40 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS. 



timber clean, practically no trees being left for natural seeding. Timber 

 deeds run for 20 years. The bodies of virgin timber are scattered and 

 practically all of the timber easily accessible to the railroads has been 

 cut out. 



Second growth lands are located in the southern part of the county. 

 Practically the entire acreage is from abandoned old fields. The future 

 value of the timber is not recognized. 



Culled and cut-over lands occupy a large acreage in the county. Early 

 logging operations left a fair stand of timber on some of these areas, prob- 

 ably from 300 to 1,000 feet per acre. Areas logged within the past ten 

 years have been cut clear and in most cases are not reproducing. Lands 

 in this type lie along the main railroad lines and are easily accessible. 



Agricultural operations are becoming more and more important and 

 methods of farm management are improving. Farms range from 20 to 200 

 acres in size. New lands are cleared each year and the timber burned in 

 the process. Farm lands in the hilly sections must be terraced to prevent 

 washing. No part of the county is under stock law. 



Lumbering operations have been carried on in Polk County for 35 

 jears. Seven mills, five of which cut from 75 to 190 thousand feet daily, 

 the other two, being comparatively small and irregular in their cut, pro- 

 duce 150,000,000 feet annually. The mill cutting 190 thousand daily 

 includes approximately 40 thousand feet of hardwoods. One of the 

 largest mills in Liberty County trams its logs from Polk County. At the 

 present time several of the larger mills have cut out their Polk County 

 holdings while others may continue cutting for 15 or 20 years. 



Turpentine operations cover 160,000 acres. Not more than 12,000 

 pine and 5,000 oak ties are cut each year, the majority being hewn. All 

 pine ties are shipped for treatment. The cutting is exceedingly wasteful 

 and at the present rate the tie industry cannot last longer than two or 

 three years. The stave production approximates 150,000 white, red and 

 post oak staves per annum. At this rate the industry cannot long con- 

 tinue. Not more than 2,000 cords of fuelwood are used locally and 

 shipped. The supply of timber for fence posts may last indefinitely as 

 not more than 10,000 are used locally each year. One shingle mill and one 

 other small plant have an irregular output. 



The woodlands of Polk County are practically barren of pine repro- 

 duction a? a result of clear cutting and fires. Oak and gum are increasing 

 a> a result of burning. Where forest lands have been cut clear and then 

 burned over, surface erosion is evident. There is little value placed 

 upon the second growth of timber which may be derived from protected 

 areas and sentiment in the county seems strongly in favor of burning the 

 grass and woodlands. 



RED RIVER COUNTY. 



By far the greater proportion of virgin timber lands are mixed hard- 

 entire area, lies within the post oak region while the remainder is within 

 the shortleaf pine region. The level or slightly rolling land surface is 

 drained by the Red and Sulphur Rivers. Soils range from light loams 

 to heavy, black waxy and for the most part are very fertile. Public roads 

 are in excellent condition. More than 48 miles of mainline railroad serve 

 the county. 



