in places where the original stand has at one time or another been removed, excellent stands of second growth hardwoods have sprung up. (See Plate III.) Although such stands cover only a small part of the area, they form a striking contrast with the overmature and decadent stands which cover the greater part of the area. (See Plate I.)

The original stand found on the slope type was composed of a mixture of hemlock and hardwoods. During the period of the hemlock bark industry in this region, most of the hemlock was cut, the bark peeled and drawn to market while the bodies of the trees, representing many thousands of board feet of timber, were left to decay in the forest. The massive trunks of many of these old specimens may be seen lying in the woods, now in the last stages of disintegration and decay. A few of these large hemlocks standing in the most inaccessible situations were left untouched (see Plate V), but their numbers were insufficient to furnish seed to fill up the blank spaces, and the faster growing hardwoods now occupy the area; that is, the stand now consists mainly of beech, birch and maple, the greater part of which is overmature and suffering from decay and which could be better replaced by a more thrifty second growth. (Compare Plates I and III.)

Conservative lumbering could well be practised on this type, since the character of the site is such that natural reproduction of the stand could be easily attained under silvicultural management. By so doing, this area could be made to produce valuable crops of timber, whereas, the present production is, in all probability, more than offset by decay of the overmature timber.

At present there is practically no reproduction of the stand in the slope type. The removal of the overmature and decadent trees would afford an opportunity for the beginning of a new crop. (Selection system.)

The forest floor is in good condition, plentifully supplied with litter and humus. Underbrush is not very abundant, being confined to such species as striped maple, mountain maple and witchhobble.

The general distribution of the tree species found in this type is as follows: beech, birch and maple are about evenly distributed

throughout the type, but the larger trees are found in the moister situations where the soil is of superior quality. The ash and basswood is restricted to the deeper soils on the lower slopes and consists mainly of second growth which has come in since the removal of the hemlock from the original stand. The hemlock was formerly well distributed in this type, but now occurs only locally. Balsam fir and black cherry enter into the composition of this type to a very limited degree only. (See stand table 4.) This type comprises merchantable area of 1,730.48 acres with an average stand of 81 trees per acre and an unreduced volume of about 6,000 board feet of merchantable material. There are within this type also 131.57 acres of unmerchantable burn and 72.18 acres of cut-over land, making the total area of the slope type 1,934.23 acres.

TABLE 4.- STAND TABLE

Slope Type - Average number trees per acre based upon 84.86 sample acres.