96 



TIMBER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



rise to a considerable lumbering industry. These forests are, however, rapidly decimated along 

 the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, where the i)ro(lucts of the mill find ready market 

 throughout north Mississippi and at Memphis. Through the northern half of Mississippi, on the 

 divide which separates the waters flowing into the Mississippi Kiver from those of the Tombigbee, 

 extends a region of undulating uplands of oak, hickory, and Shortleaf Pine over an area little 

 short of 5,000 square miles; on this long, narrow belt the Shortleaf Pine can be said to form 12 to 

 15 per cent of the tree covering. These forests furnish an ample supply of pine lumber for local 

 demands. It appears, however, that in the eastern Gulf States generally the existing supplies of 

 Shortleaf Pine are scarcely sufficient to cover home demand. On these uplands the Shortleaf Pine 

 takes rapid possession of the openings in the forest and the old fields. Here, as has been 

 elsewhere observed in the central and northern parts of these States, this tree can truly be 

 considered the timber tree of the future. Since it is rarely found in compact bodies, but associated 

 with other trees widely scattered, any attempt at an estimate of the amount of the timber standing 

 in these States must appear futile. The amount of timber cut can also hardly be approximated, 

 since it forms only a part of the cut of the mills in these States. 



West of the Mississippi Kiver, north of the region of the Lougleaf Pine, the Shortleaf Pine 

 is found most abundant and in fullest perfection. It is in these Western forests that the Short- 

 leaf Pine finds its best development, and forms pure forests, extending over many hundreds of 

 square miles with but little interruption. The forests of Shortleaf Pine in northwestern Louisiana, 

 Arkansas, southern Missouri, and northeastern Texas are scarcely surpassed in their timber wealth. 

 The Tenth Census estimates the amount of merchantable timber of Shortleaf Pine standing in 

 1880 in these Western forests at 87,000,000,000 feet, board measure, exclusive of the forests in 

 southern Missouri and the Indian Territory. 



In Louisiana the Shortleaf Pine is unequally distributed over the uplainls north of the Lougleaf 

 Pine region between the Ouachita River and the eastern boundary of Texas, embracing an area of 

 a little over 8,000 s(iuare miles. Along the northern extent of the Louisiana and Texas State line 

 this pine forms pure forests, and also prevails in many localities ou the upland along the border of 

 Arkansas. The resources of pine timber in these mixed forests of oaks, hickories, and Shortleaf 

 Pine, removed as they are from the highways of traffic, have been but slightly drawn upon. 



In Arkansas, in the hilly and mountainous region ou both sides of the Arkansas River, over 

 19,000 square miles in extent, the Shortleaf Pine forms a large part of the tree co^■ering of the 

 siliceous rocky soil and frequently extensive forests on the wide tablelands. Ou the uplands of 

 yellow loam south of the hills the tree predominates, especially on the low ridges of gravel and 

 loam, the hard woods encroaching where the soil conditions become more favorable. 



The low ridges rising above the Loblolly Pine forests of the flood plain of the Ouachita and Little 

 Missouri rivers are covered with open forests almost exclusively of Shortleaf Pine, interspersed 

 with a few White Oaks, Post and Spanish Oaks, rarely above medium size. In the vicinity of 

 Gurdon, in Clark County, upon one ^icre representing average conditions, 22 Shortleaf Pines 

 have been counted from 12 to 25 inches in diameter, with no pines of smaller growth among the 

 scattered undergrowth of dogwood, huckleberries, scrubby oaks. Black Gum, and hickories. Of 

 this number, 8 trees measured from 21 to 25 inches; 6 trees from 18 to 20 inches; G trees from 

 15 to 17 inches; and 2 trees 12 to 11 inches in diameter breast high, indicating a stand per acre of 

 about 0,000 feet, board measure. 



Five trees, representing the average timber growth of the forest, selected for timber tests, were 

 found of the following dimensions: 



Measurements of fire tries. 



On tiie arid hills of flinty sandstone the trees are of inferior growth, as observed in Hot Springs 

 County, in the vicinity of Malvern. On their steep slopes the pines are rarely found to exceed IS 



