10 



The Forests of Maryland. 



industry. Here again the forest maps, supplemented by the sum- 

 mary of timber products for each county, should serve to indicate local 

 production. For the statistician and student of economy much wiU be 

 found of value. And finally, every one interested in the natural re- 

 sources of Maryland will find in the descriptions, maps, and tables 

 accurate information concerning them. 



All these should find in this Report upon The Forests op Mary- 

 land, with its supplement of county maps and county timber data, 

 location of woodlands, their kinds, amounts, and range of forest 

 products, an answer to their questions, assistance in the solution of 

 local forest problems, and an incentive to a study of the forests. In 

 their value of natural products the forest resources of Maryland rank 

 second only to agriculture. It is intended that this Report should be a 

 hand-book of Maryland's forests, supplying information which has 

 heretofore been inaccessible regarding these great natural resources of 

 the State. 



THE FORESTS OF MARYLAND. 



Maryland occupies a central position on the Atlantic Seaboard, and 

 with its exceptional inland waterwaj^s possesses a location of great 

 advantage in a commercial sense. Its natural resources of soil, mine, 

 forest and water all contribute to its supremacy. There is probably no 

 State in the Union which, on an equal area, has such a diversity of 

 products and conditions. In land area Maryland ranks forty-first, and 

 twenty-seventli in population among the continental United States. 



Traversing the extreme length of the State from southeast to 

 northwest, a distance of 262 miles, there come the flat, sandy land of 

 tidewater and mild climate ; the rolling hills and varied topogi'aphy of 

 the central part; and finally the mountains and rugged conditions of 

 the westernmost section, where the extreme elevation of 3300 feet above 

 sea level is attained, and a vigorous climate like that of the north pre- 

 vails. As the topography va:fies, so do the soils and products — from 

 the peanuts, figs and sweet potatoes of the south to the buckwheat and 

 maple sugar of the north and west. Likewise do the tree species 

 change — from the cypress, white cedar, loblolly pine and red gum 

 characteristic of the south, to the spruce, white pine, yellow birch and 

 sugar maple typical of the north. "While practically all of the oaks 

 and hickories found in the eastern United States, with numerous other 

 important species, occur between. 



The soils over the southeastern third of the State, comprising the 

 Coastal Plain Division, present all grades of sands and sandj^ loam to 

 silt loam soils, all resulting from sea deposits. The Central or Pied- 



