182 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 1. NO. 3. 
The trees which constitute the forests of this vicinity are a 
mixture of hardwoods with the sugar maple, the white oak and 
the bass wood far out-numbering all other species. Other com- 
mon trees of fdrestal value are the red oak, swamp white oak, 
burr oak, white ash, black ash, butternut, shell bark hickory and 
cherry. In a narrow strip along the lake shore the beech and 
the paper birch are of common occurrence. The elm is confine<l 
to the river bottoms and some particularly moist localities on the 
uplands. There are many other species which occur in such 
small numbers or such restricted localities that they are of little 
importance from a forestal standpoint, however interesting they 
may be to the student of plant distribution. Finally there are 
those small and inferior species, like hop hornbeam, blue beech, 
crab apple and others, which are far too common and aggressive 
to delight the forester. 
Among the changes which have taken place in the forests of 
this region since the beginning of settlement the most important, 
next to the great diminution of forest area, is the disappearance 
of the old trees. The bulk of the trees composing the forests 
of the present day are young, rarely more than fifty years of age. 
Where a veteran is found, it has usually been spared by the axe 
simply because its wood was rotten or worthless. While trees 
of large size are therefore rare, the remaining stumps are evi- 
dence that all the common specie's are capable of growing to 
great dimensions in this region. It is impossible to collect data 
concerning the rate of growth, because no fellings on a large 
scale have been undertaken for a great many years, and are not 
likely to be undertaken for many years to come. The only one 
of the common indigenous species which seems to be incapable 
of large growth in the region appears to be the beech ( i ) . 
A species which was fornierly common, but has almost en- 
tirely disappeared, is the black walnut. On the other hand there 
is some evidence that the two aspens, Popiilus trcmiiloidcs and 
P. grandidcntata, are newcomers in this region. Hardly a prof- 
itable exchange ! There is also considerable evidence for the be- 
lief that the oaks, and particularly white oak, are spreading at 
the expense of other species. There are many places, especially 
where the shade is very light, in which the only seedlings observ- 
able are those of oak. On the other hand, where the crown 
cover is dense, the seedlings of sugar maple are sometimes found 
to the exclusion of other and less tolerant species. 
There are a number of areas Avhich were denuded of their 
tree growth a number of years ago, but where the forest is re-es- 
tablishing itself. These are mostly tracts that were used as 
(1.) See BuM. Wis. Nat'l. History Society, January 1900, p. 33. 
