THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



II 



commercial center for white and red oak, poplar and quite a variety 

 of the minor hardwoods. There still remain along the bottom lands 

 of some portions of the Eoanoke and Tar rivers some scattering 

 patches of mixed growth of oak, poplar and other hardwoods, but 

 in the aggregate they do not amount to very much. 



West of this district, with commercial center at Hickory, are a 

 n'nmber of small sawmills producing oak, poplar, chestnut and other 

 hardwoods. 



Bristol, Tenn.. is the commercial center for a considerable quantity 

 of both logs and lumber from the extreme northeastern part of Ten- 

 nessee and from over the state lines of Virginia and North Carolina. 

 During the last few years this city has reached considerable im- 

 portance, notably in the • production of poplar and oak. 



Immediately south of the Bristol district is found Johnson City, 

 which, while not producing much lumber itself, receives from the 

 country sawmills east thereof, even up to the very summit of the 

 Blue ridge, dividing Tennessee and North Carolina, no inconsiderable 

 quantity of oak, poplar and minor hardwoods. 



South and west of the Bristol and Johnson City seat of hard- 

 wood, production is the Knoxville district, which is of considerable 

 area and quite widely scattered. Of this section Knoxville is the 

 chief commercial center. A considerable quantity of oak, poplar 

 and other logs are manufactured there, and also a great quantity 

 of lumber is shipped to Knoxville for assorting and distribution. 

 Contiguous and a part of this district is a section along the ex- 

 tension of the ilarysville division of the Southern railway, the chief 

 manufacturing center of which is Towmsend, Tenn., which produces 

 poplar, red and white oak, chestnut, bellwood, birch, maple, beech 

 and some other varieties of hardwoods. 



South of the Knoxville and .Johnson City district lies the section 

 of which Asheville, N. C, is the commercial center. This region 

 produces the same variety of woods as does the Knoxville district, 

 and a large aggregate of production is made up from numerous 

 small sawmills. 



Lying west of the Asheville district is the mountain hardwood 

 region along the Murphy branch of the Southern railway. Up to 

 this time this is nearly all country mill production and is of the 

 same general character as from the surrounding sections. This 

 range of growth extends southward to the height of the mountains 

 and over into South Carolina, within which state there is quite an 

 area of poplar and oak growth. This range extends from the Sap- 

 phire country of North Carolina to Greenville, S. C, which city is 

 quite a hardwood center. 



Lying west of the Murphy branch section and across the height 

 of the mountains southeast of the Knoxville district is the hard- 

 wood section of which Chattanooga is the chief center. The stock 

 of poplar, oak and other logs for the mills of Chattanooga reaches 

 it by the way of the Tennessee river, and by rail, off the Cumber- 

 land plateau. Chattanooga is one of the important hardwood centers 

 of the country. 



North and west of the range of hardwood timber supply of Chat- 

 tanooga is the great Nashville section, of which Nashville is the 

 commercial center. The Cumberland river and its main tributaries, 

 the middle and Big South fork, have in years past supplied the mills 

 of Nashville with the splendid poplar that grows in this mountain 

 district. Latterly this supply has been supplemented by logs de- 

 livered by rail from a wide territory. 



The once great hardwood district of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 

 southern ilichigan. famed for its splendid growth of oak, poplar, 

 black walnut and sycamore, is today but a legend in comprehensive 

 timber growth. "O'hile the farmers' wood lots of this great terri- 

 tory still contribute in the aggregate a vast quantity of lumber, the 

 great forests of hardwood have gone forever. Ohio still has com- 

 mercial centers for the collection of hardwood lumber and logs at 

 Newark, Dayton, Toledo. Greenville, Greenfield and Cincinnati, the 

 last named city being still a very large hardwood center. At all 

 these points logs are shipped in from remote sections and the lum- 

 ber is delivered at these points for assorting and rehandling. All 

 these cities are important distributing points for white and red 

 oak, walnut and poplar. 



In Indiana, Indianapolis is still a considerable hardwood center, 

 but it is now chieJly a grouping point for the small mills in the 

 surrounding country. Greencastle, Princeton and Huntingsburg are 

 also manufacturing and grouping points for the scattering growth of 

 Indiana hardwoods. Evansville, in the southern part of the state, 

 is still a considerable hardwood center, but its logs come from long 

 distances. 



Paducah, 5y., has been an important manufacturing point for 

 many years, but the timber now comes from no inconsiderable dis- 

 tance to reach that milling point. Large quantities of lumber are 

 also grouped there for distribution. 



Cairo, 111., is still a large assembly point for logs and lumber and 

 is one of the chief Cottonwood and oak centers, and allied with this 

 district are Mound City and Tamms, lU. 



Across the Mississippi river is the southeastern Jlissouri district, 

 which is of no little importance, producing white and red oak, red 

 gum, Cottonwood, elm and hickory. St. Louis is the commercial me- 

 tropolis of this section, and a manufacturing point of considerable 

 importance within the district is Morehouse, Mo. 



In southwestern Tennessee is the great commercial lumber me- 

 tropolis of Memphis, which draws its source of logs and lumber from 

 the bottom lands of the Mississippi in Tennessee and Arkansas for 

 a long distance. It is a great Cottonwood, white and red oak, gum, 

 elm, ash and hickory producing section and will remain a chief 

 center for many years. 



Eastern Arkan.sas is rich in hardwoods, notably in oak, gum, ash 

 hickory and Cottonwood, which, while under general operation at the 

 present time, will soon develop into a larger producing section. 

 South of Memphis in Mississippi is the great Delta country with its 

 mixed growth of oak, gums, Cottonwood, ash, cypress and other 

 woods, which is a great future source of hardwood timber supply. 



Texas in the southeastern part only possesses a hardwood timber 

 area, and that along the Trinity river, with its seat of operations 

 at Big Creek, Liberty county. This section is a very limited one, 

 being perhaps 100 miles in. length, with an average of three miles 

 in width, along both sides of the Trinity river, and contains white 

 and red oak, cottonwood, hickory, pecan, holly, magnolia and ash. 



Northern Alabama has some hardwoods, notably oak and gum, 

 but as compared with the total area of the state the range is very 

 small. The same can be said of Mississippi and Georgia, although 

 there are large operations at Sardis and Vicksburg. 



Fringing the Atlantic coast from Norfolk, Va., to central Florida 

 and along the Gulf coast from central Florida around to the Texas 

 line, there is in the aggregate a vast growth of cypress, which is 

 classed as a hardwood, as well as an intermingling of several varieties 

 of red, tupelo and black gum, and of ash. This range of growth 

 will furnish a timber supply for many years. 



Getting back into the great lake country of the north, the upper 

 part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, the northern peninsula, 

 northern Wisconsin and a small portion of northern Minnesota still 

 contain a great quantity of hardwoods, maple, birch, black ash, 

 gray elm, rock elm, beech and basswood, which of this class of hard- 

 woods will supply the wants of the country for a good many years. 



As cited in detail, it would look as though these numerous sec- 

 tions of hardwood growth in the United States would last for ages, 

 but when they are checked up on the ordinary Eand-McNaUy folding 

 pocket map it will be found that the palms of the two hands will 

 almost cover the entire range. Comparatively the sections are small, 

 and they are growing constantly smaller. 



Practically every pari of each one of these sections today is under 

 operation. The drain on the resources of American hardwoods is 

 tremendous. Not only is the vast demand of the Ignited States 

 being supplied from them, but the foreign requirements are con- 

 stantly growing. 



It behooves the hardwood stumpage owners and hardwood manu- 

 facturers of the "United States to put a higher estimate on the value 

 of their patrimony and to cease doing business for "tonnage" only, 

 to do less business if need be, but to do it at a higher price. Today 

 the beginning of the end is in sight for the American hardwood 

 forest, unless conservatism immediatelv obtains. 



