52 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS. 



acreage of new land is cleared annually, but there is no tendency to 

 abandon older lands. Large numbers of cattle, but only a few sheep and 

 goats, are kept on the open range. No part of Trinity County is under 

 general stock law. 



The lumber industry dates back 35 years. Five mills, one of 100 

 thousand, one of 75 thousand, and one of 40 thousand feet daily capacity, 

 the other two comparatively small and irregular in their cut, produce 

 approximately 40,000,000 feet of lumber annually. At this rate the 

 industry may continue for 10 years longer. 



About 54,000 oak and 6,000^pine ties are cut annually. All ties are 

 hewn and cutting methods are exceedingly wasteful. The tie industry 

 cannot continue at this rate of production for more than a few years. 

 Fuelwood to the extent of 25,000 cords is cut yearly. In former \ears 

 the output of railroad piling averaged 5,000 pieces annually, but" now 

 has practically disappeared through scarcity of suitable timber. 



The fire problem is serious in Trinity County. Practically the entire 

 area, outside of improved farm lands, burns over annually. Pine repro- 

 duction on the burned areas, even where there is a sufficient number of 

 seed-bearing trees, is noticeably lacking. Seedling and sprout growth 

 of mixed hardwoods on the other hand is prolific. In view of the lack 

 of pine reproduction and the estimated life of the present commercial 

 timber stands there will be a scarcity of timber in Trinity County within 

 a comparatively few years. The present widespread practice of burning 

 the woodlands should be discontinued. 



TYLER COUNTY. 



Tyler County lies entirely within the longleaf pine region. The 

 land surface is broken and hilly in the northern and northwestern portions 

 but becomes more level or slightly rolling toward the south. Drainage is 

 entirely through the ISTeches Eiver. Soils vary from very rocky and grav- 

 elly in the north to light, sandy loams in the south ; a small area of black 

 land is found in the north-central section. Streams are subject to fre- 

 quent overflow. Public roads show but little improvement. Approxi- 

 mately 35 miles of mainline and 12 miles of logging railroad are operated 

 in the county. 



The land area may be divided as follows : 



Approximate total area 592,000 acres. 



Virgin timber lands 35,000 acres. 



Second growth lands 40,000 acres. 



Culled and cut-over lands 435,000 acres. 



All other lands 82,000 acres. 



Virgin timber lands support a growth of longleaf pine and are owned 

 almost exclusively by non-residents. The timber is in scattered tracts, 

 mostly in the north-central and southern portions of the county. It 

 is estimated these areas will be cut out in not more than 10 years. 



Second growth stands are of old field origin. Although second growth 

 lands for the most part support a fair crop of young timber but little 

 importance is placed upon its future value. 



