GENERAL SIKYKY or TI.XAS WOODLANDS. 33 



ting, since there is a tendency for cedar not only to maintain itself 

 on land occupi< d by it but to take possession of land cleared of oak 

 and other species. 



Cedar brake fires are the most disastrous to which any Texas wood- 

 lands are subject. It is estimated that in three counties alone, Burner, 

 Blanco and Llano. 6000 to 8000 acres a year burn over. These fires 

 are started carelessly or intentionally by irresponsible persons and are 

 fatal to cedar since it is killed by even scorching the leaves or the 

 inflammable, stringy bark. Fires often start in cedar operations and 

 the burning tips are carried by the wind to kindle new fires at points 

 far distant. Sumac takes possession of burned areas and is followed 

 by mixed hardwood brush or, in some cases, by cedar again. Birds are 

 almost the sole means of the spread of cedar or its renewal on the same 

 land since this class of tree never sprouts from the roots. The senti- 

 ment of farmers and ranchmen is strongly against burning the woods. 

 It is decidedly unsafe, in cedar sections, for one to be caught setting 

 out fires since the brakes furnish income to many land owners and 

 wages to large numbers of operators. 



No estimates are available as yet to show the annual output of cedar 

 or the an.ount of available cedar in this great region. The yards at 

 Marble Falls alone furnish about 300 cars a year. Similar yards are 

 located along all lines of transportation in the region. Most of the 

 cedar is cut into fence posts and poles, which bring upward to 15 cents 

 and 60 cents each, respectively, and are shipped to dealers all over 

 Texas. Timbers of larger size than six inches in diameter and twenty 

 feet in length are generally sold by the linear foot. 



Mountain cedar occurs upon all of the hilly or rough portions of 

 the limestone areas, from Palo Pinto County southward to the head- 

 waters of the Medina, Frio, and Nueces Rivers and thence westward 

 over all of the drainage breaks and escarpments as far as the Devil's 

 "River in Yal Verde County. Much of this territory, however, does not 

 contain cedar of merchantable size or quality. The most extensive 

 operations in cedar are along the Colorado River breaks from Austin 

 to the San Saba country. There are said to be large quantities of this 

 timber in Yal Verde and Edwards Counties which are awaiting means 

 of transportation in order to market. Cedar is scattered to the north- 

 westward and is found in the Breaks of the Plains. Rocky Mountain 

 species probably take the place of mountain cedar in these counties, as 

 it does in the Palo Duro Canyon of Briscoe, Randall, and Armstrong 

 Counties and in the Trans-Pccos region. 



Prairie Timber. 



It is hardly correct to call the woody growth occupying the level 

 prairie sections by the name of timber. Yet a most startling encroach- 

 ment of forest trees has taken place upon level lands formerly occupied 

 solely by grass vegetation. In almost every section of North-Central 

 Texas this phenomenon is taking place. While the spread of timber 

 upon the uplands and eroded areas is gradual and persistent, it is no 



