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Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



tracts. One of the largest of these tracts 

 in the naval stores belt, for instance, is 

 the Suwanee Forest of the Superior 

 Pine Products Co., at Fargo, Ga. The 

 tract contains 209,000 acres of timber, 

 which has been efficiently managed for 

 more than 20 years. The naval stores 

 operations on the tract have been con- 

 ducted by Harley Langdale, of Val- 

 dosta, Ga. Besides this acreage, Judge 

 Langdale works other leased lands and 

 fee-owned lands, and is regarded as the 

 largest producer of gum naval stores. 



More than 20 years ago the Sessoms 

 Land & Lumber Co. acquired a tract 

 of about 80,000 acres in Clinch and 

 adjoining counties of Georgia. Among 

 those who joined Alex K. Sessoms, of 

 Cogdell, Ga., in establishing this tim- 

 ber-management unit was Austin Gary 

 of the Department of Agriculture, to 

 whom goes great credit for developing 

 good forestry practices in the naval 

 stores belt. The tract has been operated 

 for naval stores by three brothers, Rob- 

 ert, Gordon, and Clarence Newton, 

 who are the third generation of New- 

 tons to engage in the industry, and who 

 now operate three large units in 

 Georgia and one in Mississippi. 



Another large holding is that of the 

 Tennessee Coal & Iron Co. in southern 

 Alabama. For several years it has been 

 operated on a lease basis by the Stall- 

 worth family of Mobile. 



Another firm that has managed ex- 

 pertly large timber holdings is the 

 Brunswick-Peninsula Corp., of Bruns- 

 wick, Ga. It was founded by the late 

 R. E. Benedict, a professional forester 

 who had worked for the Forest Service 

 and the Canadian Forestry Commis- 

 sion, and M. L. Rue, who is now the 

 head of the enterprise. They purchased 

 110,000 acres of timberland 25 years 

 ago in Glynn, Wayne, Brantley, Ware, 

 and Clinch Counties in Georgia with 

 the main aim of producing naval stores. 



Among others who also have con- 

 tributed toward improved conditions 

 in the industry are W. B. Gillican, of 

 Homerville, Ga., who, in a lifetime as- 

 sociation with it, has exerted a whole- 

 some influence on practically every 



phase of the industry; Turpentine and 

 Rosin Factors, Inc., of Jacksonville, 

 Fla., which for many years has been 

 a large factorage house and which has 

 since become a large distributor of tur- 

 pentine in convenient and attractive 

 containers; the factorage-dealer con- 

 cerns of Taylor, Lowenstein & Co., of 

 Mobile, Ala., and the Peninsula-Lur- 

 ton Co., of Pensacola, Fla., which oper- 

 ate central distillation plants; the 

 Columbia Naval Stores Co., of Savan- 

 nah, Ga., which for many years was a 

 large dealer organization and now 

 operates several central distillation 

 plants; James Fowler, of Soperton, Ga., 

 who started planting forest trees on his 

 14,000-acre cropland plantation in 

 1925 and is now a foremost individual 

 planter of tree seedlings ; and the Gillis 

 family, also of Soperton and among 

 the pioneers in forest-tree planting. 



Each of the pulp mills established in 

 the South in the past several years has 

 acquired large tracts of timber to in- 

 sure a continuing supply of pulpwood. 

 The holdings range from 50,000 to 

 600,000 acres. It is believed that the 

 firms plan to lease the properties to ex- 

 perienced turpentine operators, who 

 will manage them properly, before final 

 harvesting. In that way the forests will 

 serve the multiple purpose of providing 

 naval stores, poles, piling, and lumber, 

 besides pulpwood ; complete utilization 

 of the timberlands will lessen the waste 

 that would result from their use as a 

 single-crop operation. 



The gum naval stores industry has 

 always been generally classified as a 

 low-wage industry. In public hearings 

 in 1933 it was brought out that the 

 average worker's income was less than 

 $6 a week. As late as 1940, the average 

 wage of chippers was $7.50 a week; 

 in 1948 it was about $32. 



Besides the increase in earnings, im- 

 provements have been made in the past 

 several years in the living quarters fur- 

 nished the turpentine woods workers. 

 Instead of miserable cabins with only 

 clapboard shutters for windows, many 

 workers now live in better cabins that 

 have glass windows and electricity. 



