Current Literature. 545 



been severely culled, and it is now rapidly giving place to settle- 

 ment. The Pine Hills Region, covering 5,000 square miles, is 

 the principal lumbering region of the State, containing 57 mills, 

 with an average capacity of 37,000 feet a day. The largest mill 

 cuts 275,000 feet a day. Although the population of the region 

 has nearly doubled in the past decade, it still averages only 15 

 to the square mile, and 75 per cent, of the region is forested. The 

 remaining two regions discussed by the author, the Mobile Delta 

 and the Coast Strip are relatively small. The former consists 

 chiefly of swamps and the latter of sand dunes. 



The report proper is followed by five appendices in the fol- 

 lowing order : Scheme of Graphic Representation of the Environ- 

 mental Factors of Forests of Alabama; Clinatological Statistics; 

 List of Alabama Trees ; Statistics Illustrating Present Condition 

 of the Forests, Rate of Exploitation by Regions, and Statistics of 

 Alabama Forest Products. From these we find that 62 per cent, 

 of Alabama is woodland, of which the pines and the oaks each 

 constitute about 20 per cent; average population 42 per square 

 mile ; average capacity of mills 16 thousand feet a day. In 1909, 

 Alabama produced 1.691 million feet of rough lumber, valued at 

 23.9 million dollars. A little over half of this was further manu- 

 factured before leaving the State. Pine of the several species 

 constituted about nine-tenths of the rough lumber and two-thirds 

 of the finished lumber. In the same year there were produced 

 2.8 million gallons of turpentine and 310 thousand barrels of 

 rosin, together valued at nearly 2.5 million dollars. The report 

 contains a forest type map, which we reproduce in outline and 

 some 63 excellent illustrations. 



The one aspect of this very thorough-going report which will 

 attract the most attention is perhaps the author's statement that 

 "if it were possible to prevent forest fires absolutely the long- 

 leaf pine would soon become extinct" (p. 25). His argument is 

 that fires destroy the broadleaf competitors of the pine, both 

 trees and underbrush, which, when established, would by their 

 shade prevent the regeneration of the very intolerant pine. Thus 

 the periodic fires have kept in check the tendency of the broadleaf 

 species to replace the pine in the forest. Although not definitely 

 so stated by the author, this argument is based on the assumption 

 that the longleaf pine forest is not in a condition of equilibrium 

 in respect to the factors of its environment, that is, it is not a 



