In order to understand the forestry conditions of Adair County, a short description of the lay of the land and the nature of the soil is first necessary. The county lies along the crest of the  grand divide,  between the Mississippi and the Missouri, so that a line drawn along the crest of the ridge traverses it diagonally from northwest to southeast. The land is undulating enough to secure an easy natural drainage, but not so undulating as to be difficult of cultivation, except in a few isolated localities. The soil is a rich, black loam, varying in thickness from a few inches to ten or fifteen feet and under lain by a stiff, yellow clay

Gow, James E.

English

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 6 Annual Issue Article 12 1898 Forest Trees of Adair County, Iowa James E. Gow Copyright ©1898 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Gow, James E. (1898) "Forest Trees of Adair County, Iowa," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 6(1), 56-63. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol6/iss1/12 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. 56 . IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.the middle ledges in the Pine creek conglomerate. It is seento contain three rounded boulders from eight inches to onefoot in diameter. One of these consists of gneiss, one of micaschist and one of quartzite. In a collection of 100 pebbles fromthis ledge, different rocks were represented by the number ofpebbles indicated in the following list:Greenstone 26 per centWhite quartz 26Yellow chert 18Granite (mostly red) 7Light red orthoclase 5Coal measure rock 4Black felsite 3Quartz-biotite schist 3Faintly pinkish white quartz 2Quartz speckled with jasper 2Red quartzite 1Hornblende rock 1Milky quartz 1Gneiss 1The author is inclined to the opinion that this conglomeratein Muscatine and that exposed on Pine creek are both outliersof the same formation, but he has no suggestion to offer as towhat age they really belong farther than as above stated.FOREST TREES OF ADAIR COUNTY, IOWA.•BY JAMES E. GOW.In order to understand the forestry conditions of Adaircounty, a short description of the lay of the land and thenature of the soil is first necessary. The county lies along thecrest of the " grand divide," between the Mississippi and theMissouri, so that a line drawn along the crest of the ridgetraverses it diagonally from northwest to southeast. The landis undulating enough to secure an easy natural drainage, butnot so undulating as to be difficult of cultivation, except in afew isolated localities. The soil is a rich, black loam, varyingin thickness from a few inches to ten or fifteen feet and underlain by a stiff, yellow clay. Here and there, the larger streamsmay be found flowing over beds of limestone, but as a rule1Gow: Forest Trees of Adair County, IowaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1898IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 57they flow either through the black surface soil or the yellowclay below it. Of these streams, North river and Middle riverenter the Des Moines, while Grand river and the Nodawayflow into the Missouri. Although commonly ca'led rivers,none of them attain to sufficient size, in Adair county, todeserve the name, but all become streams of considerable sizebefore losing their identity in the Missouri or the Des Moines.The rivers along whose course is found the heaviest timber areMiddle river and the west branch of the Middle Nodaway, andit is on these streams that the greatest variety of species havebeen found and most of the observations have been made Theprairie in Adair county is practically bare. The only trees orbushes ever found upon it in any abundance are the hazel andbur oak, and these have been largely grubbed out anddestroyed. The wild plum, wild cherry and American crab,may occasionally be found on the high prairie, but theyvery seldom, if ever, occur there unless protected by other lowtimber, and as the bur oak and hazel are destroyed, they vanish also. So it is along the streams that the student of forestrymust seek his information.Even a cursory examination of these streams is sufficient toshow that, with few exceptions, the southern or western bankis steep and rough, while the northern or eastern bank issmooth and rises with a gentle slope. Along most of thecourse of Middle river, through the county, the southwesternbank consists of steep clay bluffs, densely wooded and risingabruptly from the water, while the northeastern bank slopesup very gradually from the water —making a wide, level valleyor bottom, which is usually either destitute of trees, or lessheavily wooded than are the bluffs of the opposite bank. Thesame condition may be noticed quite generally with regard tothe smaller streams. In driving along the road it is noticeablethat the steepest hills face the north or east, and the gentlerinclines the south or west. The reason for this must be thatthe erosion has been greater on the north than on the southbank, owing to the fact that the former receives the fullrays of the spring sun, while the southern bluff lies in shadowmost of the day. This, of course, would cause the snow andice upon the northern slope to melt very quickly, making considerable erosion, while upon the southern bank it would meltmuch more slowly and hence cause much less erosion. Wherethe course of a stream is southward it is the left bank which2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1898], No. 1, Art. 12https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol6/iss1/1258 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.shows the greater signs of erosion, because it is exposed to theburning rays of the afternoon sun, while the right bank is inshadow during the hottest part of the day. The effect of thisprocess upon the distribution of timber is evident. The steepbluff -land upon the southern or western bank of a stream isusually heavily wooded, while the flat "bottom" upon thenorthern or eastern side is often very sparsely covered withtrees and sometimes quite bare. Before the advent of civilization the southern bluffs often held the moisture of the wintersnows and spring rains until after the season of prairie fires,thus giving the trees sprouting upon their surface a chance togrow, and, when the trees had grown large enough, they further protected themselves from fire, the surrounding grassbeing killed out. But the northern bank, which had to facethe rays of the spring sun, was well dried by the time thegrass on the prairie was dry enough to burn, and so the treesgrowing upon its surface were destroyed. This is the processwhich must have taken place during many years before theday when the plow of the first white settler cut the soil ofwestern Iowa. Its effects are still noticeable, but not sonoticeable as they must have been at an earlier day. To-day,practically all of the trees in Adair county are of secondgrowth. There are left only a few isolated specimens of theso-called first-growth timber. Since the days when the prairiefires ceased, seedlings have taken root in the fertile flatswhich form the northern and eastern banks of our streams, andhave grown into trees of goodly size, and in some places thesouthern bluffs have been shorn of their trees. Still, in a general way, the primitive condition is still noticeable; the timberon the southern bluff is usually larger and thicker than that onthe northern bottom. It is noticeable, too, on the prairie —wherever enough of the original brush has been left to indicateanything at all. The hazel and bur oak will grow on a southern or western slope, but they are not generally found in sucha situation. Usually they seek the northeastern side of a hill,and there they flourish luxuriantly.As has been said, there is very little of the first-growthtimber remaining in Adair county. The first settlers of thecounty found along the streams a thick growth of large, welldeveloped trees. Since .then almost all of these trees havebeen removed, until there remains very little timber which waswell grown at the time of the first settlement of the county,3Gow: Forest Trees of Adair County, IowaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1898IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCES. 59forty years ago. In its place has appeared a growth of smallertrees, which were saplings when the older trees weredestroyed, or have grown from the seed since that time. Hereand there may be seen a relic of the first growth—some g-iantof the forest who towers high above all the trees about him—but, as a rule, the forest of to-day is made up of younger andsmaller trees than those which composed the forest of fortyyears ago.The area, however, of the timber land along the streamsremains about what it was at an earlier day. It may possiblybe a trifle less, but only a trifle. The second growth coverssubstantially the same area that was covered by the firstgrowth. The chief denudation of the country has comeabout, not through the destruction of the larger trees whichgrow along the rivers, but through the removal of the bur oak,hazel, and other prairie species. Before the settlement of thecounty —if we may trust the accounts of the earliest settlers —a large part of the prairie was covered with brush. To-day thegreater part of the brush is gone and the land upon which itgrew is under cultivation. The absence of the brush from theprairie tends to increase erosion and decrease the conservationof moisture in the soil, but its destruction was inevitablebecause necessary to the successful carrying on of agriculture;and, as conditions grow harder and the land becomes moredensely populated and more closely farmed, the destructionof that which is left will become necessary and inevitable.But as the prairie brush is destroyed greater care than evershould be taken to preserve the large and really valuabletimber along the rivers, and to extend its area if possible.The people of Adair county have not carelessly destroyed theirforests as have the people of many portions of the country.They have preserved them, but it cannot be said that theyhave preserved them understandingly. The second growthhas come in so thick in many places as to choke itself. Valuable walnut, ash or hickory trees are often prevented frommaking a good growth by the thickets of maple, elm or elderin which they grow, and, too often, when the needs of thefarmer force him to cut firewood for himself, he takes all thetrees from a certain area, instead of cutting out only thosewhich can best be spared and leaving the remainder. A littlepopular education on the subject of forestry might remedythese difficulties and teach our farmers to take a greater interest in their forests and better care of them.4Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1898], No. 1, Art. 12https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol6/iss1/1260 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.During the past twenty-five or thirty years the extent ofartificial groves in Adair county has grown from nothing at allto many acres. Almost every farm-house now has a yard fullof trees and a wind-break to the north," and hedges of maple,willow and osage orange line many of the roads. Unfortunately, the best species for the purpose are seldom used inthese groves. Instead of planting walnut, ash or white oak,our farmers usually plant the soft maple, on account of itsrapid growth, and the result is that no sooner do the treesarrive at a respectable size than the winds play havoc withthem. The box elder is much used, more on lawns, however,than in groves, and although rather soft it is a good tree anda very pretty one when properly trimmed. The willow figuresoccasionally in groves, but more frequently in hedges on lowlands, where the maple is also sometimes used. Groves ofwalnut or of ash are occasionally met with, but are not common. The cottonwood is used but rarely and the oak never,so far as we know. While these artificial groves are of littlevalue in conserving moisture, preventing erosion and preserving true forest conditions, they are useful in breaking theforce of the winter winds, and they exert more or less of acivilizing influence by adding to the beauty of the monotonousprairie landscape and the comfort of life on the farm.In Adair county a few species of trees, which are commonelsewhere in Iowa, are conspicuous for their absence. Thebutternut, sycamore and hard maple are found in Madisoncounty, along the course of the Middle river, but we have beenunable to discover that a single specimen has ever been foundgrowing wild on this side of the line. The Missouri hickorygrows along the Nodaway, it is said, north of the state line,but does not extend this far north. The pawpaw is foundoccasionally in southern Iowa, but has not been found in Adaircounty. The fact of a few birch trees having been observed,some twenty years ago, near the town of Casey, on the northline of the county, led to a search through that locality, butno birches were found and none have been found in any partof the county. Both the butternut and birch are reported asbeing common along the course of the North Raccoon river inGuthrie county.Following is a list of the species of forest trees found growing in Adair county. The nomenclature of Wood has been followed throughout:5Gow: Forest Trees of Adair County, IowaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1898IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCES. 61Ulmus americana L. White elm. Common on banks ofstreams and in valleys, sometimes growing a little way up thesides of bluffs and occasionally found on upland. Attains itsgreatest size on low ground. Well distributed throughout thecounty. Frequently planted as a shade treeUlmus fulva L. Red elm. Slippery elm. Found only onlowland. Common. A smaller species than the preceding.Ulmus racemosa Thomas. Rock elm. A rare species whichwe have not found within the county. Has been reported byan early settler, well acquainted with the native timber, asgrowing in scattered locations along the west branch of theMiddle Nodaway.Quercus macrocarpa Michx. Bur oak. Scrub oak. Thisspecies is very common and occurs most frequently on thesides and summits of river bluffs and on the high prairie,where it is a gnarled, stunted, shrubby tree, varying in heightfrom ten to twenty feet. Occasionally, however, it may befound growing in rich river bottoms, where it becomes muchstraighter, resembling the white oak in its habit of growthand attaining a height of thirty or forty feet. It is the mostabundant species of oak and one of the most abundant trees inAdair county. On the prairie it and the hazel appear to beinseparable companions. The bur oak is almost the only treewhich safely resisted the prairie fires and grew in abundanceon the open prairie, before the advent of civilization. Clumpsof it are found scattered over the prairie at intervals —remnants, evidently, of the more abundant growth which oncecovered the country.Quercus rubra L. Red oak. A handsome, straight tree,found in tolerable abundance on the bluffs near the largerstreams and occasionally on bottom land or in thickets of buroak on the high prairie.Quercus alba L. White oak. Not uncommon. Pound alongthe larger streams —seldom, if ever, on prairie. Prefers rough,clay bluffs.Quercus coccinea var. tinctoria Wang. Black oak. Not soabundant as the red oak and occupies the same habitat. Doesnot attain the size of either of the preceding species.Negundo aceroides Moench. Box elder. This is probablythe most common of all the trees native to Adair county. It isfound along all the streams wherever there is any timber atall and is often planted on lawns and in groves on the prairie,where it flourishes.6Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1898], No. 1, Art. 12https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol6/iss1/1262 IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCES.Acer rubrum L. Bed maple. Soft maple. Swamp maple.Quite common. Grows luxuriantly on the banks of streamsand in all low, moist places. Very frequently planted ingroves and on lawns, where its soft wood is often broken byhigh winds which it is unable to resist without the protectionof larger timber.Carya alba N. Shell-bark hickory. Common along thelarger streams, where it grows well up on the bluffs, andoccasionally in the bottoms.Carya glabra Torr. Pig nut. A somewhat smaller andcoarser species than the preceding. Usually found on lowerland. The two species are about equally common.Juglans nigra L. Walnut. Common along the largerstreams, where it grows luxuriantly and attains a good height.Never seen on the prairie, except when planted there, which isnot often the case. The walnut was much more abundant aquarter of a century ago than it is to-day, although it is still avery common tree. Owing to the value of the wood it hasprobably suffered more at the hands of woodmen than has anyother tree found in Adair county.Tilia americana L. Basswood. Linden. Quite common inall river bottoms. Seldom seen elsewhere.Populus canadensis Desf. Cottonwood. Not rare. May befound in occasional clumps in all low, moist situations. Isoccasionally planted in groves or hedges.Celtis occidentalis L. Hackberry. Not rare. Found only intimber along the larger streams —always on low land. Isoccasionally transplanted and makes a very handsome lawntree.Aesculus flava Ait. Buckeye. A tolerably common speciesalong Middle river and the Nodaway, but never found onGrand river.Gleditschia tracanthus L. Honey locust. Not common. Isfound in scattered groups along both the Nodaway and Middleriver.Prunus serotina Ehr. Wild cherry. Tolerably commonalong the roads and on all waste land.Prunus americana L. American plum. Wild plum. Verycommon on all low. lands. About equally abundant in thelarger timber and along the small prairie streams where itand the wild crab are often the only species of trees. Occursoccasionally on the uplands in company with hazel, bur oakand sumac.7Gow: Forest Trees of Adair County, IowaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1898IOWA ACADEMY OP SCIENCES. 63Ostrya virginica Willd. Ironwood. Not uncommon alongthe Nodaway, and may be found on Middle river, but notabundantly.Cratcegus coccinea L. Hawthorn. White thorn. Red haw.Common on low land, usually in larger timber.C. tomentosa L. Black haw. Not very common. Found ingreater abundance on the west than on the east side of thecounty.Pyrus coronaria L. Crab apple. Very common on all lowland, whether open or covered by larger timber.Cornus paniculata L'Her. Dogwood. Common in thickets,both in valleys and on the higher land.Rhus glabra L. Sumac. Common in thickets along the sideand crest of river bluffs and on the high prairie. Foundusually with hazel and bur oak.Sambucus canadensis L. Elderberry. Common in thicketson all waste, rich land. Prefers the bottoms.Primus virginiana L. Chokecherry. Fairly common on alllow land. Usually found in hick ts of other timber.Corylus americana Walt. Hazel. Very common on all rough,rolling land, especially near the larger streams. Very seldomfound on low land. Originally a great part of the prairie wascovered with hazel, but most of it has been removed. A gooddeal yet remains, however, and all along the larger streams itis very abundant.Salix nigra Marshall. Willow. Tolerably common on alllow, moist ground.Vitis cestivalis L. Wild grape. Common in all timber.L&nicera parviflora Lam. Not common. Found occasionallyin heavy thickets.EFFECTS OF A SLEET STORM ON TIMBER.BY JAMES E. GOW.On the nignt of the 9th and the morning of the 10th of February, 1898, a heavy sleet storm passed over Adair county,Iowa. The storm began not very long after midnight w th abrisk rain which froze as it fell and adhered tenaciously totrees and other objects with which it came in contact. The8Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1898], No. 1, Art. 12https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol6/iss1/12

Forest Trees of Adair County, Iowa

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Forest Trees of Adair County, Iowa

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