NATIVE VEGETATION Vegetation areas.—The land surfaces of the earth may be classified on the basis of native vegetation into three regions: forests, grasslands, and deserts. The fertile soil and the favorable cli mate of Illinois preclude any possibility of desert areas within the state. Abundant plant growth in natural forests and natural grasslands, or prairies, covered the entire state. In south ern Illinois native vege tation consisted of large tracts of mixed hard wood forests, inter spersed with small prairies; in central and northern Illinois exten sive areas of prairie lands prevailed with long tongues of forest extending from the wooded belt of the south along the prin cipal watercourses and their tributaries, thus dividing the prairies into irregular areas in the inter-stream spaces.
These wide areas of grasslands were new to the explorers and pioneers who had come from the East where the entire country had originally been covered by a heavy growth of timber. Small prairies were found in portions of Ohio and Indiana, but not until the Illinois country was reached did prairies become characteristic of large regions. The name "Prairie State" was given to Illinois, although other states farther west, and settled later, have a larger proportion of prairies than Illinois.
The forests.—The forests of Illinois are but a portion of that great forest area which, in its original extent, stretched along the entire Atlantic Coast, thence westward beyond the Mis sissippi into Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri, and to the prairies of Illinois and southern Wisconsin. These Illinois forests were of supreme importance to the pioneer. They furnished all necessary building materials for his house, barn, and other structures; rails for his fences; fuel for his home; protection from the storms; and a building site near a supply of water for domestic use.
\Ve of today arc prone to pass criticism on the pioneer for lack of foresight in crossing prairie land, now valued at more than $300 per acre, to settle in a forested area with a present value of less than one third that of the prairie.
Yet it is possible that, with our present knowl edge of relative values, we would do as the pioneer did if we were to enter a similar area with his equipment and the necessity of supply ing ourselves with all the necessaries of life from our immediate en vironment. The diffi culties presented by the open prairies for con structing houses, barns, and field inclosures; for obtaining water for man and beast; for securing a fuel supply; and• for protection from strong winds were too great to compensate for possible increases in land values during the next fifty years, even if such land values had been suspected. Thus the Illinois forests along the Wabash, Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois rivers became naturally and necessarily the sites of the earlier settlements of the state.
Sawmills in the forests were among the earliest manufactur ing plants of the state. A number of well-equipped sawmills are today doing an important business among the forests of southern Illinois. Forests in the Cache Valley are now being cut over for the third time. The first cutting of more than thirty years ago included the larger trees, many of which were cypress. The second cutting of about twenty years ago included smaller trees than the first cutting, but many of these had made considerable growth in the years intervening. More money, but probably not more lumber, was realized from the second cutting than from the first. The third cutting, now in progress, promises to yield a larger return in money, but not in lumber, than either of the previous cuttings.
Extensive forests are still to be found in southern Illinois, especially in those portions of the broad flood plains which are too swampy to be easily drained for agricultural purposes, and among the Ozark Hills where the slopes are too steep for culti vation. The traveler who makes a journey through these regions finds the extent of unbroken forest areas in striking contrast with the narrow, open forests along the stream courses in the prairie lands.