44 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE 



west of the Pearl River. The greater part of the timber- 

 land in Wayne County is held by one company, whose 

 lumber output averages 75,000,000 board feet per year. 

 The company has been operating for eighteen years, and 

 owns a great deal of cut-over land. Practically none of 

 this land has been sold for farm use, though the company 

 is anxious to dispose of it at low prices. At present the 

 land is virtually unproductive. It affords only a meagre 

 amount of grazing. The reproduction of pine has been 

 impossible, owing to the frequent summer and fall fires. 

 Undoubtedly this land will eventually be largely placed 

 under ctdtivation, but until changed economic conditions 

 render its use as farm land profitable, it ought to be pro- 

 ducing wood crops. If the land had been given fire pro- 

 tection it would to-day be covered with a healthy growth 

 of longleaf pines, many of which would be large enough 

 for cross ties, piling and telephone poles. 



The largest company operating in Clarke County con- 

 trols about 300,000,000 board feet of stumpage, which 

 will last ten years at the present rate of cutting. This 

 company, and most other large companies of the region, 

 purchase a considerable amount of stumpage in small 

 bodies, as their logging railroads penetrate outlying dis- 

 tricts. 



Most of the timber in Clarke and Wayne Counties was 

 boxed many years ago for turpentine. This class of timber 

 has suffered greatly from windstorms and insect injuries, 

 A great deal of waste is incurred in its utilization, for the 

 butt logs are often left on the ground and stumps are 

 invariably cut very high. Large lumber companies do 

 not now box their trees in these counties. 



Three large companies have mills at Laurel in Jones 

 County, and they, together with two other companies 

 which have mills in other parts of southern Mississippi, 

 own most of the timber in Jones, Jasper, Smith and Cov- 

 ington Counties. The estimate on about 150,000 acres 

 belonging to one of these companies shows an average 

 stand of 10,000 board feet per acre. A great deal of the 

 cut-over land of this company has been recently placed 



