OF SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI. 



m 



perceptible gradations into the pine hills. The soil is 

 extremely fertile and increases in depth toward the cliffs. 

 The slopes are usually steep and the ridges, especially in 

 the western part, are very narrow. One of the chief func- 

 tions of a forest on such situations, therefore, is to prevent 

 erosion. This was among the first sections of the State 

 to be settled and cultivated. Many years before the Civil 

 War the forests on the more level and rolling land had been 

 cleared for plantations, and today this is still one of the 

 best agricultural regions of Mississippi. The forests are 

 now confined almost entirely to the slopes and ridges too 

 steep for cultivation and to the abandoned fields now grow- 

 ing up with pine and hardwoods. 



The original forest was entirely of hardwoods, and 

 many persons living in the region remember when no pines 

 were seen anywhere. The principal commercial species of 

 this type are white oak, yellow poplar, ash, hickory, sweet 

 gum, water oak, magnolia, beech, tupelo gum, and walnut. 

 At the present time at least half of the area of the type 

 contains a mixture of loblolly and shortleaf pines with 

 the hardwoods while the old fields are usually occupied 

 by pine to the exclusion of merchantable hardwoods. Heavy 

 stands are found in some places, but the whole region will 

 not average over 2,000 to 4,000 feet per acre for all the 

 forest land. The forests have been culled to such an extent 

 for local and export use that there is practically no virgin 

 timber left, except in the most inaccessible situations. The 

 young growth comes up rapidly, however, and is tall and 

 straight, so that there is often a good stand of small thrifty 

 trees where cuttings have been made sometime ago. 



Reproduction of the better species is usually excellent. 

 Ash, sweet gum, water oak, and hickory are especially 

 abundant. Both species of pine seed reproduce freely 

 where seed trees are present, so much so that in some places 

 there is a probability that the hardwoods will be eventually 

 crowded out. A dense undergrowth of cane, often found 

 among the river hills, seriously hinders reproduction, but 

 furnishes excellent winter pasturage for cattle. 



The second growth forests, which come up on abandoned 



