FORESTS OF THE PINE BARKENS. 153 



The distinctive arborescent growth of these lands is the long- 

 leaf pine and several small scrub oaks; the fork-leaf black-jack 

 oak, barren willow oak, and forms of the post oak. 



CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BARRENS. 



Generally the pine forests of the barrens resemble a two-storied 

 high forest, there being an upper story of this pine, about 70 or 80 

 feet in height, with a rather thin cover, even where uninjured by 

 fires or unlumbered ; beneath the pine an open growth of the 

 scrub oaks from 10 to 15 feet in height, or in places nearly clear. 

 As the cover of the pines becomes thinner, the scrub oaks beneath 

 them become more numerous. The floor is poor, and there is but 

 little humus ; it is grassy with coarse tufts of the wire grass or 

 broom grasses or covered with shrubs. There is no young growth 

 of the long-leaf pine or any valuable tree. 



Practically all of the pine has been tapped for its resin, crude 

 turpentine, the amount of round-timber standing, which has not 

 had the trunk excorticated in the process of turpentining, b.-ing 

 less than 50,000 acres. Not only has the greater portion of the 

 timber been so boxed for turpentine, but, after the original faces 

 have been scariHed as high as possible, and the trees allowed to 

 rest a few years, additional boxes have been cut between the 

 former ones. Many trees, thus weakened by the deeply cut boxes 

 at the collar of the trunk, windfall, and the loss of timber from 

 this cause has been enormous. The resin-covered surfaces wh"re 

 tapped for turpentine are highly inflamable, and fires passing over 

 the dry herbage spread to the trees and frequently destroy them. 



This description represents the forests where they are in the 

 best condition, but it is now realized in only a few places in 

 .North Carolina. 



The greater portion of the forests have been culled for many 

 years, so that there are extensive areas thinly stocked, a few pines 

 to each acre standing in thickets of scrub oaks; or there are large 

 areas of abandoned turpentine orchard, aggregating probably 

 700,000 acres, but yet containing a small amount of timber suita- 

 ble for saw logs. There are extensive areas lying within these 

 forests from which the timber has-been so thoroughly removed by 



