526 THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES 



the slow current, to one of the lake-like sheets of still water which, interspersed with streams, are so common 

 in these lowlands. Here the trunks are made into rafts and can be floated down the river to the mills along the 

 oanks below after the subsidence of the flood. The greatest part of this large timber is only accessible during the 

 time of a high stage of water, so that th energies of the whole population are devoted during the times of freshets 

 to getting out as much of it as possible. The large number of logs harvested shows clearly with what activity the 

 destruction of these treasures of the forest is being pushed ; and the reports, as of heavy thunder, caused by the 

 fall of the mighty trees, resounding at short intervals from near and far, speak of its rapid progress. 



" In 1831 Mr. Vaughn found these cypress swamps untouched by the ax. At present their resources are so 

 diminished by the inroads made upon them during the last twelve years that, with a prospect of a rapidly- 

 increasing demand for cypress lumber in the near future, he judges that they will be completely exhausted during 

 the next ten years. This opinion is shared by all mill-owners here, who believe that in less than that time their 

 business must come to an end. There is no hope that the supply will be continued by the natural increase of young 

 trees. It is rare to find small trees among the large specimens. Seedlings and saplings are not found in these 

 deep, swampy forests, and only occur in the openings and upon the banks of water-courses. The fact that the almost 

 impenetrable shade, excluding the admission of light and air to a soil almost constantly drenched with water, is 

 unfavorable to the growth of a new generation of the cypress, threatens to exclude it from localities where formerly 

 this tree attained its greatest perfection. In swamps- open to the influences of light and air, and not liable to 

 prolonged periods of inundation, a growth of seedlings and small trees, especially along the banks of the smaller 

 tributaries of the larger streams, springs up. The extremely slow growth of the cypress, however, during all stages 

 of its existence, even if young trees spring up, destroys all hope of an adequate supply of this timber to meet the 

 wants of coming generations. Trees of small size are as frequently cut as large ones. Saplings from 4 to 12 

 inches in diameter even are cut and supply the farmer, the builder, and the mechanic with material for many useful 

 purposes. Logs not over 30 inches in diameter, however, are not worked up in the Tensas mills, which only use 

 logs of larger size, the saplings being sent in rafts with pine logs to the saw-mills of Mobile. It is rare that a 

 tree over 3 feet in diameter is found perfectly sound. Trees above 4 feet through are almost always invested with 

 signs of decay. No timber seems to be open to so many defects as that of the cypress. Many of the trees are ' wind- 

 shaken ' ; that is, portions of the body of the wood have separated in the direction of the concentric rings, causing 

 annual splits which extend throughout a great length of the trunk, and if occurring repeatedly in the same stick 

 render it unfit for use. A considerable number of the larger trees are rotten in sections. Logs cut from such 

 trees may appear perfectly sound at both ends, but are found hollow and rotten in the interior. The inspection 

 of cypress logs requires great experience and care to protect the buyer from loss. But there is one disease 

 which particularly affects this timber, the cause of which is a perfect mystery to all interested in the matter, (a) 

 From the center of the tree outward, although never extending into the sap-wood, occur great numbers of 

 spindle-shaped, narrow excavations with perfectly smooth, rounded walls more or less tapering toward the ends, 

 parallel with the bundles of woody fibers and nearly regularly disposed in the direction of the annual rings of 

 growth. These cavities vary from one-half an inch or less to a foot in length, and are found from a few lines to 

 "an inch in width. They are filled with a yellowish-brown powder, the result of decayed, woody substance, 

 although the walls of the cavities appear perfectly sound and unaffected by decay. These excavations are called 

 ' pegs ', and timber so affected ' peggy ' timber. The cavities have no communication with the surface apparently, 

 and remaiu always inclosed within the surrounding belt of sap-wood. It is only in the case of very old trees that the 

 larger cavities produced by the junction of the pegs sometimes reach openings produced by external decay or 

 accident. Undoubtedly these pegs cause the large hollows so often found in the center of large-sized and 

 apparently perfectly healthy trees. Some of the timber of medium-sized specimens is honey-combed with these 

 pegs. Such peggy stuff is useful for poles and pickets, which are found not less durable than if made from 

 solid lumber. 



" Two varieties of cypress timber are recognized according to the color, firmness, and heaviness of the wood, 

 and are known as white cypress and black cypress; the latter has darker, closer grained, and more resinous wood 

 than the former, and will sink in water. Its weight makes impossible the transportation of black-cypress logs by 

 floating under ordinary circumstances, and the lumberman, unable always to recognize these peculiarities of the 

 wood in the standing tree, cuts a chip before felling, which thrown into the water indicates, by its floating or 

 sinking, whether it is black or white cypress. Trees of the heavy variety are deadened during the months of August 

 and September by cutting a deep ring through the bark, and in the spring of the second season the timber is 

 founjl sufficiently light to float. 



"The cypress region of southern Alabama, which must be regarded as one of the great resources of its forest 

 wealth, commences upon Mobile river, about 16 or 18 miles above its entrance into Mobile bay, extending through 

 the lowlands upon both banks of this river, in Baldwin and Mobile counties, where it covers an extreme area of from 

 75 to 80 square miles. It extends northward to the junction of the Alabama and Toinbigbee rivers, covering 



a This injury to the cypress is caused by a fungoid plant not yet determined, although widely distributed along the Gulf coast. 

 C. S. S. 



