LUMBER RESOURCES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 469 



tbe laiKls could be planted with timber more profitably than any other 

 crop. The survey above cited, makes the following statements concern- 

 ing the timber resources of the State : 



Tide-ivater has extensive forests of yellow Virginia pine, oak, cypress, cedar, locust, 

 &c., from which large quantities of sawed lumber and timber, staves, heading, hoop- 

 poles, shingles, railway- ties, fire-wood, &c., are constantly shipped, very often from the 

 edge, of the forests, since vessels can penetrate all portions of the section, directly to 

 all the seaboard markets of the country. Sumac is here au abundant shrub. '■ 



The Middle Region has large areas of superior bard pine, black, white, and other oaks, 

 hickory, locust, persimmon, gum, cedar, holly, and other trees from which much lum- 

 ber, bark, &c., are produced for market. Sassafras and sumac are plentiful, and the 

 former could be made a staple crop on ridge lands, for the production of oil. 



Fiedmont has considerable torest lands, with many species of oak and hickory, and 

 of tnlip-poplar, black walnut, locust, cedar, chestnut, pine, and other timber trees, 

 but it can hardly be considered a source of supply of timber for exportation, save in a 

 few localities. Sassafras and sumac abouud. 



The Blue Ridge is mostly covered with forests of whit*, black, red, and rock oak, 

 hickory, chestnut, locust, birch, some excellent yellow pine, and other trees. This sec- 

 tion has furnished great quantities of charcoal for the manufacture of iron from the 

 ores ou its western margin, and it will long remain a source of supply as the forests 

 renew themselves rapidly. The timber supply of pine and other woods for the eastern 

 part of the valley is drawn from the Blue Ridge. There is found much valuable hard 

 wood, as hickory and oak, for wagons and agricultural implements. It is yet to become 

 an important source of supply for oak-bark. 



The Valley has nearly half its surface covered with a growth of oaks, hickories, and 

 locusts, interspersed with b'ack and white walnuts, and yellow and other pines, having 

 an age of one hundred and fifty to two hundred years. This timber while not the 

 largest, is of very excellent quality, and is suited for many manufactures. The slaty 

 lands abound in sumac. 



Appalachia is both rich and j^oor in forestal wealth. On the Sandstone Mountain ranges, 

 and iu the slate aud shale valleys, the trees are small, but the growth is dense, of oaks 

 aud other hard woods, pines, &c., good for charcoal, with larger trees iu the hollows 

 and more fertile spots. On the limestone ridges aud adjacent valleys, as also iu the 

 calcareous and some shale valleys, oaks, walnuts, white aud yellow tulip-poplars, 

 birches, beeches, locusts, cherries, sycamores, and other timber trees are found to grow 

 to a large size, often several feet in diameter, and to a great height. Only portions of 

 this region have beeu reached by railroads, aud extensive forests of excellent timber 

 remain without means for reaching markets. There are some forests of white pines 

 aud other conifers, but these timbers are not abundant as forests in this region. Tim- 

 ber for coaling is abundant, and various medicinal plants grow iu the forest shade. 

 \Vild fruits are also found in abundance, and some reach the market, either dried or 

 canned. Nuts of various kinds abound iu many places. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



The State of North Carolina presents a great variety of vegetation, as 

 it occupies a place intermediate between northern and southern, and 

 extends from the sea-coast to the highest elevations found east of the 

 ^Mississippi. Its flora may be divided into lower or maritime, middle, 

 and upper or mountain districts.^ 



The lower district may be easily divided into three botanical regions. 

 The first includes only the line of sea-coast which produces maritime 

 species, or those that grow only within the influence of the sea-air, such 

 as the live-oak and palmetto. The second extends inland as far as the 

 long moss is produced ; and the third extends to the middle district. A 

 line drawn from Blakely on the Roanoke in the direction of Cheraw on 

 the Pee Dee will very nearly mark the western bounds of the lower dis- 

 trict, although the actual line is as irregular as the coast, and there is 

 some overlapping of this with the adjoining district on the west. It 

 embraces the pines, of which there are eight species, the most important 



•The production is entirely from the wild shrub, no results of cultivation having 

 yet appeared, although it is understood that some attempt has been made to introduce 

 the Sicilian sumac. In 1870, over 1,900 tons, ground and crude, were shipped from 

 Richmond, and the same year a mill at Winchester ground 800 tons, valued at ;575,UOO. 



3 The Woody Plants of North Carolina, by Rev. M. A. Curtis, D. D., p. x. 



