84 A STUDY OF FOREST CONDITIONS 



Loblolly and Longleaf Subtype. — On the moister situa- 

 tions throughout this region loblolly pine is found in mix- 

 ture with the longleaf, forming a distinct variation from the 

 main type. Loblolly, because of its more rapid growth in 

 early life, survives on land where the surface water, at 

 certain times of the year, would kill out the slower growing 

 longleaf. In such places there are open stands, usually 

 with varying proportions of the two pines and sometimes 

 a small admixture of stunted hardwoods. There is often 

 an imperceptible gradation to the river and creek bottoms 

 type, where the loblolly is an important tree. 



The pine is of excellent quality, and the mature timber 

 is mostly heartwood, which remains sound for many years. 

 Except for a few twisted, or young, and inferior trees, 

 nearly the whole forest is merchantable, and present oper- 

 ations leave few young trees standing on the ground after 

 logging. 



The stand varies. Severe winds have destroyed large 

 numbers of the best trees in the forest, and culling the 

 best trees for shingles or boards through many years has 

 left most of the stands in an impaired condition. Over 

 extensive areas old growth averages only about 5,000 board 

 feet per acre, but occasional stands may average more 

 than 30,000 feet per acre over limited areas. The general 

 average over large areas of the best timbered counties does 

 not exceed 10,000 to 12,000 board feet per acre. 



Within this region naturally come the largest lumbering 

 operations. Mississippi ranks third among the states pro- 

 ducing yellow pine. Lumbering is on a gigantic scale. 

 Each of six mills cuts more than 150,000 board feet per day, 

 and there are many other mills cutting for local and export 

 use. 



Turpentining is carried on in several places, although 

 the industry has not been developed so extensively as in 

 similar forests farther east. 



The enormous demand for longleaf lumber has resulted 

 in the cutting of immense areas, so that from one-half to 

 three-fourths of some of the counties have been cut over, 

 and these are now burned and blackened stump lands. On 



