540 THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



"On the decline which leads to the valley of bayou Dauchitta, the flatwoods give way to a flue growth of 

 Spanish and post oaks, elms, and gums. 



"The western bank of the bayou is confronted by hills of the post-Tertiary sands and gravels which westward 

 form a succession of steep ridges heavily wooded with the upland oaks and short-leaved pine. The narrow creek 

 bottoms inclosed between these ridges are watered abundantly by springs and clear streams shaded by white and red 

 bay, hollies, azaleas, and kalmias. The great magnolia is not seen here, and the American olive is missing. In these 

 gravelly hills, extending westward to the valley of the Ouachita river, the short : leaved pine is very common and 

 the characteristics of the pine-hill region are prominent. These hills cover a large area extending northward into 

 Arkansas, and toward the south merging gradually into the oak woods which border upon the bottoms of the 

 numerous tributaries of the Eed river. This pine-hill region is sparsely settled, and, remote from water and rail 

 communication, its original stores of pine and hard-wood timber have scarcely been touched. 



"An intimate knowledge of the forest growth in this section was obtained by an excursion over the hills to 

 bayou Dauchitta above its entrance to lake Bistineau. In the localities of the best drainage in this valley the 

 cow oak is very common, mixed with the white and post oaks, while sweet gums, black gums, water and willow 

 oaks, and hackberries occupy lower situations. On the immediate banks and in the sloughs small cypress trees 

 are common, mixed with the bitter pecan, the hornbeam, the water locust, and the sycamore. The loblolly pine 

 takes possession of every opening in the forest, descending the high hills, while numerous haws border the edges 

 of the forest. In the bottoms and along the declivities, the Chickasaw and the American plum are found of larger 

 size than farther east. Loblollies and hickories with the black and post oaks occupy the lower declivities, and 

 upon the heights the yellow pine mixed with upland oaks forms fine forests." 



TEXAS. 



The most important forests of Texas are found in the extreme eastern part of the state, where the Maritime 

 Pine Belt of the south Atlantic region extends to about midway between the Trinity and the Brazos rivers. A 

 forest of long-leaved pine occupies most of the territory between the Sabiue and the Brazos south of the thirty-first 

 degree of north latitude, reaching south to within 20 miles of the coast. Beyond the long-leaved pine forests, 

 forests of the loblolly pine, mixed with hard woods, stretch westward 50 or 60 miles, while north of these two 

 regions a third division of the pine belt, composed of a heavy growth of short-leaved pine mingled with upland oaks, 

 occupies the rolling ridges which extend northward to beyond the Eed river. The swamps which line the larger 

 streams flowing into the Gulf, especially within the limits of the pine belt, still contain large bodies of cypress. 

 The quality of the Texas cypress, however, is inferior to that grown east of the Mississippi river, and probably 

 one-third of the timber growing in the valleys of the Sabine and the Xueces rivers is "peggy " or affected by dry rot. 



West of the pine belt open forests largely composed of post and blackjack oaks occur, gradually decreasing 

 in density, and finally, west of the ninety-seventh degree of longitude, entirely disappearing. Farther west, 

 however, the "lower" and "upper cross-timbers", two remarkable bodies of timber, composed of small and stunted 

 specimens of these oaks, extend from the Indian territory far south into the prairie region, occupying long, narrow, 

 irregular belts where sandy or gravelly alluvial deposits overlie the limestone of the prairie region. A belt of 

 forest, largely composed of post and black-jack oaks^ varying from 20 to 50 miles in width extends southwest of 

 the Trinity nearly to the Nueces river, its eastern border following generally, at a distance of from 50 to 00 miles 

 inland, the trend of the coast. The bottom lands east of the one hundredth meridian are lined with the deciduous 

 trees which occupy similar situations in the eastern Gulf states. !Near the coast the bottom lands of the large 

 rivers, often several miles in width, are covered with dense forests composed of enormous trees. Farther west the 

 bottoms gradually narrow, the number of arborescent species covering them decreases, and individual trees are 

 small and stunted. 



West of the Colorado river the forests of the Atlantic region are replaced outside of the bottom lands by 

 Mexican forms of vegetation ; the hills are covered with a stunted growth of mesquit, Mexican persimmon, various 

 acacias, and other small trees of little value except for fuel and fencing. 



An important tree in the forest of western Texas is the cedar covering the low limestone hills which occupy 

 hundreds of square miles north and west of the Colorado river, in Travis, Bastrop, Hays, Comal, and adjacent 

 counties. West of the one hundredth meridian all forest growth disappears, with the exception of a few scattered 

 cottonwoods, elms, and hackberries, confined to the narrow bottoms, and a shrubby growth of mesquit, which coveis 

 the plains of western Texas, furnishing the only fuel of the region. The mountain ranges, outlying ridges of the 

 Eocky mountains, which occupy the extreme western part of the state, are covered with an open, stunted forest of 

 western pines and cedars, with which mingle the post oak, the yellow oak, and other species of the Atlantic region. 



The pine belt covering the eastern counties of the state is alone important as a source of lumber supply. 

 Areas of river-bottom land covered with trees are, as compared with the area of the state, insignificant in extent, and 

 these river belts of forest are entirely insufficient to supply even the mere local wants of the nearest settlements. 

 The oak forests, which stretch more or less continuously between the eastern pine belt and the treeless western 

 prairies and plains, are, except along their extreme eastern borders, composed of small, stunted trees, often hollow, 

 defective, and of little value except for fuel, fence rails, and railway ties. The forests of the western mountains are 



