32 
FORESTS OF WISCONSIN. 
undergrowth and sapling timber are restricted; but more gener¬ 
ally the mature trees are in the minority, and are scattered 
about, standing 10 to 20 per acre, and the greater part of the 
ground is occupied by young trees, small saplings, and bushy 
or withy beginners. The undergrowth is generally composed 
of the young forest trees, and distinct kinds or species perform¬ 
ing this function are few, often wanting. All kinds of hard¬ 
woods reproduce actively as is well illustrated in numerous 
windfalls and abandoned clearings, where dense thickets of 
mixed hardwoods occupy every foot of the ground. Abund¬ 
ance of seed and ability to stand shade enable the maple to pre¬ 
dominate among the young growth even where it holds but 
third rank and less as a timber tree. Conspicuous among the 
young growth, without ever attaining the size of log timber, 
are the blue beech, bush or striped maple, and, somewhat less 
abundant, the hop hornbeam. As a common underbrush 
proper, on both loam and sandy soils, can be mentioned only 
the hazel. The dogwood (cornel) and wild red (pin) cherry 
are much less abundant; the latter becoming really conspicu¬ 
ous only on the burned lands. The willows are quite abundant 
as scattering brushwood in open places, and occur on the dry 
sandy soils as well as on clay lands. Alder replaces the large 
willows along many of the streams and in some swamps. It is 
never more than a bush, but as such forms characteristic alder 
brakes. 
The scrubby hardwoods of the openings consist almost exclu¬ 
sively of oaks. A variety of both white and red oaks (partic¬ 
ularly bur, white, and red oaks) grow here into bushy dwarfs, 
15 to 25 feet high, 4 to 12 inches in diameter and branching 
out almost from' their very base. These scrub oaks occasionally 
form thickets but generally stand too far apart to prevent a 
ground-cover of grass and weeds. 
Since the hardwood forest occupies the better soils, its area 
will necessarily continue to be diminished as the country is set¬ 
tled, and the present supply of timber will be reduced at a rate 
quite independent of hardwood lumbering. Nevertheless, the 
