GENERAL SURVEY OF TEXAS WOODLANDS. 43 



dying branches even in the lower portion of the crown. Such timber is 

 usually unsound. More than 150 miles of horseback and 500 miles of 

 automobile travel (one trip alone being entirely across McMullen County 

 from Three Bivers to Fowlerton) furnished ample basis, however, upon 

 which to form the conclusions shown in this report. 



The volume per acre, average size, and the quality of the timber on 

 the areas examined were determined by the use of circular sample plots. 

 All sound trees on the plots were tallied in logs by center diameters and 

 log lengths. No defective timber and no logs under two inches in 

 diameter at the center and two feet long were tallied. 



MESQUITE AREAS. 



Mesquite is found in all sections of the region covered but the char- 

 acter of the timber is decidedly variable. The greater portion of the 

 area is covered with a shrub-like growth of mesquite which stools out 

 at the ground into a number of slender, crooked stems. Entire sections, 

 particularly the higher and drier situations, are occupied by such growth 

 in association with huisache and black chaparral (catsclaw). The mes- 

 quite trees in this type are but little taller than a mounted man and 

 average less than two inches in diameter. Along the streams, where 

 mesquite would be expected to attain its best development, the species 

 is crowded out by the native hardwoods, such as elm, ash, hickory, and 

 live oak. In a few of these situations, however, mesquite of fair size 

 and quality is found, but the areas are so small and so widely scattered 

 as to make the cost of logging and delivery to a mill prohibitive. When 

 the controlling factors of volume per acre, area of tract, size and quality 

 of timber, and accessibility are considered, the total stand of mesquite 

 with commercial possibilities in the region is exceedingly small. 



Five areas, from one and one-half to three miles distant from the 

 railroad, were found to contain fairly large, compact bodies of mesquite. 

 The timber on each is of average size for the species and of good quality. 

 Volumes per acre, while low, are probably as high as could be secured 

 for the species. Since it is feasible to locate a mill along the railroad 

 in the vicinity of the timber,, the haul would in no case be more than 

 three miles; one of the tracts (Odem) is bisected by the railroad and 

 the outer boundaries of suitable timber are not more than one and one- 

 half miles from the track on either side. The ground on the areas is 

 firm and would permit of easy logging. Woods labor in the different 

 sections should be cheap as the cutting may be done by Mexicans. Super- 

 vision, of course, would be more exacting. 



Details concerning the five specific areas are as follows: 



