Forest distribution in the United States.
We may anticipate a very different attitude of farmers to their woodlots and a very different treat ment in the different sections of the country by virtue of the difference in forest con ditions, as well as in market conditions. From these points of view we can divide the country variously into regions.
Botanically speaking, it has been customary to divide the country from east to west into three great regions: (1) Atlantic forest region, bounded by the Mississippi basin on the west and reaching south into Texas, once a large hard-wood forest, often mixed with conifers which also some times occupy extensive areas by themselves. (2) The Pacific forest region on the western moun tains, composed al m ost exclusively of coniferous growth, and (3) the prai ries and plains region, be tween the first and second regions, bearing only scat tered tree growth, mainly along the water courses.
If we add climatic and economic considerations, many more subdivisions may be made, and certainly not less than a dozen would fairly represent the different conditions.
Maine, perhaps the best wooded state in the coun try, is still so much in the woods that it stands by itself ; but, taking the en tire New England states as a group, we find that they are still one-half in woodland, and, according to the nature of the topog raphy and soil, must re main so for many years.
This is also the most densely populated section of the country, and the farmer's woodlot, which is usually within easy reach of a market, should occupy an important position and would pay well if properly cared for, and if not merely abandoned to eke out an exist ence. Coppice-growth and white pine groves on abandoned pastures and fields are the characteristic features of the woodlot area.
Not very different are the conditions in the Middle Atlan tic states, except that a much larger area is and can be under cultivation, more than one-half being now under farm. Hard-woods, especially chestnut and oak, are in preponderance. The easy reproduction of the white pine, which is a striking feature on New England farms, is not seen here.
The Southern Atlantic states exhibit at least three different topographic regions : the coast region of sandy lowlands and swamps, in which coniferous growth prevails ; the foothill region of mixed growth ; and the mountain region in which hard woods are most prominent. These states are still almost as exten sively wooded or else as unfit for agricultural use as Maine, but have only one-third the popula tion per square mile of the first two divisions, hence, the woodlot question is probably rarely raised. Abandoned or neglected fields grow up so readily to wood that the forest constantly threat ens to regain its empire.
Much the same conditions prevail in the Gulf states, except that here the lower half is mostly an extended, sandy, pine forest, the northern uplands having hard-wood with pine intermixed. Hardly 20 per cent is cultivated, and the popula tion is still very much less than in the Southern Atlantic states.
The central southern states, north of this group, are much better developed, with over 35 per cent under farm and a population as dense as in the southern Atlantic states. The forest is mainly hard-wood and is densest in the eastern mountain region.
The largest farm area is found in the three states, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with over 70 per cent of the land improved and a population which rivals in density' the New England states. Here is another region in which proper management of the woodlot would unquestionably pay, since scarcely over 12 per cent is in forest, and the waste land scarcely 18 per cent, most of which could probably also be utilized for timber crops. These states are almost devoid of coniferous growth.
The lake states, which have supplied the bulk of our lumber consumption for so many years, are being rapidly exhausted of their coniferous growth, although the extensive hard-wood areas will still hold out for a generation. The southern parts are sufficiently densely populated to make attention to farm forestry worthy of consideration.