542 Forestry Quarterly. 



chestnut and the oaks (13 species )make up the greater part of 

 the forest area, this apparently being the hardwood area of the 

 State. It has the largest number of mills in proportion to the 

 forest area, some 48, with an average cut of 9,000 feet per day. 

 The Tennessee valley occupies 4,900 square miles, 800 square 

 miles of which are included in the barrens. Eighty per cent, of 

 the latter is under forest and this proportion of the subregion is 

 doubtless absolute forest soil. In the Tennessee valley proper, 

 however, only 40 per cent, of the area is wooded and the forest 

 is chiefly confined to rocky slopes and wet bottoms difficult of 

 cultivation. 



The Coal Region is divided into two subregions, the plateau 

 subregion and the basin subregion. The plateau subregion, cov- 

 ering 3,000 square miles is underlaid by horizontal sandstones 

 which yield light sandy loam soils. One third of the forest, 

 which covers about three-fourths of the area, is coniferous. Lob- 

 lolly Pine (16%) and Shortleaf Pine (10%) being the leading 

 species. The region contains over 7 per cent, of the standing 

 timber, but it contributes only a little over i per cent, of the 

 State's yearly output of lumber, a condition due to the nature of 

 the topography and to the lack of railroads. In the basin sub- 

 region, consisting of 3300 square miles, the rock is mostly shales 

 and the topography is more diversified than in the plateau region. 

 About 80 per cent, of the area is covered by forests, of which 

 -^y per cent, is pine with the Lobolly leading (22%). The lum- 

 ber industry is well developed, but the farming industry is con- 

 fined to the bottom lands. There are about as many miners as 

 farmers in the region. 



The Coosa Valley Region, the southern extension of the great 

 Appalachian Valley, covers in Alabama about 4,000 square miles. 

 The soils are residual clays, chert and sand, derived from various 

 kinds of crumpled sedimentary rock. The region, like the rest 

 of the great Appalachian Valley, is noted for its long parallel 

 ridges and wide valleys between them. The pine forests occupy 

 the ridges and the hardwood forests the narrower valleys. About 

 one half of the region is forested and 38 per cent, of it is oc- 

 cupied by conifers, the Loblolly, Shartleaf and Longleaf pines 

 comprising 20 per cent., 8 per cent., and 6 per cent, of it re- 

 spectively. Like the other regions, no single species of hard- 

 woods enters into the composition of the forest to any consider- 



