FOREST CONDITIONS OF MISSISSIPPI. 27 



There is, however, a vast amotmt of yotmg second, 

 growth pine, which has come in on the old cut-over areas. 

 A great many small, portable mills are now operating in 

 second-growth timber. The lumber is rough because of the 

 knotty and sappy timber and careless methods of sawing, 

 and is, for the most part, used locally. 



The worn-out and badly eroded fields in the southern 

 part of the plateau region very frequently become covered 

 with stands of old-field pine. These lands can be put to no 

 better use, for a forest cover prevents ftirther erosion and 

 keeps the land productive. They should be protected from 

 fire and the timber harvested in such a way as to insure the 

 continuance of a healthy forest cover. 



The narrow line of bluffs which border the Yazoo 

 Delta are, in most places, too hilly and rough for cultivation. 

 Their average elevation above the Delta is about 200 feet, 

 and the streams, flowing into the Delta, have cut deep, 

 narrow ravines through them. The soil is a deep, fertile 

 loam containing a great deal of calcareous silt. The 

 finest of yellow poplar, basswood, red gum and white oak 

 have been obtained from these bluffs. The white oak was 

 especially prized for ship-building and, before the civil war, 

 thousands of trees were cut for this purpose. Though the 

 best of the timber has been taken from the bluff section, 

 there still remains a great deal of excellent hardwood tim- 

 ber. A common practice among lumbermen is to operate 

 in the Delta close to the bluft' region until the winter rains 

 make logging there impracticable, when they transfer their 

 operations into the high, well-drained bluff's. 



Planting. — The worn-out hills of the northern portions 

 of the north central plateau region are in many localities 

 too steep and badly eroded to permit agricultural develop- 

 ment. With care, however, trees can be made to grow on 

 such sites. Pine is especially adapted to poor, sandy soil. 

 It is remarkable how rapidly a forest cover will stop the 

 washing of the soil and smooth over the gullies with a deep 

 layer of humus and litter. Fields on which erosion is 

 not too far advanced might, after a few timber crops have 

 been harvested, be again cleared for cultivation. 



