676 Forestry Quarterly. 



Jamaica dogwood and mahogany. Other common trees are the 

 Ironwood, Satinwood, Paradise tree, Torchwood, Gumbo limbo, 

 Ficus and Manchineel. All are exceedingly valuable for furni- 

 ture, and cabinet work on account of their highly colored, heavy, 

 close grained wood. The well known fertility of these hammock 

 lands is due to the accumulation of humus from the forest. In 

 decomposing it yields acids which cause the surface limestone 

 rocks to crumble and render available whatever plant foods it 

 contains. 



. The fourth type of this region is the fresh-water swamp. The 

 characteristic tree is Bald Cypress, (Taxodium distichum) which 

 occurs chiefly on the banks of streams, along the borders of the 

 Everglades and in a single large body of unknown extent in Lee 

 County. Other trees of this type are the Live Oak, Magnolia, 

 and Red Bay. The wooded islands of the Everglades are in- 

 cluded in this type, but tree growth on them is usually very 

 scrubby and poor. The chief species are Cocoa-palm, Custard 

 Apple, Sweet Bay, Wild Lemon, Lime and Live Oak. On ac- 

 count of their small sizes they have no commercial importance. 



Throughout the southern end of the peninsula, the State, Gov- 

 ernment and the railroads are the largest owners of timber lands. 

 The region is very sparsely settled as yet and with the excep- 

 tion of the Cuban Pine and Cypress in Lee County and the man- 

 grove swamps along the shores, there are no large lumber com- 

 panies interested in this region. A few small mills have been 

 operated on the Gulf and east coasts to supply the local demands, 

 but the pine is of such a hard and brittle character that it can- 

 not be used in building or construction work after it has seasoned, 

 on account of its extreme hardness. Two companies have pur- 

 chased State lands in the mangrove swamps and are now engaged 

 in cutting them for tannin, which they extract from the bark 

 and for a high grade flooring. 



As regards the silvicultural phases of this region, repro- 

 duction of the pine is excellent wherever fires are not too severe, 

 especially on the east soast. There is always a luxuriant under- 

 growth in the hardwood hammocks and the reproduction is con- 

 stantly encroaching on the adjacent pine lands. The forest 

 conditions in these hammocks are ideal for tree growth. The floor 

 is always kept so damp and moist by vegetable accumulation and a 



