LONGLEAF PINE FORESTS OF MISSISSIPPI. 



43 



year 1892 had increased to 127,000,000. Comparatively much larger increase i.s noticeable in 

 tlie sliipnients hy rail to inland markets. By tlie reports conrteously furnished by the auditor of 

 the Illinois Central Kailroad in Chicago, in 1880, lii,(l(l(»,0(M) feet, board measnie, reached Nortliern 

 markets by this line, which in 1888 had risen to 02,000,000, with a falling off in the succeeding 

 year to 52,000,000. In 1892 the shipments increased again to 78,240,000, and reached in 1893 

 181,424,000 feet, board measure. 



With the opening of the New Orleans and Xortheastern Kailroad, in 1883, the lumbering 

 industry took an active start in the virgin i)ineries. In 1892 fourteen mills are on record, with a 

 daily capacity of not less than 400,000 feet; this amount corresponding fully to the actual output 

 for 1891 as well as 1892. According to Mr. Rich, of Ilichburg, in consequence of the depression 

 during the year 1893, the output was reduced about one-half. 



The following table of partial data regarding annual shipments, made during the thirteen years 

 ending with 1S93, from the chief centers of production shows clearly the constant increase of the 

 lumbering industry since the close of the year 1880: 



Tabular statement of lumber sliippid aiiiiKalhi hi/ water and by rail from the centers of production in Mississippi, IS79-S0, 



18S3-03. 



oFrcm 60,000,000 to 90,000,000. 



RECAPITULATION FOR 1891-92. 



Pasoagoula River 127, 000, 000 



Pearl River liasin 36, 000, 000 



Illinoi.s Central Railroad 78, 000, 000 



IS e\v Orleans and Nfirtheastern Railroad 60, 000, 000 



Mobile and Ohio Railroad 12, OOo, ooo 



Other iioiuts 20,000,000 



Total 333, 000. 000 



From this amount are to be deducted about 18,000,000 feet of lumber received from Mobile to 

 comiiletc cargoes, and 12,000,000 feet of timber cut on the western frontier of Ahibama and finding 

 an outlet at Pascagoula l)y the Escatawi)a Kiver, leaving a round 300,000,000 feet, board measure, 

 for the cut in Mississippi in 1892, against 108,000,000, the cut reported to the census in 1880. 



With the exhaustion of the forests along the Pascagoula and Escatawpa rivers and a few points 

 between these streams and the Pearl Kiver, which had been accomplished before the beginning of 

 18S0, the naval-store industry remained almost dormant in the State until it began to receive a 

 new start by the opening of the New Orleans and Northeastern Kailroad. Tlie production of the 

 distilleries along this road can be said to average about 15,000 casks of spirits of turpentine and 

 75,000 barrels of rosin annually since 1890, which are mostly disposed of in the New Orleans 

 market. 



Uasfern Louisiana. — Forests of Longleaf Pine cover the upper part of eastern Louisiana to the 

 ext(Mit of about 3,880 ,s(|uare miles. Their western limit might be said to follow the Amite Kiver, 

 but can not be clearly delined, since these forests toward the west pass gradually into the mi.xcd 

 growth of Shortleaf Pine, oaks, and hickories on the uplands which border the bottom lands of 

 the Mississippi Kiver. Slightly undn'Iating flat woods cover fully one fifth of the area, and, with 

 a somewhat loamy, porous soil, sup]iort a better timber growth than is generally found in the flat 

 l)iiie barrens of the plain. Owing to their proximity to the coast, these forests have l)c(!n exten- 

 sively iiivailed. The pine hills embrace about 1,019,200 acres. Their forests have remained almost 

 intact, their resources having been drawn upon only along the Illinois Central Kailroad line and 

 the tributaries of the Pearl Kiver. 



