FOREST RESOURCES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Eain-fall hy seasons. 



471 



The mountaiu region of the west appears to get a notable excess of 

 rains except in autumn, when the deficiency is quite remarkable. The 

 hilly or middle region receives least rain in every season, and in every 

 mouth excepting May, while the flat country along the coast receives at 

 every season and in every month, excepting February and March, a 

 larger proportion than the average of the whole State. 



At nearly all stations there was observed a marked predominance of 

 westerly wiuds, inclining to the southwest in spring and summer and 

 to the northwest in winter. 



The following list of trees embraces all that are mentioned in the 

 Eeport on the Woody Plants of North Carolina, by the Eev. Dr. Curtis, 

 published as a part of the Geological and Natural History Survey of the 

 State in 1800 : 



PINES. 



1. Yellow Pine (Firms viitis). Kno-wn also as " Short-leaved Pine " and " Sprnce Pine." 



This is the most widely dift'used of the pines, and is found from the coast to the 

 mountains, but rarely in the lower district. Height, 40 to 60 feet; girth, 4 to 6 

 feet; heart-wood tine-grained but moderately resinous ; the sap-wood perishable ; 

 used for house and ship building ; grain coarser when grown in rich soil. 



2. Jersey Plne (P. i«ojJs). Often confounded with the preceding and bearing same 



names, as also of " Cedar Pine," "River Pine," and "Scrub Pine"; found in the 

 middle and upper districts, but not abundant. Height, 20 to 40 feet; diame- 

 ter, 12 to 15 inches. Too small and often too crooked for use ; often with much 

 sap-wood. 



3. TsiCKhY 'Pi'SK (P. puvgens). Commonly not distinguished by common people from 



the Yellow Pine. Sometimes called "Table Mountain Pine," but found from Vir- 

 ginia to Georgia, and common on all the eastern spurs of the Blue Ridge, but 

 never west. Height, 30 to 50 feet ; diameter, 12 to 20 inches. Timber not deemed 

 of special value. 



4. Pitch Pine (P. rigida). Called sometimes in Virginia " Black Pine," and in North 



Carolina often confounded with yellow pine. Height, 30 to 50 feet. Timber gen- 

 erally very knotty, heavy, and resinous, but in low grounds lighter, with more sap- 

 wood. It is used considerably, but is much inferior to yellow pine. This timbdr 

 is nowhere very abundant. 



5. Pond Pine (P. serotina). Common iff small swamps and bays in the lower district, in 



company with Sweet Bay, Sour Gum, &c., and sometimes in the middle district. 

 It covers large tracts on rich, swampy, and peaty land, but not in extensive forests; 

 and in some places is called " Savanna Pine." Height, 40 to 50 feet ; sometimes 80. 

 Wood occasionally used for masts of small vessels. 



6. Loblolly or Old-Field Pine (P. iaila). Next after the long-leaf pine, this is 



most abundant, coming up spontaneously in abandoned fields, and rising 50 to 70 

 feet, with a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, with a spreading top. Wood sappy and coarse- 

 grained, liable to warp and shrink, and soon decays on exposure. It is the least 

 valuable of the pines, but is used for some purposes, and is tapped for turpentine, 

 yielding, however, less than the long-leaf Pine. An important variety, known as 

 "Swamp Pine," " Slash Piue," and about Wilmington as "Rosemary Pine," some- 

 times grows in low moist lands to a large size. In the West Roanoke swamps it 

 has been found 5 feet in diameter and 150 to 170 feet high.' 



'A raft of stocks, cut in Bertie C>-unty, and jDassed through the Dismal Swamp Ca- 

 nal in May, ld56, for the Amsterdam market, consisjted of Itj pieces, varying from 47 to 



