82 A STUDY OF FOREST CONDITIONS 



Except in certain portions of the hill country, railroads 

 are not hard to construct and in no case is transportation a 

 difficult problem. Railroad freight rates are not excessive 

 and river transportation is still cheaper. 



During the greater part of the year the principal wagon 

 roads are good, but during the wet winter months the 

 roads in many of the counties are in bad condition, and in 

 some cases they become almost impassable. Each county 

 decides on its own method of road maintenance, and most 

 of them are not alive to the importance of keeping the 

 roads in good condition. Adams County has excellent 

 highways, which greatly benefit its citizens by cheapening 

 the hatd to market and by bringing trade from surrounding 

 counties. 



Good roads are a necessary part of conservative forest 

 management, for by cheapening the means of transporta- 

 tion, the value of the products are proportionately increased. 



Labor Conditions. — The farmer and the lumberman rely 

 upon negro labor since the negro population varies from 

 40 to 60 per cent in the uplands and pine country, to 90 per 

 cent in some sections along the Mississippi River: The 

 limibermen, as a rule, experience little difficulty in getting 

 all the labor needed, since they can afford to pay more 

 than most farmers. Wages for farm labor range from 75 

 cents to $1.50 per day. In the various lumbering opera- 

 tions the ordinary laborer gets $1.00 to $2.00 per day. 



THE FOREST. 



The whole of southwestern Mississippi was originally 

 under forest growth. The first large clearings were made 

 along the rivers, and the strip within reach of the Missis- 

 sippi River was fairly well settled before any railroad en- 

 tered the State. It was not until the Illinois Central, and 

 later the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroads were built, 

 that the country back from the river was extensively cleared 

 and settled, but since then, especially within the last fifteen 

 or twenty years, the removal of the forest has been carried 

 on at an ever-increasing rate. At present about one-third 

 of this region is classified in the tax lists of the various 



