92 



TIMMKK PINES OF THE SOUTIIEKN UNITED STATES. 



In .MissDiiri the niRfjeil liiUs iiiul table IuikIs of tlie soutlicni slojie of llic O/.ark Mouiitaiiis, 

 rising to an elevation of Jroin SOO to l,(tO(t feet, are covered wiiii toieKts of Sliortleaf Pine, wliicb, 

 ronglily estimated, extend over little more than ."i.OOd.OOO acres. In the eonnties honlerinj,' on the 

 Arkansas State liue (Terry, Ozark, and Doiifilas counties) the i)ine is said (o yield on the average 

 not over l.',000 feet of timber to the acre. The forests iu the basin of the Current and i'.lai 1< rivers 

 are heavily timbered, as observed at Orandii). The density of the timber Krowtli varies, however, 

 on these broken lands with the soil conditions, a fact demonstrated byaclual measurements on 

 several plats, upon which the amount per acre varied from .{,000 to iri,00() feet of limber. After 

 years of experience, the average yield of the timber lands of the Graiidin Lumber and Mining 

 Company is estimated at 0.000 feet of merchantable timber to the acre, including trees of 10 inches 

 in diameter. 



The trees felled to serve as material for the Tnited States timber tests, and fairly representing 

 the average timber growth, showed the following record: 



Atiasurements of five Ircea. 



aSapwooil on radius of stamp averaging 2J inches. 



The timber from these most iiortliem of the forests of Sliortleaf J'ine is remarkably free from 

 resin, of a fine, close grain, almost white, and claimed to be lighter and softer than the timber grown 

 farther south, and like the timber occasionally found on the dry, rocky hills in Hot Spring County, 

 Ark., resembling the wood of the White Pine. In these forests the fine tall pines tower high above 

 the stunted Scarlet, Black, and White Oaks and hickories, but the growth of these hard woods 

 almost completely overpowers the second growth of pine. 



In close connection with the great markets of the North, and nearest to the limberless region 

 of the Northwest, the manufacture of lumber in this region is fully developed. Accoi-ding to 

 infoiination received at Grandin, the output of the mills locateii along the Current IJiver Valley 

 Hailroad.the Iron Mountain liailway, the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Kailroad. and the 

 Cape Girardeau and Southwestern road amounted for the year ISttl-Oi; to fully .'5(t(),0(l(i,()(l() feet, 

 lioard measure. At such rates the depletion of the timber wealth of this forest is to be expected 

 before another generation has i)assed away. 



I'nder the existing method of exi)loitati()ii, which involves the almost total dcstiuctioii of the 

 smaller timber growth, nothing remains to be depended upon for the future. Considering the 

 dilliculties in the way of their natural renewal, there is uo hope left for their restoration on these 

 knolls. The dense undergrowth and brush of deciduous trees and sliiiibs which C()nii)letely shade 

 the soil, the rocky surface being hidden by an abundant and inllamniable leaf covering, deiirives 

 the pine of every possibility of reproduction by natural seeding, even if the seedlings could escape 

 destruction by fire. 



According to the census of 1880,' extensive bodies of Shortleaf Pine timber exist in the 

 eastern part of the Indian Territory. It occurs mixed among the hard woods on the higher ridges 

 of the timber belt in the Choctaw Nation, GO miles in length, and considerable bodies of Sliortleaf 

 Pine timber in belts of from 10 to 30 miles in length and 2 to 4 miles wide are found on the tributaries 

 of Grand Kiver in the Cherokee Nation, and in a large body of timber extending for 25 miles west 

 of I'cam this tice appears to reach its western limit. 



The great importance of the forests of Shortleaf Pine to the industrial and commercial interests 

 of the country west of the .Mississippi Kiver, and to the development of the adjacent timbtaless 

 States and Territories, is forcibly exhibited by the enormous iiroduction of lumber for the i)ast ten 

 years. During the year 18'.tl-02 at a low estimate not less than 1,270,000,000 feet, board measure, 



1 Beport of Tenth Census, vol. 9, 1884. 



