26 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS. 



granite country, and along river terraces. Post and black jack oaks 

 are the principal species composing this type. Even these have short 

 trunks and rounded crowns and the forest presents an open, dwarfed 

 appearance. The post and black jack oaks are of little commercial 

 value and are used chiefly for fuel and fence posts. There is a wealth 

 of tie timber and the larger trunks, 12 to 24 inches in diameter, are 

 excellent for certain kinds of construction timber. Eed cedar is wide- 

 spread and of considerable commercial importance in certain localities. 

 Isolated bodies of loblolly pine are found on the bluffs along the Colo- 

 rado Eiver in Bastrop. Fayette, and Colorado Counties. Comparatively 

 few forest industries are in operation within the region. Stumpage 



Loblolly Pine as it Occurs in the Hills along the Colorado River Bastrop County. 



values are low and owners realize little from their holdings except for 

 domestic and local use. These cheap and apparently inexhaustible wood- 

 lands, however, furnish much indirect wealth to the inhabitants. More 

 than 50 per cent of the land is in cultivation or pasture, increasing 

 toward the Black Prairie belt. The abundance of cheap and service- 

 able wood means a great saving to every farmer who, if located in the 

 Black Prairie or Panhandle, would be forced to purchase the necessary 

 fuel, posts, and other rough products from local yards or haul them from 

 distant points. A lack of this timber would mean a hardship to many 

 upland farmers. 



This extensive region, adjacent to or a part of the great agricultural 

 region of Central Texas and near many large towns and cities, is 



