LOUISIANA 



3514 



LOUISIANA 



GULF OF MEXICO 



OUTLINE MAP OF LOUISIANA 



Showing the boundaries of the state, extent of navigable rivers, chief cities, location of gas fields 

 and coal areas, and the highest point of land in the state. 



and flows southward to near the middle of the 

 state before joining the Red River. The Sa- 

 bine River divides Louisiana from Texas, and 

 forms two-thirds of its western boundary, while 

 the Pearl forms a part of its eastern boundary 

 and divides Louisiana from Mississippi. The 

 southern part of the state is traversed by nu- 

 merous bayous, which are really secondary riv- 

 ers, or flood outlets. 



Louisiana contains many lakes. Those in the 

 gulf plain on the south are but shallow arms of 

 the sea, and their water is salt or brackish. 

 Along the rivers there are numerous lakes, 

 which are really lagoons that were formerly in 

 river channels but have been cut off by changes 

 in the course of the river. Such lakes are usu- 

 ally in the form of arcs of a circle, and are 

 connected with streams. 



Climate. Louisiana has a semitropical cli- 

 mate, but owing to the nearness of the Gulf 

 and the winds that blow from that direction, 

 the intense heat is tempered, and the climate 

 is equable. The average temperature for Janu- 

 ary is about 60 F. in the southern part of the 

 state, and 45 F. in the north, while in sum- 

 mer the thermometer may rise as high as 100 

 F. Frosts occur from the first of November 



until the first of March, but the temperature 

 seldom reaches the zero point. The entire state 

 has an abundance of rainfall, which is evenly 

 distributed throughout the year, and averages 

 sixty inches in the southern half and fifty 

 inches in the north. 



These climatic conditions favor a luxuri 

 vegetation, in which most of the warm tern 

 ate and many of the subtropical species 

 Of native flowers the commonest and 

 known are roses, water lilies, magnolias, h 

 cinths, camelias, oleanders and chrysan 

 mums. 



Forests. Some of the finest and grea 

 forests in the United States are found in Lo 

 siana. It is estimated that about 28,000 square 

 miles, or over half of the total land area, are 

 covered with forests. In this respect Louisiana 

 is surpassed only by Idaho and the Pacific 

 Coast states. Pines, both the long-leaved and 

 short-leaved varieties, cover nearly forty per 

 cent of the area under forests. In the south- 

 west there is an extensive pine belt, of about 

 4,200 square miles, which contains the heaviest 

 growth of long-leaved timber in the world. 

 Since 1904 Louisiana has occupied first rank 

 among the states in the yellow pine indu 



istry. 



