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The Forests op Maryland. 



Hardwood forests constitute 94 per cent of the county's total wood- 

 ed area, the survey of 1909 shows, stands of pine, and of mixed hard- 

 wood and pine, each being present to the extent of only 3 per cent. 

 None of the hardwoods amount to over 5,000 board feet per acre, 

 while there are 55,359 acres where the stand is less than this ; 166 acres 

 of pine contains stands of 5,000 and more board feet per acre, and 

 1,840 acres of less ; there are only 31 acres of mixed stands exceeding 

 5,000 feet, and 1,874 of less. 



Uses of the Forests. 



The 1914 cut in Queen Anne's County from 26 mills and large 

 timber operators aggregated 690,205 cubic feet, with a value of $83,- 

 363. Lumber is of course heading the list, with the other forest pro- 

 ducts, in order of their importance, cordwood, piling, poles, pulpwood, 

 railroad ties, mine props, and lath. There are 54 miles of railroad 

 lines in Queen Anne's Coiinty, with the extensive frontage of naviga- 

 ble water providing adequate facilities for developing and marketing 

 the forest resources. Wood-using industries are relatively unimport- 

 ant, there being practically no manufacturing of wood carried on ex-, 

 cept for a planing mill at Queen Anne, and a mill and yard at Ches- 

 ter. There are in addition retail yards at Centreville, Church Hill,, 

 and Sudlersville. 



By efficient fire protectioji and the practice of intensive forest 

 management the forests, already favored by uniformly fertile soils, 

 may easily be made one of the county's most important assets. They 

 are at present, however, poorly managed or neglected, due in large 

 part to the fact that about three-fourths of the farms are leased ta 

 tenants, with certain unrestricted wood rights which are clearly inimi- 

 cal to the better sort of forest management. 



