898 



AMERICAN FOREvSTRY 



IN A SOUTHERN PINK FOREST 



There is a wide belt stretching irom northern Xiirth 

 Carohna along the coast to eastern Texas where the low- 

 lying sandy soil is poor and sterile. It is a recently up- 

 raised sea bottom. Shallow streams wander tlirough it 



edged by swampy bottoms. The up- 



land is a flat or occasionally slightly 

 rolling plain. At the coming of the 

 white man. this great plain was cov- 

 ered with a pure and almost unbroker 

 longleaf forest. A few scrubby oaks 

 grew scattered here and there through 

 it, and now and then a pine of other 

 species, but that was all. 



These hot, sterile, tree-covered flat^ 

 were avoided by settlers of all but 

 the poorest sort, and soon became 

 known as the "pine barrens." whither 

 fled the runaway negro slave and the 

 renegade white, to eke out such exist- 

 ence as they might, and to take refuge 

 in the swamps if pursued too closely. 

 Vet these barrens are not without at- 

 tractiveness. They are a distinct 

 novelty, even to the tree-accustomed 

 eye of the seasoned forester from 

 other sections. Their flatness, open- 

 ness and general lack of underbrush 

 allow one to see long distances throughi 

 tiie trees. \'istas of a mile or more 

 straight through the timber are not 

 impossible. Orginally. it is said, there 

 was some undergrowth beneath these 

 forests, but today, after repeated tires. 

 the\' are generally carpeted only with 

 thin grass and a few pine needles. One 

 can travel through tlieni with as much 

 ease as over a prairie. 



It is delightful to ride horseback 

 through them, or, if one wishes, in a 

 buggy, for it is possible to drive al- 

 most anywhere. And then there is 

 the sunlight. One begins to under 

 stand the meaning of that phrase, "the 

 Sunny South," after ;i brilli.uit (lav 

 spent in the company of the virgin 

 longleaf forest. The mistv shadow- 

 less light I if early morning is followci 

 by the brilliant morning and noonda\ 

 sun, which comes straight down 

 through the tree tops, casting light 

 and fleeting shadows. Then comes the 

 golden li.glit and the long flat sliadow-; 

 of late afternoon — the evening of the 

 South. They show the great pines 

 with their regular brown trunks in all 

 l)ossible combinations of li.ght and 

 sh;ide. Xor must we forget the fra- 



grance — that rich piney smel 

 iither iiine forests. 



so much richer than from 



HE.\LTH AMONG THE PINES 



Despite their intense summer heat, if one will but 

 observe a few rules of sanitation re- 

 quired by the proximity of the tropics, 

 the pine barrens are a health resort. 

 Witness the fame of Southern Pines, 

 North Carolina ; Sumter, South Caro- 

 lina, and many places in the interior 

 of Florida, to say nothing of the 

 "Ozone Belt" in Louisiana and Mis- 

 sissippi. After an experience in the 

 sunlit barrens, one can cheerfullv 

 drink the old toast to the oldest of 

 the longleaf iiine states: 



)f the 



jleaf 



s,i^^'i. 



Coiiitf 



wiiere 



the 



THE SENTINEL 



.^ loiif I.ili lon,i,'le.if pine left by the owners 

 nf the land tu re-seed tlie cnt-over area sur- 

 roiniilini; it. 



"Here's to the land 

 pine 

 The summer land, 

 doth shine 

 Where the weak grow strong and the 

 strong grow great. 

 Here's to the ( )ld Xorth State !" 



The English speaking settlers came 

 into contact with longleaf at the set- 

 tlement of Jamesttjwn. and as earlv 

 as KiHi tar. pitch and turiientine. the 

 triumvirate of products of the pine 

 tree which are known as naval stores, 

 are mentioned as possible products of 

 the new Colonv, although no ship- 

 ments seem to have been made at that 

 time. 



E-VRLV SIIII'.MENTS TO ENGLAND 



It was not until about liiCiO, when 

 the first settlers pushed south from 

 \"irginia and settled along the north 

 shore of Albemarle Sountl in what is 

 iK.iw Xorth Carolina, that the colo- 

 nists came in contact with the vast 

 forests of the pine barrens. Their first 

 exploitation took place shortly after- 

 wards, and by 1704 shipments of pine 

 tar from the Carolinas to England 

 am(.iunted to over 400 barrels per 

 annum. Shortly after that the ex- 

 haustion of the supply of naval stores 

 obtained from the pitch pine forests 

 in Xew England gave the industry 

 an added impetus. 



It seems to have been about 17")0 

 that the prodtiction of turpentine and 

 resin as well as tar and jiitch was 

 undertaken. From the nfiddle of the 

 eighteenth century till the early part 

 of the last c|iiarler uf the nineteenth. 



