68 



The Forests op Maryland. 



The forests in the upper part of the County are principally in 

 woodlots, and in the southern half are confined in large part to the 

 shores of the Bay and along the numerous tidewater streams. Where 

 the Piedmont section occurs, the most important trees are the white 

 and hlack oaks, chestnut, hickory and poplar; in the Coastal Plain 

 there are Spanish, willow, pin and swamp white oaks, as well as gum. 

 In the east-central part of the County there are scattered clusters of 

 scrub pine, but no real softwood forests. A forest survey made in 

 1911 showed Cecil County's woodlands to be exceptional, in that they 

 ranked as 100 per cent hardwood — 21,738 acres containing timber 

 amounting to 5,000 board feet and upward per acre, and 50,805 acres 

 of less. 



Uses op the Forest. 



There are 24 portable and stationary miUs, principally the former, 

 in operation, and their cut in 1914 aggregated 716,780 cubic feet of 

 wood, worth $96,893. Lumber came first, then poles, cordwood, piling, 

 charcoal, pulpwood, railroad ties, shingles, posts and lath. Practically 

 all of the pole material was chestnut, which since the introduction of 

 the blight has been cut and marketed in constantly increasing quanti- 

 ties, and often at unreasonably low prices, in order to make some 

 utilization of the affected trees. It is easy and quite profitable to 

 market railroad ties here, for there are 62 miles of railway in the 

 County, a consequently favorable market, and easy accessibility to 

 wooded I'egions. At Colora, Conowingo, Elkton, Georgetown, Leslie, 

 North East, Port Deposit, and Rising Sun there are retail lumber 

 yards. There are also planing mills at Elkton and Port Deposit, a 

 boat yard at Chesapeake City, and one for barges at Elkton. In view 

 of superior facilities for water transportation, it seems that there 

 might be additional opportunities for the development and enlarge- 

 ment of this branch of the wood-using industry. 



In the past, forest fires have been prevalent in this County, much 

 to the detriment of existing woodlands. Local forests have suffered 

 much in this respect, as also later from the blight, and frequently 

 from wasteful cutting. In the better agricultural districts clearing 

 for farming is going on, and much of the older farm lands are grow- 

 ing up in trees of inferior species. From these causes and others the 

 forests of Cecil County may hardly be said to be in the most desirable 

 or productive condition; prompt and efficient measures are needed 

 for their improvement. 



