FOREST CONDITIONS OF MISSISSIPPI. 



13 



every locality, the virgin shortleaf pine has been cut. This 

 cut-over land, as well as a great deal of farm land which 

 Was abandoned after the Civil War, is now, for the most 

 part, thickly covered with second-growth shortleaf. The 

 tree grows very rapidly on old fields; a tract east of Cor- 

 inth, in Alcorn County, which was in cultivation in 1885, 

 is now being cut over for ties. A yield of 500 ties an acre 

 on second- growth pine land is not uncommon, and the 

 profit is at least 8 cents per tie, or S40 per acre for such 



a stand. 



Between Corinth and luka the Illinois Central Railroad 

 Company has cut a large number of cross-ties from second- 

 growth pine, which, with a preservative treatment of 

 creosote, will far outlast untreated oak ties. This com- 

 pany pays from 20 to 25 cents apiece for pine and gum 

 ties delivered at the railroad right of way, and from 30 

 to 32 cents apiece for good oak ties. 



Bottom-lands of the Tombigbee River.— The original for- 

 est on the Tombigbee River bottom-lands contained the 

 same species as that in the bottom-lands of the Tuscumbia 

 River and Yellow Creek, and in addition a great deal of 

 loblolly pine. Near the streams in low, wet situations the 

 gums now predominate, while on the higher and more 

 sandy and loblolly pine forms the bulk of the stand. 

 After heavy cutting loblolly pine reproduces in dense 

 stands, often extending its range close to the streams. 

 Since this tree grows much more rapidly than the hard- 

 woods, and furnishes material for a number of important 

 uses, it offers large returns on land completely stocked 

 with it. Loblolly pine responds readily to increased Hght, 

 and in large openings, made by the removal of the first 

 growth, it often grows to an average diameter of 18 inches 

 in thirty years. 



The best virgin tracts of hardwood timber are on Bull 

 Mountain Creek, where, in some localities, the stand aver- 

 ages 12,000 board feet an acre. 



Practically all the timber land along the Tombigbee 

 River and its larger tributaries has been culled of the best 

 white oak and of most of the cypress and yellow poplar. 



