses, 

 and other resinous trees, displays a perpetual ver- 

 dure to the eye, but would not be on this account the 

 less barren, if the sides of the rivers, land deposited 

 by the waters, and marshes, did not intermingle 

 with its veins rendered highly productive by cultiva- 

 tion. 



The second district, or middle forest, comprises 

 the hiliy part of the Carolinas and Virginia, all 

 Pennsylvania, the south of New York, all Kentucky 

 and the North- Western Territory, as far as the 

 river Wabash. The whole of this extent is filled 

 with the different species of the oak, beech, maple, 

 walnut, sycamore, acacia, mulberry, plum, ash, 

 birch, sassafras, and poplar, on the coasts of the 



