36 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS. 



white and post oak. In view of the large acreage of mixed hardwoods, even 

 though the stands have been culled, the stave industry should be a flour- 

 ishing one. Unsettled markets, however, have limited production. Fence 

 posts and fuelwood are cut only for home consumption. 



Only .a small part of the county burns over annually. Most fires start 

 where new lands are being cleared. In well settled communities care is 

 taken to restrict fires and several instances are on record where suit has 

 been brought and damages collected for negligence in this respect. As a 

 consequence woodland areas are reproducing fairly rapidly where sufficient 

 seed bearing trees were left by previous logging operations. 



NEWTON COUNTY. 



Newton County, except a small portion of the loblolly region in the 

 extreme south, is located entirely within the longleaf pine region. The 

 northern half of the county is broken ; the southern half is comparatively 

 level. Soils vary from light, sandy loams in the north to darker loams in 

 the south. An extension of the black land belt of Jasper County traverses 

 Newton County from west to east. The land surface drains into the 

 Sabine River. Newton County has 70 miles of frontage on this river. 

 About 42 miles of mainline and 45 miles of logging railroad traverse 

 the county. 



The land area may be divided as follows : 



Approximate total area 577,920 acres. 



Virgin timber lands 175,000 acres. 



Second growth lands 20,000 acres. 



Culled and cut-over lands 296,000 acres. 



All other lands - 86,920 acres. 



Virgin timber stands are mainly longleaf pine of excellent quality. 

 Approximately 100,000,000 feet of mixed hardwoods are located along the 

 Sabine River and in the creek bottoms. The largest tracts of pine are 

 located in the north-central section and are held by non-resident owners. 



Second growth lands are of old field origin. The best stands in this 

 type are located in the southern portion of the county. Little impor- 

 tance is placed upon the future value of the timber. 



Culled and cut-over lands support a more or less heavy stand of timber 

 depending upon the period in which they were logged. Lands cut over 

 under early methods were logged Hghtly and in many cases will now 

 furnish a second crop. Those cut under present methods have been 

 stripped of their pine timber and are reproducing to a growth of scrub oak 

 and gum with but little longleaf pine in the mixture. Lack of sufficient 

 seed bearing trees and the practice of burning over the woodlands make it 

 impossible for such areas to reproduce to pine. 



Lumbering has retarded agricultural development in Newton County. 

 Conditions, however, are constantly improving. No old farm lands are 

 abandoned and a small acreage of new land is being cleared annually. 

 Where new lands are cleared the timber is generally used for fuel. Aver- 

 age farm tracts are 100 acres in size with approximately 20 per cent in 

 cultivation. In the broken, hilly section farm lands are subject to severe 

 washing. No part of the county is under stock law. Pasture, eroded and 



