46 



TIMBER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATEi^ 



Angelina counties, and include au area of about 2,890,000 acres. In amount and (juality of the 

 timber these forests are unsurpassed and are only equaled by the forest of the adjoining region 

 iu Louisiana. Toward their southern borders the country, like the pine fiats of southwestern 

 Louisiana, is perfectly level and poorly drained, with the soil water soaked for a greater part of 

 the year. Thfse flats have been almost completely stripped of their merchantable timber. North 

 of Nona the surface rises gradually above the water level in broad, low swells, and, being underlaid 

 by strata of stifl' loams, is more or less deficient iu drainage. The intervening wide flats are 

 frequently covered with a dense growth of large slirubs and small-sized trees, consisting of 

 various species of hawthorn [CmUcgus crusgnlU, G. virldix, C. mollis, C, berberidifolki), the 

 Deciduous Holly {Ilex deeidua), Dahoon Holly {Ilex caroliniana), Privet {Adelia acuminatd), plane 

 trees, and magnolias. These impenetrable thickets are common, and often cover many square 

 miles, like the so-called Big Thicket in the lower part of Hardin County, said to be from 10 to 1") 

 miles wide, either way. The growth of Longleaf Pine which covers the gentle, wide swells, is 

 dense, of fine proportions, and of remarkably rapid development. The average age of five trees 

 felled northwest of Nona, 15 to 25 inches in diameter, is but little over one hundred and fifty 

 years, as the following measurements show : 



Mtaauremcnis of five trees. 



In this region, owing to the direct communication of several railroad lines with the great 

 centers of trade in the North and with the treeless plains of the far West, the manufacture of 

 lumber has made a wonderful progress during the past twelve years. In 1880 the cut of Longleaf 

 Pine in this State has been estimated at 00,450,000 feet. From Information received from jiartics 

 engaged in the lumber business, the cut during the year 1S92 can safely be estimated at 440,000,000 

 feet. The centers of lumber production are Orange and Beaumont, but a great amount is cut at 

 the mills along the several lines of railway passing through this region. 



Output (if Longleaf Pine lumber hi Texas diiriim the year 189:^. 



Feet, B. M. 



Orange ( inclusive of 40,000,000 of feet derived from Calcasieu) 45, 000, 000 



IJeaumout 75,000,000 



Sabine Valley, Texas and Nortbern Railroad •. 157,000,000 



Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad 143,000,000 



Houston, Kansas and Texas Railroad 20,000,0011 



Total 440,000,00(1 



For the renewal of the forests of Longleaf Pine iu this region there is as little hope under their 

 present management as in the adjoining region in Louisiana. In this cold, wet soil the seeds find 

 but a poor chance for germination, and the surviving plantlets soon succumb to the same cause. 

 In the pine flats seedlings are rarely observed among the tall broom sedge grasses {AndnqxHion), 

 which, under the influence of light and a damp soil, thrive luxuriantly in the flat woods denuded 

 of their timber growth, imparting to them the aspect of waving meadows or savannas. 



PRODUCTS. 



VALUE AND USES OK THE WOOD. 



The wood of the Longleaf Pine is hardly surpassed by any of our timber trees of economic 

 importance, and is practically unsurpassed by any member of its own order in the qualities which 

 are required for purposes of construction, thus taking the first place among its congeners. 



