112 TIMBER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



uses by the house carpenter, while the inferior grades are hirgely ('onsuined for secondary 

 jiurposeSi Of late years the value of the lumber even of lower grades has been much enhanced 

 by the process of kiln-drying, now universally introduced into fhe mills. After the removal of 

 the water from the sapwood by exposure to a current of heated air, the lumber loses its i)roiieiiess 

 to get discolored or to "blue" by the rapid development of the mycelium of a fungus and greatly 

 gains iu its capability of a good finish, as well as in durability, and is thus rendered suitable for 

 numy purposes for whicli, without such treatment, it would be rejected. 



The consumption of Loblolly Pine lumber is constantly on tiie increase in the markets of tlic 

 North, as the lumber of the White Pine becomes scarce and more expensive. The sappy timber of 

 second gr:)wth is every year coming more in demand, especially in foreign markets, where this 

 cheap timber is rendered durable by creosotiug. In the highest state of perlection, which is only 

 attained in the regions most favorable to its development, no other i)ine was deemed of higher 

 value or was more eagerly sought after for masts and other heavy spars of ships. Before the 

 use of iron in naval constiuction lor these purposes, the Loblolly Pine timber of largest size was 

 eagerly contracted for in all the Southern ports by every one of the maritime powers of Europe. 

 In couse(iuence, the trees which could furnish timber of the dimensions and (|ualitics required tor 

 such purposes have become exceedingly scarce, and can be said to have almost entiicly disappeared. 



The Eev. M. A. Curtis, in his account of the Loblolly I'ine,' quotes the following statement on 

 the habitat and the dimensions of this tree, from the pen of Mr. E. Kuflin, of Virginia, which, 

 illustrating a feature of the life of the Southern forest forever past, I can not refrain from intro- 

 ducing here: 



This (Slash Pine) trco grows only on low, moist lands, and is the better for timliev and grows larger iu ])roportii)n 

 to tliu richness of the land. Among other gigantio forest trees on (he rich and wet Roanol-^o swamps, mostly of oak, 

 ])0]dar, gum, etc., tlie few pines which yet remain tower above all others; I have visited .several staiuling trees and 

 stumjis of i>ther8 whicli have been cut down and which measured 5 feet in diameter, and were supposed to have been 

 from 1.50 to 170 feet high. 



In evidence of the dimensions of the trees, the writer gives the sizes of tlie s(iuared sticks cut 

 in Bertie County, made into a raft, and shipped in 185(i byway of the Dismal Swami) (anal to New 

 York. These sticks varied from 50 to .SG feet in length by a mean diameter of from 26 to .U inches, 

 containing from 347 to 537 cubic feet each. Remarking further: 



All of these sticks are nearly all heartwood; thence it follows that the proi)ortion of heartwood must have 

 been very largo, the timber must have been resinous or it would not be good, and it must be durable or it would not 

 serve for masts and other long spars for ships exposed to the alternations of wetting and drying, and for which only 

 •the best materials are permitted to be nscd. 



Tlu^. inferior growth of the Loldolly Pme furnishes vast sni)plies of cordwood. Immense 

 quantities are shipi)ed fiom the coast of Virginia and Nortli Carolina to the large cities on the 

 Atlantic seaboard. It is chiefly used where a brisk flame with a quick heat is required, viz, iu 

 bakeries, brickkilns, and the kilns of potteiics. Fn its luel value, the wood of this tree ranks with 

 the better class of resinous trees. Large ([uantitics of the wood are also used for the burning of 

 charcoal. . 



RESINOUS PRODUCTS. 



Kegai'(ling the ])i'oduction of resinous ])roducts fiom this \)u\o there has existed a wide 

 divergence of statements. A. F. Michaux states that this tree alVnids turpentine in abundance. 

 but of a less fluidity than that of the Longleaf Pine, and suggests that as it contains more sapwood 

 a deeper incision would yield a larger ]iro(lnct. Rev.M. A. Curtis follows l\Iichaux in this statement, 

 and the writer, relying upon the information from opi'rators in south Alabama, was also led into 

 the error of supposing this tree to yield an aliuudance of resin for distilling, similar to the free- 

 flowing resin of the Cul)an I'ine, and jmblished a statement to the etVect that this tree was tapjied 

 wherever found. A trial box made at the re(]uest of the writer seemed to conlirm the opinion as 

 to the character of the resin. It appears now, however, that the tree boxed (not inspected by the 

 writer) could not have been a Loblolly, for hitely a number of true Loblolly Pines, tapped accident- 

 ally in a turpentine orchard, were found in Washington County, Ala., aud showed that the resin 



' M. A. Curtis: Trees and Shrubs of North Carolina, Raleigh, 1860, p. 23. 



