OF SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI. 99 



stream and its tributaries, though probably not over five 

 per cent of the county is in this type. Some good blocks 

 of timber, consisting of oak, gum, loblolly, etc., are found, 

 though lands which are dry enough are being cleared for 

 agriculture. Cypress, which was once plentiful through 

 these river swamps, has mostly been cut out and floated 

 down the river to market. 



Franklin County is developing its agricultural resources 

 year by year, but for some time there will be considerable 

 land on which it will be more profitable to grow timber. 

 With the great increase in the lumber output, which has 

 already begun, especial care should be taken to log such 

 land conservatively, while fire protection should be under- 

 taken by the owner and encouraged in every way by the 

 county. 



Amite County. — Amite County includes all of the forest 

 types except the Mississippi bottoms. The pure longleaf 

 type extends over the eastern half of the county. The 

 western half, except for the southwestern townships, is 

 covered by the longleaf hills type. The southwestern part 

 of the county is largely cleared, and resembles the more 

 level topography of Wilkinson County. It is classed as 

 hardwood hills. The county has an area of 443,000 acres, 

 of which only about one-fourth is listed as cleared land. 

 The greater part of the land under cultivation is in the 

 western half, where the soil is much more fertile, and ag- 

 riculture has been engaged in for many years. The soil 

 here is influenced to a great extent by the loess silts. The 

 eastern half of the county consists of dry longleaf pine 

 uplands with frequent narrow creek bottoms. Pure long- 

 leaf pine formerly covered these uplands, and lumbering 

 began many years ago on a small scale. Dummy lines 

 were constructed from points on the Illinois Central Rail- 

 road. At first only the finest timber was removed, but 

 present operations leave practically no pine timber on the 

 land. There is still some good timber not yet Itimbered, 

 and there are other large areas which have been culled. 



It is estimated that one-half of the longleaf uplands 

 have been cut over and are now mostly stump lands. Prob- 



