108 TIMIiKK I'INKS OF THE SOUTHKUN f.MTluL) STATES. 



(listiihntioii nf tliis tree in tlie Southwestern States, to tlic establishment of its western and 

 nortlieni boundary lines, and to a more general ai)i)reciation ol' its economic importauce in its 

 eastern and western range. 



GEOGRAPHICAL UISTRIBIITION AND ECONOMIC HISTORY. 



The Loblolly Pine extends from the Delaware and Mar.vland i.cninsnla through lower Virginia 

 to Cape Malabar, in Florida, and all over the (Julf States and s.intiicrii Arkatisas to tiie Colorado 

 Kiver in Texas (see VI. XVIII). The northern limit of the Loblolly Pine ean be described by a 

 line drawn from the lower part of Newcastle County, Del., througli the District of Columbia, to 

 Petersburg, Va., thence toward middle North Carolina, following in its western course nearly the 

 thirty fifth degree of north latitude to the southern boundary of Tennessee, througii southern 

 Arkansas to the southeastern confines of the Indian Territory. Its most western station is an 

 isolated tract of small extent near Bastrop, Tex., the sole and last representative of the Atlantic 

 pines in the Southwest. 



Micbaux the younger established the northern limit of the Loblolly Pine near Fredericks- 

 burg, Va., between the KaiJiialuinnock and Potomac rivers; M. A. Curtis placed it in or close 

 to the District of Columbia. Its o(;currence in tiie District was, however, considered doubtful, or 

 merely accidental, until in 1888 it was confirmed by Dr. (Jeorge Vasey, who discovered a group of 

 fullgrown trees in the wootls near the Reform School. Mr. William Canby states that he "found 

 in tlic lower part of Newcastle County, Del, a g0((d many Loblolly Pines, and from the iioint 

 mentioned it becomes more and more plentiful and widespread in the Delaware-Maryland 

 peninsula."' 



( )ii the Atlantic Slope, near its northern limit, the Loblolly Pine occurs most fiequeutly in the 

 flat lands of the tidewater distri(;ts, forming rarely continuous forests, more frcHpiently less com- 

 pact bodies of timber, associated with the Shortleaf Pine, oaks, and other hard-wood trees. 



In Virginia this tree is not found beyond the northern limitof the Tertiary strataof the coast 

 region, and is not met with west of Petersburg and llichmond. 



In the lower part of this State, as in North Carolina, the Loblolly Pine was Ibrmerly found in 

 great perfection and abundance— broad forest belts of Loblolly alternating with forests of Shortleaf 

 i'l Michaux's time. The original forests have, however, in a great measure disappeared, and their 

 progeny, of second or third growth, is now depended upon as the principal source of lumber. 

 On the lands exhausted by the earlier planters, and which have been abandoned for several 

 generations, the timber of this Saj) Pine, or Oldfield Pine, has in many localities attained dimeiisions 

 and a degree of maturity littiug it for all purposes for which timber of the original growth is 

 employed. This important fact is confirmed by parties engaged in the lumber business in south- 

 eastern \'irginia and in eastern North Carolina. 



From information received it is evident that in these parts the second growth of Loblolly Pine 

 is chiefly dei)ended upon for the manufacture of lumber. It is, however, to be jtresumed that the 

 Shortleaf Pine contributes not a small part of the timber siipi)ly. Poth of these trees are kncwn 

 by the inhabitants as Shortleaf, or Shortstraw, Pine, and tlieir tiinber is sawn indiscriminately; the 

 proportions of the lumber of either reaching the markets can therefore not be determined. Mr. 

 Joseph Allard, Jr., of Pichmond, reports that most of the Virginia Pine is Lobhdly Pine, and that 

 every fifty years will proilucc; trees large enough foi- sawlogs, three to each tree, averaging 16 feet 

 in length. Mr. Sparrow, of Brooke, Staflbrd County, states that the pine of this county, and in 

 Caroline County, is almost entirely of the Oldfield Pine (Loblolly Pine), and that in the lattei' from 

 thirty to forty sawmills are cutting this pine. iSIessrs. .1. E. and Edward Rogers, from SulVolk 

 County, each remarli that "large quantities of lumber are manufactured from Oldlield Pine, which 

 is fast taking tiie place of Yellow Pine (Pinus cchinata), the latter having been used up by tlie 

 sawmills in this section."' The young timber is, according to the same accounts, cut into Joists, 

 uprights, and other s(iuare stuff for framing: the best iiuality is seleeted foi- liooring, ceiling, and 

 other inside finish, the lumber being sold under the name of Virginia I'ine in the markets of 

 Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. 



On the coast of southern Virginia the Loblolly Pine forms about 7."> percent of the tindier 

 standing. According to all accounts the original growth is rapiiUy disappearing, but the ex(M;ed- 



