cut or burned, and the land they shaded converted into cultivated fields.
The Atlantic forest as a whole has two leading characteristics, the first being the great variety and frequently large size of the deciduous trees—that is, of broad-leaved trees, such as the oak, hickory, elm, maple, chestnut, etc., which drop their ripe leaves each fall and renew them the following spring—and the second, the intermingling of the trees of the class just mentioned with the coniferous trees, such as the pine, spruce, tamarack, etc., which have narrow, needle-shaped leaves and are usually designated as evergreens. While these general statements are sufficiently accurate for our present purpose, it is to be remembered that some of the broad-leaved trees (Angiosperms) are evergreen, especially in the southern portion of the Atlantic forest, as, for example, some of the oaks, the magnolias, the holly, etc.; while at the north, certain of the conifers (Gymnosperms) shed their leaves each fall, as is conspicuously illustrated by the yellow of the tamarack or larch forests of the northeastern portion of the United States and eastern Canada, in November, and the bright green of the same trees in May of each year. It is in the intermediate temperate region, between the mostly evergreen coniferous subarctic forests and the mostly evergreen broad-leaved trees of the Caribbean forest, that the wonderful transformation in the colours of the mountains and plains each autumn becomes the most conspicuous feature in the annual round of seasonal changes as expressed by the vegetation.
Of the two classes of forest-trees, represented by the oak and the pine, which are intermingled and struggle with each other for supremacy in the Atlantic forest, it is difficult to say which is the more beautiful or which is of the greater service to man. The broad-leaved trees give us our hardwoods, used extensively for furniture, the interior finish of buildings, and for the manufacture of tools, farming implements, wagons, carriages, sleighs, etc. To a great extent it was the availability of these strong, tough, hard, and durable woods which has made American tools and implements of
such a high grade of excellence that they are in demand in every civilized country. For example, the American ax-helve, made of hickory, is almost a work of art, as well as of utility, and it is prized above all others by foresters the world over. The same tree has aided no less efficiently in the popularity and excellence of American carriages and sleighs, the equal of which for lightness, strength, and durability has not been reached in other countries. The pines and their near relatives furnish what unfortunately has been considered an unlimited supply of easily workable lumber, suitable for building houses, vessels, bridges, and many other purposes. Of the pine lumber supplied by the Atlantic forest, there are two principal varieties, the far-famed white pine, furnished by New England, the Great Lake region, and southeastern Canada, and the yellow pine, which comes from the South Atlantic and Gulf States.
Of the Angiosperms which reach the dignity of trees, the Atlantic forest possesses a variety and abundance not exceeded elsewhere in the world. The most characteristic examples are the maples, elms, oaks, hickories, walnuts, chestnuts, ashes, basswoods, birches, tulip-trees, magnolias, liquidambar, tupelos, sycamores, etc., nearly all of which are represented by a number of species or varieties and vast numbers of individuals. While this diversity is found throughout the forests of the east-central part of the continent, certain regions are characterized by the abundance and large size of the trees belonging to one or to a few genera, so that a striking change is met with as one travels in any direction. The maples and elms reach their greatest size and abundance at the north, especially in New England, and thence westward to the Mississippi Valley, where they are the favourite shade-trees of villages and farms. In regions where the forests have been removed choice specimens of these trees have frequently been saved or subsequently planted, and standing alone, without competition and fully exposed to the light, reach great perfection of form and a high degree of beauty. The oaks are represented by a large number of species and varieties throughout the entire Atlantic forest, but reach their largest size and greatest
abundance, both of species and individuals, in central and southern portions of the eastern United States. The same may be said also of the hickories, except that the maximum in reference to size, number of species, and abundance is attained in the region of the Ozark Hills. The tulip-tree, so named from the profusion of showy yellow blossoms it bears, is large and wide-spreading, with broad, dark-green leaves, and has the centre of its habitat in Kentucky, where many magnificent examples occur along the fences separating the broad meadows and rich pastures of the region of the blue grass, but thrives also from the Atlantic coast westward to beyond the Mississippi, and from Ontario on the north nearly to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. Not only is the tulip-tree an ornament and a blessing on account of its flower-laden branches and dense shade, but its white, even-grained wood is of great value.
To give even a list of the deciduous trees which flourish and reach a high degree of perfection in the Atlantic forest would require far more space than is at present available. There is one other genus, however, which cannot be passed by even by a casual observer, and that is the magnolia, one species of which, the grandiflora, is the most magnificent of all the splendid broad-leaved trees of America. This, the largest and finest of the several species of its genus found in the eastern portion of the United States, attains a great size in the southern Appalachian region, but is best developed in the lower portion of the Mississippi Valley. It is frequently from 50 to 80 feet or more in height, wide-spreading, and in many instances upward of 3 feet in diameter, with dark-green leaves which do not fall in the autumn. In spring the dark foliage is beautified by cup-shaped blossoms of creamy whiteness and remarkable fragrance, which measure 3 or 4 inches in diameter. When the magnolia is in blossom it becomes a centre of delicious perfume and a colony of insect life. Its wood, although creamy white and excellent for cabinet-work and interior finish of houses, has not as yet found favour for these or other purposes.
With the exception of a few species of broad-leaved
forest-trees found in greatest perfection in the northern portion of the Atlantic forest, they reach their greatest development in size, number of species, and density of growth in the southern portion of the broad Mississippi basin, where, in addition to magnolias, the tulip-tree, etc., chestnuts, hickories, oaks, and many other genera grow side by side and attain great height and dignity. This is also the centre of dispersion of the American hawthorns, which reach a size and beauty unrivalled elsewhere. The Osage orange is peculiar to this region, and the red cedar (juniper), the most widely distributed of all the American conifers, and also the yellow or southern pine are there at their best. Much of this region still retains its primitive wildness.
The great extent of the Atlantic forest in latitude, the topographic diversity of the region it occupies, and its exposure on the east to maritime and on the west to continental climatic conditions, have led to great variations within itself. From the coast of New England westward and including the entire drainage basin of the St. Lawrence, together with an extension southward along the Appalachians, the forests are composed largely and over extensive areas almost wholly of coniferous trees. This region of northern evergreens contains in its southern portion sturdy growths of broad-leaved deciduous trees. The spruces, the most characteristic of the trees of the subarctic region, are present in abundance on the mountains of New England, and still form a dark mantle over the Adirondack hills; but on the less elevated lands adjacent the white pine dominated and outnumbered all its rivals in the primeval forest.