HARDWOOD RECORD 



up 111 quantities from a near-by strawberry 

 bed, and when the windows on the tree's sidi 

 of the house are left open the seeds can bi 

 gathered in basketfuls from under the fur- 

 niture. This cotton-like fibre which sun 

 Ihe seeds of the poplar has been experimented 

 with for the manufacturing of cloth; but as 

 ret the enterprise lias not proved itself finan- 

 cially successful. This poplar is the most 

 rapid-growing tree of eastern .North Amerii 

 and under favorable circumstances reaches a 

 height of forty feet in five or six years. 



" East of the Rockies the tree ha- been 

 much planted; but it is m,t regarded as 

 being long lived or thriving well in other than 

 a moist soil. It- natural habitat is along the 

 banks of rivers and streams and by lakes. 

 Not one of the least remarkable features of 

 the large tree that has been mentioned is the 

 fact that it grows in dry soil.'' 



Alonx the hardwood bottom-lands of the 

 Mississippi valley there is intermixed with 

 the eottonwood growth, red gum, white ash, 



II 



PHOTOGRAPH OF COTTONWOOD 

 ACTUAL SIZE 



DEAF, 



red oak. sycamore, maple, elm, hickory and 

 a rariety of other woods. These bottom-lands 

 are practically flat. The elevation above the 

 ordinary level of the rive] varies only from 

 ten to twentj feet. The whole region was 

 formerly subject to inundation from the river 



and its tributaries, but ditches and levees nun 



protect a considerable part from these ovet 

 Hows. The s,,il is made u|> of alluvial de 

 posits "I' sand and (day. It is of great depth 

 and with no outcrop of underlying rock, but 

 at an average depth of fifteen le i b< I H the 

 surface, hard pan is usually found. Th. top 

 soil, formed by admixture with organii 

 ter, is a dei [, loamy sand or clay loam 

 ing as sand or clay subsoil prevails. The iiii- 

 drained foresl soil is wet in winter a 

 in summer, but where the land has been 

 cleared and drained tin soil n mains Wi I 

 a very short time, and in the hot monl 



becomes rather dry. The soil is extremelj 

 fertile and the i;, ,,,| is always valuabli 

 agriculture when cleared ami drained. 



Of the mixed region, i - 



wood attains the largesl size, but the 

 arc fewer in number than the red gum. In 

 a paper on this subject, prepare, I by fhe 

 United 81 rtmenl of Agricultun 



shewn the number oi tics per acr 



viewing a thirty-seven acre tract of virgin 



hardw i Lett,,,,, hind in South Caro na. A 



like resull could hardly I btained in the 



Mississippi valley, as it is likelj thai th 



centage •.!' cottonw i in many localities 



would be greater. This review shows by far 

 the larger numb, r of trees of any specific 

 growth of a size up to thirty inches in di 

 ameter, an red gum, but of a size of from 

 thirty-one t,, fifty inches, eottonwood dom- 

 inates. 



• ominerciallj , cott I ikes a position 



midway between yellow poplar and red 

 The better qualities of tic- wood arc ex 

 ploited as a substitute f,,r poplar, while the 

 coarser grades are a strong competitor of red 

 gum. Thi i i growth of this 



where i1 abounds in commercial quantities is 

 1 1 nparativi ly small, and the stumpag. 

 limited, li is fair to presume that it will 

 bi one of the first types of American i 

 trees to have it- \irgin growth extinguished 



well ac- 

 quainted with the area oi od growth 

 claim to be able to see the beginning oi thi 



I ud of the u I as a saw tim I i 



The inanifes; interest now prevailing on if, 

 tbject of reforestrj may possibl} induce the 



replanting of extensive areas of cottonti i. 



but it is doubtful if anything approximating 

 i hi excellent character of the present \ u 



forest grOWth Will be obtained. The lea-oil 



for doubting this desideratum lies largely in 



the eiri urn - 1 1 t hat lands now grow ing 



i mi I are rich hi agj icull ura I possibilities, 



! ad a- soon as cleared of their virgin growth, 

 will be transformed into farms; othei lands 

 mi iMi for cottonwood reproduction that are 

 not more valuable for agricultural purposes 

 pi rfoi ce do 



J. A. Fox, assistant engineer oi the St. 

 Francis Levee Board id' Osceola, Ark., recent 

 lv published a pamphlet concerning \lis-is- 

 sippi county. Arkansas. This pamphlet i. 

 principally to the agricultural possibilities of 



I, but the descriptions arc typical 



,i rl [ong reach oi i ounl rj along the \li--i-- 



sippi river, whn in cottonw i. yum 



ither hardwoods. Incident to the tim 



industry, Mr. I 



"It is n i, perhaps, that 



Arkansas ranks among flu- foremost a- a 



r producing state. Such, nevertheless, 



t. as will be borne out by the n 



f the Burei i Agriculture. It- 

 er than thai iher 

 in the Union, that of South Dak 



"The finest imbered lands 



. in 



""' botton : t|„. Mississippi river. The 



BCter of this timber ,- mostly of the 



l,: "' i eak. hick 



walnut, pecan and eottonwood, although 

 n abundance of eypn 



other varieties s||, I, 



simmon and backberry also abound in large 

 quantities, bul nu „d 



for them. Thi demand i 



"od, which urine- , r ,„„ . 



delivered for shipment 

 limber grows 



ins. ami \ari.-^ in si/.e from i . 



six feet in diameter with a clear res 

 from fortj to average yield 



about 



"The Mississippi riv.r affords a cheap an. I 

 transportation, and I 



tanl fleet of lumber ami timber 

 rial or sawed I . 



'" ' aim. St. Louis, 1 i-\ die and I in.-jii- 



are rapidly the 

 ing 1 1 ii their protection 



FLOWED IND FRUIT OF CO! 



TilS.Uli.il. 



from Overflow, and wherever the timber land- 

 are pcn.ii them sawmills spring up 



like magic. 



'•So much for the Saint Francis • 

 in general. In Mis aunty, in | 



tnular. which embraces an area of about eight 

 hundred square miles, thirty live sawmills, 

 varying in capacity from 5, I to 70,000 



day, liaV. I || erected Wltllili 



live veai-. 1 i right in 



heart of ' It 



-sippi riv.r and the railroads tlir- 

 wooden ai 



from three to ten 01 lint 



• lit from ' 



fourti and hauled t.. th* 



Irani on 1 drawn by mill. ■ 



irge 



the mill ivii 



