LONGLKAF I'INE IN ALAI5AMA. 



41 



TIIR CKNIHAI. IMNI'. BKI.T l)K AI.AltAMA. 



The middle portion (if the State is crossed from its eastern hoiimlary nearly to its western, 

 with iidei-iiled nortlicrn trend aloiiji' the western border, by ii belt of drifted hjuiny .sands, pebbles, 

 and liglit loauis eovered in the eastern and central parts with an almost eontinnons forest of Long- 

 leaf Pine, interrupted only by strips of hard Wood which occupy the bottom lands. In its eastern 

 extent the Lonj;ieaf Pine beeomes associated witli n|)Iand oaks, hickories, and Shortleaf Pine, the 

 I.onjileaf Pine beinj;- entirely rei)laced in the northern extension of tliis belt by the latter species. 



This region of gravelly hills, as it is designated in the agricultural reports,' is 200 miles in 

 length, 5 to 35 miles in width, and extends over about 2,000 square miles. In the sections where 

 the forest consists almost exclusively of Longleaf Pine th(^ stand of timber is heavy and of line 

 (piality. Operators claim for these timber lands a yield of from 5,000 to 0,000 feet of merchantable 

 timber to the acre, excluding all tiees under 12 inches diameter. 



Ever since the opening of the great railroad lines leading to Nortliern markets the manufacture 

 of lumber in this central pine belt has been carried on with unabated activity. In 1880 not less 

 than 80,000,000 feet, board measure, were transported by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad 

 alone, mostly to the great Northwestern centers of commerce. In ISSO the jtroduction declined to 

 5<i,ooo,()()() feet. At present most of the older mill sites have been abandoned and a few new ones 

 established in other localities. Colonel Wadsworth reports 12 mills in operation located along 

 the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, with an output of a little over 40,000,000 leet a year on the 

 average of the past few years. To this is to be added the ])roduction of the few mills on the Mobile 

 and Rirniingham Railroad, which will increase the present production in the central pine belt to 

 about 50,000,000 feet a year. 



THE FORESTS OF I.ONOLEAF PINK IX NORTH ALABAMA. 



Forests of Longleaf Pine prevail with more or less interruption in the basin of the Coosa River, 

 principally on the beds of flinty pebbles and light, .sandy loam which follow the upper course of 

 the river from the base of the Lookout JMountain range near Gadsden to a short distance beyond 

 the State line in Floyd County, Ga., where the Ijongleaf Pine tinds its northern limit in about 34° 

 north latitude, at an elevation above the sea of about COO feet. With the reapi)earance of the 

 above deposits south of Calhoun County the pine forests extend on the eastern side of the valley 

 south to Childersburg. On the isolated ridges of old Silurian sandstone (Potsdam), and the met- 

 amorphic region adjoining, the Longleaf I'iiie is scattered and stunted and is not found at a greater 

 height than 1,000 feet above the sea. In proxinuty to the mineral region the rugged hills and 

 mountain sides have been completely denuded, the pine having been cut for charcoal to supply the 

 blast furnaces. In the valleys the forests of Longleaf Pine are of average density and the timber 

 is considered of excellent (juality, particularly in the northern jjart of the valley in Etowah and 

 Cherokee counties. On the lower hills the timber is less abundant and somewhat inferior in size. 

 The measurements of five trees felled in the hills near Renfroe, Talladega County, can be said to 

 fairly represent the average quality of tliis iiine timber. The undergrowth in the open forest 

 covering the low ridges and the narrow valleys is dense, consisting of Blackjack, Spanish Oak, 

 Pignut, and Bitternut Hickory. 



ileusunments of Jive Irtxs. 



237. 

 •J38. 



•2:)0 . 



I 240. 

 I 241 . 



Average. 



Kings on 

 stump. 



135 

 ISd 

 170 

 215 

 206 



Diameter 

 breast high. 



Inchet. 

 17 

 21 

 21 



21 

 20 



20 



Mean 

 diameter. 



Inches. 

 12 

 17 

 18 

 18 

 15 



16 



Length of 

 limber. 



Feet. 



50 

 35 

 45 

 45 

 50 



Total 



height of 



trees. 



45 



Feet. 



95 

 95 

 108 

 112 

 109 



'E. A. Smith : Agricultural Resources of Al:ibaiu:i, Vol. V. Reports of Geological Survey of-Uabaiua. 



