66 TlMllKR PINES (JF TIIK SOUTllKUN UNITED STATES. 



at'ter lil'tccii or twoiity yt'ars, when the trees liave reached a diameter of lli inches, they <'aii he 

 tapited for resin and will ;jive a continuous revenue. Tnder careful nianaj^enient, and i)y taiii)in}i 

 oidy tiie trees which should be removed in thiuninj^s to make lijjjlit for tlie rest, this revenue cau 

 be obtained without in any way inipairinj; the final harvest value. 



CONCLUSION. 



From the .soutbcru frontier of Virginia, throujjhout the lower i)art of the Southern States, to 

 the limits of liijjh and conii)act forest growth west of the Mississippi Kiver, sjjread over an area of 

 from ".K),0()(i to I0(»,()()0 square miles, the forests of the Longleaf Tine i)re.sent yet a stui)endous tim- 

 ber wealth. Yet, if we deduct the farm lands, and consider that large areas have been cidled or 

 entirely denuded of the original growth, we may estimate tiiat the amount of timber standing can 

 at best not exceed 1(M»,OU(),()()U,00{) feet, and is probably much less, while the cut, which at pre.sent 

 does not fall sliort of 3,70(l.(t(l(l,()(H) feet, board measure, is bound, as the Xoitliern pine is giving 

 out, to increase at even greater rate than in the past. Under such a strain, outstripping l)y far 

 the possibilities of their reproduction, the exhaustion of the resources of these forests within the 

 near future is inevitable, and if the devastation under present management by the na\ al store 

 industry and the destruction caused by tire and domestic animals is <-ontinued their extermi- 

 nation as far as practical purposes are concerned must be regarded as equally certain. 



