226 Forestry Quarterly. 



are cutting second growth. Where first-class pine remains, the 

 stumpage value is $5 per thousand feet. The amount of stand- 

 ing shortleaf and loblolly pine is estimated to be 15-2 million feet. 



The longleaf pine region is separated by the wide alluvial bot- 

 toms of the Mississippi river into two areas. The larger extends 

 through the central and western portions of the State from the 

 short-leaf pine uplands on the north to the prairies on the south, 

 and from the alluvial lands of the Mississippi river on the east 

 to those of the Sabine river on the west. This area is divided by 

 the alluvial bottoms of the Red River, with the larger portion on 

 the south side of that river. The second and smaller area of 

 longleaf lies east of the Mississippi river and occupies the corner 

 north of Lake Pontchartrain to the State line- Together, the 

 two areas comprise some 7.5 million acres and contain the largest 

 compact body of longleaf pine timber remaining in the United 

 States. Most of the pine is on rolling, well drained low hills, 

 although it occurs on poorly drained flats. The soils of the re- 

 gion are sands and clays, with an impervious clay sub-soil. East 

 of the Mississippi river large areas of cut-over pine lands have 

 been transformed into productive truck farms. The stumpage 

 value is about $4 per thousand feet. The holdings of many 

 companies exceed 200,000 acres and several mills have a daily 

 output of more than a half million feet. Three-fourths of the 

 yellow pine produced in the State {2.^ billion feet) is from the 

 longleaf, and the amount of standing timber of this species is 

 estimated at 52.5 billion feet. 



The alluvial region of Louisiana covers some 23,000 square 

 miles, or nearly one-half of the State. Along the Mississippi 

 river throughout the State the alluvial bottoms have an average 

 width of from 30 to 40 miles, and they average 10 miles wide 

 along the entire course of the Red river. During the flood sea- 

 son from March or April to June or July the greater portion of 

 this vast region is inundated. It is estimated that 5 million acres 

 now subject to overflow could be protected and brought under 

 cultivation by levee building. The character of the forest in 

 the alluvial region is determined by the drainage. There are 

 three principal types- Deep swamps overflowed throughout the 

 year, containing stands of cypress, tupelo, and occasional water 

 ash and red maple. The second type is composed of level or 

 slightly undulating bottoms subject to overflow only during the 



