46 



TIMliER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



Augeliua counties, and include an area of about 2,800,000 acres. In amount and quality of the 

 timber these forests are unsurpassed and are only ecjualed by the forest of the adjoiniiiji region 

 in Louisiana. Toward tlicir southern borders the country, like the pine flats of southwestern 

 Louisiana, is perfectly level and poorly drained, with the soil water-soaked for a greater part of 

 the year. These flats have been almost completely stripped of their merchantable timber. North 

 of Nona the surface rises gradually above the water level in broad, low swells, and, being underlaid 

 by strata of stiff loams, is more or less deficient in drainage. The intervening wide flats are 

 frequently covered with a dense growth of large shrubs and small-sized trees, consisting of 

 various species of hawthorn {Cratccgiis crus-galli, G. viridis, G. mollis., C. bcrbcridi/olia), the 

 Deciduous Holly (Tier decidua), Dahoon Holly (Ih'.r caroliniaiui), Privet (Adrlia acuminatd). plane 

 trees, and magnolias. These impenetrable thickets are common, and often cover many scpiare 

 miles, like the so-called Big Thicket in the lower part of Hardin County, said to be from 10 to 15 

 miles wide, either way. The growth of Longleaf Pine which covers the gentle, wide swells, is 

 dense, of tine proportions, and of remarkably rajud development. The average age of five trees 

 felled northwest of Nona, 15 to 25 inches in diameter, is but little over one hundred and fifty 

 years, as the following measurements show : 



Measurements of five trees. 



In this region, owing to the direct communication of several railroad lines with I lie great 

 centers of trade in the North and with the treeless plains of the far West, the manufacture of 

 lumber has made a wonderful progress during the past twelve years. In 1880 the cut of Longleaf 

 Pine in this State has been estimated at (56,450,000 feet. From information I'eceived from parties 

 engaged in tht; lumber business, the cut during the year 1S92 can safely be estimated at 440,000,000 

 feet. The centers of lumber production are Uraiige and Beaumont, but a great amount is cut at 

 the mills ah)ng the several lines of railway passing through this region. 



Output of Longleaf Vine lumber in Texas diiriny the i/car 1S92. 



Feet, B. M. 



Orange (iDchisivo of 10,000,000 of feet ileriveil from Calcasieu) 45,00(1,000 



Bciuimoiit 75,000,000 



Sabiue Valley, Texas ami Northern Railroad 157, 000, 000 



Mi.ssouri, Kansas and Texas Rail mad 143, 000, 000 



Houston, Kansas and Texas Railroad 20, 000, (XIO 



Total 110,000,000 



For the renewal of the forests of Longleaf Pine in this region there is as little hope under their 

 ]>reseiit management as in the adjoining region in Louisiana. In this cold, wet soil the seeds find 

 but a poor chance for germination, and the surviving plantlets soon succumb to the same cause. 

 In the pine flats seedlings are rarely observed among the tall broom sedge grasses (Androjxigov) 

 which, under the influence of light and a damp soil, thrive luxuriantly in the flat woods deiiudid 

 of their timber growth, imparting to tliem the asi)cct of waving meadows or savannas. 



PRODUCTS. 



VAUK AN1> I'.^KS OF THE WOOD. 



ic wood ot' the Longleaf i'inc is hardly suii)ass('d by 



Tlic wood ot' the Longleaf i'inc is hardly surpassed by any of our timber trees of economic 

 iu)i)(irtance, and is practically unsurpassed by any member of its own order in the qualities which 

 are required for i)urposes of construction, thus taking the first place among its congeners. 



