34 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE 



cutting. The minimum diameter to which the oaks and 

 other valuable species are cut is i6 inches breast high. 

 Gum, when cut at all, is seldom taken below 20 inches in 

 diameter. 



It will be seen, therefore, that a great deal of timber 

 is left standing after the ordinary logging operations. A 

 few companies with large holdings have adopted the policy 

 of closer utilization of wood material b}^ a varied output 

 of products. For instance, one large company in Talla- 

 hatchie and Quitman Cotmties, besides sawing lumber, 

 cuts material for wagon manufacture, operates a box 

 factory and also a factory for producing dimension fur- 

 niture stock. This company cuts practically all trees to 

 a diameter of 12 inches.- 



The greater part of the lands of this company are 

 valuable for agriculture. Instead of selling in small tracts, 

 as many companies do, it holds the farm lands and grows 

 field crops upon them. Last year several hundred bales 

 of cotton and a great deal of sugar cane and com were 

 produced. The absolute forest land along sloughs and 

 bayous belonging to the company and to individuals who 

 are pursuing a like policy of managing their cut-over lands 

 should be handled under a careful system of forest man- 

 agement. 



While probably at least 80 per cent of the delta will 

 eventually be reclaimed for farming use, it is likely that 

 a large percentage of swamp land will not be fit for agri- 

 culture for several decades. In large drainage projects 

 plans arc seldom made to reclaim all the land within the 

 district to be drained. The cost would in most instances 

 be prohil)itive tmder present economic conditions. When 

 land values warrant very costly drainage systems, they 

 will be constructed. The land which will never be placed 

 under cultivation includes cypress sloughs and the land 

 between the levees and the rivers. 



It is not improbable that with the inevitable decrease 

 in the supply of hardwood timber in the future, people will 

 find it profitable to plant valuable species, to a limited 

 extent, on high-priced agricultural soil. For the present, 



