Clean - II

The 'Clean' photographs were difficult to arrange side by side in that post so I left my comments for this second post.   Most of the blow-down is what is known locally as 'Scrub Pine', which when ever previously cleared land - and in regard to this particular Wood it was probably cleared in the late 1800s or very early 1900s and then left to its' own devices as farming on such poor soil was abandoned for work on rail roads, etc - then the faster growing scrub pine would seed in quickly along with the slower growing hardwood.  Now the deciduous trees are in general crowding out the aged pine and that process is quickened by nature's own uncaring ice storms and winds.  There are a few of the downed pine (not shown in these photographs) that are sturdy specimens good for lumber I am sure - but the number and location is so limited that unless I had my own equipment they simply have to go to waste.  There have been saw-mills and lumbering operations in Cecil County in the past but the last I personally remember (saw-mill) was during and a short time after World War II.  Then for a while in the '90s or so there were a few harvesting operations for hardwood for shipment to Europe, but I think those are gone now.  

So the small pile of dead stubs of the pine for use as kindling, shown piled in photograph numbers 3 and 5, is the only use being made of all the hundred or so downed Scrub Pine scattered down across my small copse of wood (although I did save the two downed oak for firewood as shown in 'Firewood' 24Mar'17 and associated posts.