TIMBER REGIONS SUPPLY AND PRODUCTION. 



33 



South Garohna.-The forests of Longleaf Piue in thi.s State follow luore .•losely the coast line 

 with an extension inland averasino- l()0 miles. The h.wer i.arts of tli.. piue belt, oi- the Savainrili 

 region, is low and Hat, rising but .slowly above the braekish marshes and alluvial lauds borderin'.- 

 the sea. Traver.sed by eight large rivers with wide estuaries and bordered by extensive swamps 

 of Cyjiress, Magnolia, l!ed and White Bay, Laurel Oak, etc., its area has been estimated to be 7 000 

 square miles, 4,500 scjuare miles of which are occupied by swamp lands, iiududing the "rassv 

 marshes on the coast. In the low, perfectly level pine barrens, with a soil of fine, compacted 

 almost impervious sand, covered with the Saw Palmetto, the Pond Pine, and a stunted "rowth of 

 the Cubau and Loblolly Pine, the Longleaf Pine is rarely seen, and always of dwarfed growth In 

 the flat woods bordering the alluvial swamps, heavily timbered with Loblolly aud Cuban Pine the 

 Longleaf Pine makes its appearance more fre(iueiitly, and finally i)ievails almost exclusively on 

 the broad, dry, saudy ridges, associated with the Barren or Tiirkev ( )ak {(Jnercus catcshai) stunted 

 Spanish Oak, and [Upland Willow Oak {{hurnis cincn-ti), trees of smaller size forming the under- 

 growth. The timber growth on these ridges is rather open and of good quality. As has been 

 observed near Pidgeland, in the counties of Beaufort aud Hampton, the forests have to i liroe 

 extent given way to the plow, and along the railroads they have been destroved by turpentiue 

 orchar.lmg. Lpon 1 acre, representing fairly the original timber growth of the forests on these 

 ndges, 48 trees of a diameter of from 1:3 to 24 inches at breast high, with a height of from 50 to 110 

 feet, were found. Of these, 4 yielded sticks of clear timber averaging 45 feet in len"th with mean 

 diameter of LS inches, equal to 2,000 feet, board measure, of tirst-elass lumber. These trees varied 

 in age from L!G to 14.j years; 8 trees yielded sticks of timber free from limbs 40 feet in len-th 

 with mean diameter of 17 inches, equal to 3,C00 feet, board measure, age on the avera-e 140 vea^rs- 

 12 trees yielded 35 feet length of clear timber with mean diameter of 10 inches, equal to" s'cOO 

 feet of merchantable lumber, age from 1.30 to 1,30 years; 8 trees averaged 12 inches mean diame'ter 

 length of timber .50 feet, equal to 950 feet, board measure, age from 110 to US years- 4 trees 

 averaged 10 inches mean diameter, length of clear timber 24 feet, wood sappv throuohout'vieldin<r 

 201) feet of lumber, age from 80 to 85 yeans. " '•>'*="""« 



The total yield of merchantable lumber of this acre would be 9,050 feet, board measure rei>re- 

 seuting the average of the better ciuality of these timber lands. As in the adjoining States the 

 fore-sts along the railroad lines for a wide distance have been subjected to turpentine orcliardiiio- 

 and but a small perticntage of the timber standing has escaped the ax of the "box" cutter The 

 receipts of uaval stores at Charleston during the ten years from 1880 to 1890 averaged annnallv 

 57,570 casks (50 gallons to a cask) of ,spii-its of turpentine and 225,920 barrels of rosin with the 

 largest receipts in 1880 of 60,000 casks of spirits of turpentine aud 259,940 barrels of rosin, and 

 the smallest of 40,253 casks of spirits in 1888, and 170,060 barrels of rosin in 1880. 



Tah„l„r.'<iatementofthe.l,ipm.,;,tso/,,avalsUjn'sat Chariest,,,,, S. C..f,-om lhehcgiiu,i,„j of ISSO to thedoseof the t/ea,- 1S94. 

 [From tho annual statements of the commerce of Charleston, S, C, puliliched in the Cliarlcstun Courier.'] 



* The annual receipts on the average equal the exports. 



The rolling pine hills bordering upon the Hat woods, or swamps, reach elevations of 130 to 

 -.oO feet above the sea, with a wi.lth of from 20 to 40 miles, and, as on the pine ridges of the low 

 pine barrens mentioned before, the upland oaks form the sparse undergrowth in the forests of 

 Longleaf Pme. Nearly one-third of the area (estimated at about 4,500 scpiare miles) has been 

 opened to cultivation. These rolling pine lands rise on their northern borders abruptly to a 

 range of steep hills over GOO feet above sea level, covered with a rather scanty growth of Longleaf 

 17433— No. 13 3 



