LOGGING IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

 F. D. Douthitt, '14. 



In the southeastern part of Texas, in San Augustine 

 county, the forests are composed of the southern pines mixed 

 with hardwoods. The whole country is a plain about 300 

 feet above sea-level, cut by numerous streams, leaving the 

 ridges flat and gently sloping to the streams about 200 feet 

 below. These flat ridges vary in width from 1 to 3 miles 

 making up about one-third of the whole area. The slopes 

 are long and gentle and occupy another one-third of the 

 area. The remainder is made up of bottom land and valleys 

 from 2 to 5 miles in width. The soil on the ridges is a yel- 

 lowish, deep sandy loam which is underlaid by various strata 

 of sand and clay. Erosion has exposed these layers on the 

 slopes so that the soils there vary from several colored sands 

 near the top to blue and yeljow clays at the bottom, while in 

 the large valleys the soil is a deep black alluvium. The for- 

 est growth on the ridges is pure Longleaf Pine ; on the upper 

 half of the slopes a mixture of Longleaf Pine, Loblolly Pine, 

 and some Shortleaf Pine; while on the lower half, stunted 

 hardwoods predominate with scattered Loblolly Pine. The 

 alluvial flats support a pure stand of hardwoods. The rain- 

 fall averages about 45 inches annually and is quite evenly 

 distributed throughout the year. The growing season is 

 long, killing frosts occurring only between November and 

 March. 



A lumber company is logging by railroad in this county 

 over an area of about 100,000 acres which was formerly in 

 nearly a solid block but is now cut up by interior holdings 

 of small farmers. A railroad, formerly belonging to the 

 company but now a common carrier, divides the area into 

 north and south halves, while a river flowing south cuts the 

 area into east and west halves. This makes the haul down 

 grade for the first half and up grade for the rest of the way. 

 The mill, sawing 100,000 feet B. M. in a 10 hour day, is 

 located on a divide at the west end of the area and the log- 





