44 



TDrr.EK PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



Ill 1890 seven sawmills were reported, with a diiily capacity, iu the aggregate, of about 120,000 

 feet, board raeasuro. It can safely be assnmed that their annual output would not exceed 15,000,000 

 feet, board measure. The products of these mills find their market chietly at j^ew Orleans. In 

 former years a considerable quautit}- of nrfval stores was produced in St. Tammauy Parish, while 

 at present only a few turpentine orchards are worked in tlie ui)i)er districts. 



The importance of the pine forests in the western Gulf region can not be overestimated, 

 considering the develojjment of the immense timberless area beyond their western limit. The 

 rapidly increasing population of the Western plains depends chiefly upon them for the supply of 

 the material needed to build up the homes of civilization. 



The forests of the Longleaf Pine west of the Mississippi Eiver, as in regions so far considered, 

 are geographically limited to the sands and gravels of the latest Tertiary formation. They 

 make their first appearance in Louisiana above the great alluvial plain in the uplands bordering 

 the valley of the Ouachita and follow its course for 50 miles, then extend west, skirting Lake 

 Catahoula and the alluvial lands of the Red River. These pine forests to the north of this river 

 cover an area estimated at 1,025,000 acres, extending northward for a distance averaging 55 

 miles. Toward their Jiorthern limit the forests pass gradually into a mixed growth of deciduous 

 trees and Shortleaf Pine. In the center of this region the pine ridges alternate with tracts of 

 White Oak and Hickory. Tending toward the Red River, the i)ure forest of Longleaf Pine which 

 covers the undulating uplands is unbroken and has up to the pi'esent been but slightly invaded 

 by the ax. On the low hills of this northern division of tlie pine belt of northwestern Louisiana 

 the forests are somewhat open, and are composed of trees of the first order as regards their 

 dimensions, the well-drained, warm, and deep soil of sandy loam being highly favorable to tlieir 

 development. This fact is clearly shown in the following statement of the ages and dimensions of 

 six trees felled for test logs : 



Minaiiremeiitx of tix trees. 



Upon 1 acre of the same plat, with the timber standing rather above the average, 38 trees 

 were found. Of these there were 14 of 24 inches diameter at breast high, estimated length of 

 timber, 45 feet; of 1!) inches diameter at breast high, estimated length of timber, 40 feet; fl of 

 17 inches diameter at breast high, estimated length of timber, 35 ieet; 9 of 13 inches diameter at 

 breast high, estimated length of timber, 30 feet. 



In the opinion of exi)erts, the average yield of] acre of these pine lands at a fair estimate is 

 not less than G,000 feet, board measure. 



According to the statements of Mr. Sues, at Levins Station, 50,000,0(10 feet, board measure, 

 were shipped, in 1802, from the mills of this section. 



South of the Red River bottom the forests of Longleaf Pine continue unoroken to the Sabine 

 Eiver and soutli to the treeless savannas of the coast in Calcasieu Parish, their eastern boundary 

 parallel with the eastern boundary of that parish. Roughly estimated, these ibrests cover an 

 area of about 2,068,000 acres. From the marshy lowlauds of the coast to the upper tributaries 

 of the Calcasieu River, up to Ilickory and Beck with creeks, the country is poorly drained, almost 

 perfectly level, with a highly retentive and somewhat impervious clay subsoi'l. In t^oiiseciuence, 

 these pine flats are, tor the greater part of the year, more or less covered with water. These 

 low, wet pine forests were stripped some years ago of all their merchantable timber, and only a 

 comparatively small number of trees of less than 12 inches in diameter were left standing. On 



