LITERATURE.--The following works of special interest may be mentioned:
W. Schlich, _A Manual of Forestry_ (London) (vols. i., ii. and iii. by
W. Schlich; vols. iv. and v. by W.R. Fisher; 3rd ed. of vol. i., 1906,
of vol. ii., 1904, of vol. iii., 1905; 2nd ed. of vol. iv., 1907; 2nd
ed. of vol. v., 1908); Baden-Powell, _Forest Law_ (London, 1893);
Brown, _The Forester_ (ed. by Nisbet, Edinburgh and London, 1905);
Broilliard, _Le Traitement des bois_ (Paris, 1894); Huffel, _Economie
forestiere_ (Paris, 1904-1907); Lorey, _Handbuch der
Forstwissenschaft_ (2nd ed. by Stoetzer, Tubingen, 1903); Rossmassler,
_Der Wald_. (W. Sch.)
UNITED STATES
_The Forest Regions._--The great treeless region east of the Rocky
Mountains separates the wooded area of the United States into two grand
divisions, which may be called the Eastern and the Western forests. The
Eastern forest is characterized by the predominance, on the whole, of
broad-leafed trees, the comparative uniformity of its general types over
wide areas, and its naturally unbroken distribution. In the Western
forest conifers are conspicuously predominant; the individual species
often reaches enormous and even unequalled dimensions, the forest is
frequently interrupted by treeless areas, and the transitions from one
type to another are often exceedingly abrupt. Both divisions are
botanically and commercially rich in species.
The Eastern forest may conveniently be subdivided into three members:
1. The Northern forest, marked by great density and large volume of
standing timber, and a comparative immunity, in its virgin condition,
from fire. The characteristic trees are maples, birches and beech
(_Fagus atropunicea_), among the hardwoods and white pine (_Pinus
strobus_), spruce (_Picea rubens_ and _Picea mariana_) and hemlock
(_Tsuga canadensis_) among conifers.
2. The Southern forest is on the whole less dense than the Northern, and
more frequently burned over. Among its characteristic trees are the
longleaf (_Pinus palustris_) and other pines, oaks, gums, bald cypress
(_Taxodium distichum_) and white cedar (_Chamaecyparis thyoides_).
3. The Central Hardwood forest, which differs comparatively little from
adjacent portions of the Northern and Southern forests except in the
absence of conifers. Among its trees are the chestnut (_Castanea
dentata_), hickories, ashes and other hardwoods already mentioned.
The Western division has two members:
1. The Pacific Coast forest, marked by the great size of its trees and
the vast accumulations of merchantable timber. Among its characteristic
species are the redwood (_Sequoia sempervirens_) and the big tree (_S.
Washingtoniana_), the Douglas fir (_Pseudotsuga taxifolia_), sugar pine
(_Pinus lambertiana_), western hemlock (_Tsuga heterophylla_), giant
arborvitae (_Thuja plicata_) and Sitka spruce (_Picea sitchensis_).
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