g^S TIMItKK I'lVF.S OF TIIK SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



at i)rcspiit (loiibtlul. Its iiortlierii limit west of the Alli'{;li;iiiic.s ciiii In" (li'sciihcil liy a line drawn 

 from the lower part of Wood County, iii West Virginia, to Jlenifec County, eastern Kcntuc-ky. 

 Ik'yond tlie wide ;;ai) covered Ity tlie deci<hious foiests of the lower Ohio Valley and the flood 

 plain of the ^lississipjii the tree appears on the southeastern spur of theO/ark Hills in ("ape 

 (lirardeau County, Mo., latitude 37° 30', and on the opposite side of the river on the hluHs in 

 Union and Jaekson counties, III., the line dropping gradually half a degree southward to the 

 western limit of its range. (I'l. XIV.) 



TheShortleaf Pine is a tree of the plain and the foothills, in the South rarely ascending to an 

 elevation over L'.'iOO feet, and at its northern conlines not over ],(KU) feet (in the Ozark Hills). East 

 of the Mississippi Kiver the tree appears sparsely scattered among the haid wood trees; along the 

 border of the Carolinian and within the Austro rii)arian zone it becomes more frequent, and often 

 the i)red()niinatiiig tree. West of the Mississippi River the Shortleaf Tine finds its region of 

 greatest profusion, forming forests of vast extent on the uplands of the undnlating jdain and the 

 tabledandsof the hill country, which in their timber wealth and economic ini]iortance rival the 

 great lumbering regions farthiT south. 



CUARACTKRISTICS OF DISTRIBUTION IN DIFFERENT REGIONS. 



On the Atlantic Coast, from southern New York to Virginia, Judging from the statements 

 of earlier writers, this tree must have formed originally a considerable \)iiii of the forests of 

 coniferous evergreens covering the belt of light silicious soils of the Tertiary strata. A. Michaux 

 mentions this species "as not found beyond certain districts in C<tnnecticnt, it being multii>lied in 

 the lower i)art of Kew dersey, and still more on the eastern shore of .Maryland and the lower part 

 of Virginia." From the leniarks of this writer on the extensive use of the timber of the Yellow 

 Pine (Shortleaf) it apjiears that at the time of his writing— the beginning of this century— it must 

 have been quite abundant in those parts. 



This appears clearly by his statement that "in the Northern and Middle .States (of tlie Atlan- 

 tic, Seaboard) and in Virginia, where, to a distance of l.JO miles from the sea, all houses are built 

 of wood, the lloors, casings of doors, wainsciots, and sashes are made of this species, as being 

 more solid and lasting than any other indigenous wood. In tln^ ui)per part of the Carolinas the 

 houses are constructed wholly of Yellow Pine, and are covered with it." Further on we learn 

 that immense (luantities were used in the dockyards of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, 

 and that Yellow Pine lumber formed a considerable part of the exports to Creat Mritain and 

 the West Indies. Since that time this tree has in the region mentioned not only long ceased to 

 bo a source of tind)er, but has generally become quite scarce. According to the inforniation of 

 Dr. N. L. Britton, "it grows on the coast of New York naturally only on Staten Island, and 

 oidy about twenty-five trees are to be found in Richmond County. It is fairly abundant in the 

 portion of New Jersey from the Karitan River to Delaware Bay, forming forests, on a tract not 

 more than .Smiles, and it is also found in Delaware on the same formation outcrop of (Ireen Sand." 



With the appearance of the Longleaf Pine soutli of Virginia the Shortleaf Pine recedes from 

 the coast and is found chietlyin the upper (interior) partof the Southern coast iiine lielt, scattered 

 among the mixed growth of coniferous and deciduous trees. Above tln^ upper limitof the Longleaf 

 I'iiie belt the Shortleaf Pine extends, in the Southern Atlantic States, throughout the interior to 

 the lower ranges of the mountain region. 



West of the Alleghany Mountains, in western Virginia and eastern Tennessee, it occurs only 

 widely .scattered, and hence is practically of no importance to the lumbering industry. 



In North Carolina the Shortleaf Pine is found from the coast to the mountains, though in the 

 lower districts enters more rarely into the composition of the upland forests. According to Dale's 

 report on the woods of North (.'arolina the tree is found in the majority of counties of the State, 

 but is most abundant in the middle district, Avhere, with upland oaks and hickories, it is the 

 prevailing tree. It is found about Asheville, at an altitude of 2,.5(K» feet. The Shortleaf Pine used 

 to form L'.l per cent or more of the forest growth in many places, but such areas are not now 

 frequent anywhere. In the latest report on the forests of North Carolina' it is stated that there 



|\V. W.Ashe: The Forests, Forest Lands, imd Forest Resources of Easteru North Carolina. Bulletin 5, Geol. 

 Survey, N. C, 1894, page 41. 



