(3) Between these north and south coniferous belts, lay the great broad-leaf or hardwood forest, Fig. 48, which constituted the greater part of the Eastern Forest and characterized it. It was divided into two parts by an irregular northeast and southwest line, running from southern New England to Missouri. The southeast portion consisted of hardwoods intermixed with conifers. The higher ridges of the Appalachian Range, really a leg of the northern forest, were occupied by conifers, mainly spruce, white pine, and hemlock. The northwest portion of the region, particularly Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, was without the conifers. It was essentially a mixed forest, largely oak, with a variable mixture of maples, beech, chestnut, yellow poplar, hickory, sycamore, elm, and ash, with birch appearing toward the north and pine toward the south. [Illustration: Fig. 48. Broad-leaf Forest, Protected from Cattle and Fire. Hancock Co., Indiana. _U. S. Forest Service._] Taking the Eastern Forest as a whole, its most distinguishing feature was the prevalence of broad-leaved trees, so that it might properly be called a deciduous forest. The greatest diversity of trees was to be found in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, and this region is still the source of the best hardwood lumber. This great eastern forest, which once extended uninterruptedly from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and beyond, has now been largely lumbered off, particularly thru the middle or hardwood portion, making way for farms and towns. The north and south coniferous belts are still mainly unbroken, and are sparsely settled, but the big timber is cut out, giving place to poorer trees. This is particularly true of the white pine, "the king of American trees," only a little of which, in valuable sizes, is left in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the same way in the south, the long-leaf pine, once the characteristic tree, is fast being lumbered out. [Illustration: Fig. 49. Irrigated Ranch on Treeless Alkali Plain. Rio Blanco Co., Colorada. _U. S. Forest Service._]