38 



TIMBER 1'IXES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



During these fourteen years the price of square timber ami lumber taken iu the aggregate 

 averaged about $12.50 per 1,000 feet, board measure. On this basis the value of the mill products 

 for these parts of the forests of Longleaf Pine amounted to $3,155,070 a year. 



For the past forty years, during which the lauds of the peninsular part and in middle Florida 

 have passed mostly into possession of small proprietors, no naval stores have been produced 

 in this section. In western Florida, however, in proximity to the Louisville and Nashville and 

 Pensacola railroads, large areas have been subjected to the tapping of the trees, and the forests 

 close to these railroads having been exhausted, the products of the turpentine stills are hauled 

 for a distance often exceeding 10 miles and find their market mostly at Mobile. 



Alabama. Owing to the diversity in geological conditions and in topographical features 

 prevailing in this State, the distribution of the Longleaf Pine presents within its borders 

 peculiarities not found elsewhere. It appears in three separate regions the maritime pine belt, 

 the central pine belt, and the pine forests of the Coosa Basin and other outlying forests in north 

 Alabama. 



The coast pine belt extends from the Gulf shore inland for a distance of from 90 to 100 miles, 

 and has been estimated to cover about 13,750 square miles, or 8,800,000 acres, outside of the swamps 

 and flatwoods of the coast plain. The latter, perfectly level or rising in gentle swells above the 

 tidewater marshes, is almost completely stripped of its original timber growth. After its removal 

 the Longleaf Pine has largely been replaced by Cuban Pine. 



The rolling pine uplands rise to a height of from 2(10 to 350 feet above the lowlands of the 

 coast. In the lower part of this pine belt, where the sandy and gravelly deposits of the latest 

 tertiary strata prevail, the Longleaf Pine forms pure forests, with the exception of the narrow 

 strips of hardwood timber bordering the water courses. This lower division covers about 4,250,000 

 acres. In the extent and quality of their timber resources these Longleaf Pine forests can be 

 considered equal to those found in the adjoining parts of Florida and in Mississippi, and 

 unsurpassed by those of the most favored sections of the Atlantic pine forest. 



The following measurements of trees felled near Wallace, Escambia County, in collecting 

 the material for the United States timber tests, will serve to represent fairly the quality of the 

 merchantable timber in conformity with the standard in vogue at the mills in 1880, and the relation 

 of age to growth: 



.\ffatiiremeiitH of fee 1ree. 



At a lumber camp near Lumberton, in Washington County, 9 timber trees were measured 

 showing on the average a mean diameter of 17 inches, the clear sticks averaging 40 feet in 

 length. 



Upon 1 acre, selected at random in the untouched forests north of Springhill, Mobile County, 

 very open and free from smaller trees or undergrowth, 16 trees were counted above 16 inches in 

 diameter at breast high, namely, 2 trees 23 inches in diameter at breast high, estimated length of 

 timber, 40 feet; 2 trees 20 inches in diameter at breast high, estimated length of timber, 40 feet; 

 12 trees 16 to 18 inches in diameter at breast high, estimated length of timber, 35 feet; which iu 

 the aggregate would yield about 5,000 feet, board measure. 



Upon another acre plat of the same quarter section 64 trees above 12 inches in diameter at 

 breast high were found; of these 2 trees measured 20 inches in diameter at breast high, estimated 

 length of timber, 40 feet; 26 trees measured 17 inches in diameter at breast high, estimated length 

 of timber, 36 feet; 36 trees measured 13 inches in diameter at breast high, estimated length of 

 timber, 24 feet. 



