TIMBER REGIONS SUPPLY AM) PKODUCTION. 



33 



iSouth Carolina. — The forests of L()iij;ltiar I'iiic, in tliis State follow iiioiu closely the coast line, 

 witli an extension inland averaging 100 miles. The lower parts of the i)ine belt, or the Savannah 

 region, is low and tlat, rising but slowly above the braekish marshes and alluvial lands bordering 

 the sea. Traversed by eight large rivers with wide estuaries and bordert^d by extensive swamps 

 of Cypress, Magnolia, Hed and White Bay, Laurel Oak, etc., its area has been estimated to be 7,00(1 

 square miles, 4,5(10 s(|uare miles of which are occupied l)y swamp lands, inclnding the grassy 

 marshes on the coast. In the low, perfectly Icnel ])ine barrens, with a soil of line, conipacted, 

 almost impervious sand, covered with the Saw Palmetto, the Pond Pine, and a stunted growth of 

 the Cuban and Lol)lolly Pine, the Longleaf Pine is rarely seen, and always of dwarfed growth. In 

 the flat woods bordering the alluvial swainjis, heavily timbered with Loblolly and Cuban I'ine, the 

 Longleaf Pino makes its appearance more frequently, and finally prevails almost exclusively on 

 the broad, dry, sandy ridges, associated with the Barren or Turkey Oak {(Jiktcii.s raff.iha'i). stunted 

 Spanish Oak, and I'liland Willow Oak {Qiicrcus ciitcrra), trees of smaller size forming the under- 

 growth. The timber growth on these ridges is rather open and of good quality. As has been 

 observed near liidgeland, in the counties of Beaufort and Hampton, the forests have to a large 

 extent given way to the plow, and along the railroads they have been destroyed by turpentine 

 orcharding. Upon 1 acre, representing fairly the original timber growth of the forests on these 

 ridges, 48 trees of a diameter of from V2 to 24 inches at breast high, with a height of from 50 to 110 

 feet, were found. Of these, 4 yielded sticks of clear limber averaging 45 feet in length with mean 

 diameter of IS inches, equal to 2,000 feet, board mea.suie, of first-class lumber. These trees varied 

 in age from LSG to 145 years; 8 trees yielded sticks of timber free from limbs 40 feet iu length 

 with mean diameter of 17 inches, equal to 3,-00 feet, board measure, age on the average 140 years; 

 12 trees yielded 35 feet length of clear timber with mean diameter of IG inches, ciiual to 3,000 

 feet of merchantable lumber, age from 130 to 13(j years; 8 trees averaged 12 inches mean diameter, 

 length of timber 30 feet, equal to 950 feet, board measure, age from 110 to 118 years; 4 trees 

 averaged 10 inches mean diameter, length of clear timber 24 feet, wood sappy throughout, yielding 

 200 feet of lumber, age from 80 to 85 years. 



The total yield of merchantable lumber of this acre would be 9,950 feet, board measure, repre- 

 senting the average of the better quality of these timber lands. As iu the adjoining States, the 

 forests along the railroad lines for a wide distance have been subjected to turpentine orcharding, 

 and but a small percentage of the timber standing has escaped the ax of the '-box" cutter. The 

 receipts of naval stores at Charleston during the ten years from 1880 to 1890 averaged annuallv 

 51,570 casks (50 gallons to a cask) of spirits of turpentine and 225,920 barrels of rosin, with the 

 largest receipts in 1880 of 60,000 casks of sjjirits of turpentine and 259,940 bariels of rosin, and 

 the .smallest of 40,253 casks of spirits in 1S88, and 170,000 barrels of rosin in 188(!. 



Tabular statement of the «hipmcnt>s of naval stuns at ('harlestuii, .S. C.,fiom ihebeginnitig of ISSO to the clone of theijear 1S94. 

 [From the auuiial statementa of tho rommorce of Charleatoli, ,S. C, pubUt:hed iu the Charleston Courier.*] 



* TIio annual rf^n-ipfs on the average eiiual the exports. 



The rolling piue hills bordering upon the Hat woods, or swamps, reach elevations of 130 to 

 250 feet above the sea, with a width of from 20 to 40 miles, and, as on the pine ridges of the low 

 pine barrens menrioned before, the upland oaks form the sparse undergrowth in the forests of 

 Longleaf Pine. Xearly one-third of tht; area (estimated at about 4,500 square miles) has been 

 opened to cultivation. These rolling pine lands rise on their northern borders abruptly to a 

 range of steep hills over 600 feet above sea level, covered with a rather scanty growth of Longleaf 

 17433— No. 13 3 



