174 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



They seem to be rather indifferent to the quality of the soil, 

 attaining a large size and comparative tliick growth on even the 

 sandy soils, provided they are well watered. The presence of a 

 deep humus which has been uninjured by lire has undoubtedly 

 much influence. 



On the sedimentary alluvial soils the growth is fiomllO to 125 

 feet in height, and it is somewhat less on sandy soil. 



The body of the wood is formed of sweet gum, water gum and 

 tupelo, with these more or less cypress, which however seldom 

 constitutes as much as one-fourth of the entire growth. Beneath 

 these are small water ash, and young trees of species represented 

 in the dominant growth, in all stages of development. The trees 

 are all shade-enduring in their youth and, probably with the 

 exception of the water gum, all shade-demanding in the earliest 

 seedling stages. 



It is not often that fires do damage to these swamps, as through 

 the winter and spring they are too wet to burn ; but sometimes in 

 dry autumns the underwood is destroyed with great loss. 



The injury inflicted by browsing cattle is slight. 



MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF GUM AND CYPRESS SWAMPS. 



The supply of cypress suitable tbr making either board or shin- 

 gles is nearly exhausted. In the Pamlico peninsula several large 

 bodies are yet intact ; scattered trees still stand along most of the 

 larger streams : Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Northeast and Cape Fear 

 rivers; smaller bodies are yet to be found in many of the other 

 swamps, such as those surrounding Lake Waccamaw, Big Swamp 

 in Bladen county, and others. 



Except in the few places where the forests have been unlum- 

 bered the cover is broken and irregular from the removal of the 

 mature cypress. The thickets of water and sweet gums growing 

 beneath them have rapidly pushed upward to take the place of 

 the cypress on its removal. 



While the timber of the cypress is of the most excellent quality, 

 its natural powers of reproduction are so limited and the accre- 

 tion of the trees after the height-growth is made is so slow that 

 the outlook for extensive reproduction is far from encouraging. 



