56 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS. 



The land area may be divided as follows : 



Approximate total area 482,560 acres. 



Virgin timber lands 250,000 acres. 



Second growth lands 35,000 acres. 



Culled and cut-over lands 68,000 acres. 



All other lands 129,560 acres. 



Virgin timber stands are located in the northern and southern sec- 

 tions and by far the greater acreage supports stands of loblolly pine. A 

 comparatively small acreage consists of mixed hardwoods in the bottoms. 

 The pine timber is owned in large tracts by the lumber companies. Log- 

 ging on virgin timber lands is not proceeding very rapidly; in some in- 

 stances timber deeds allow a time limit of 20 years in which to remove the 

 timber. 



Old field second growth stands are found in scattered tracts over the 

 county. The future value of the timber is not recognized. 



Approximately 40,000 acres of culled lands are found in the county. 

 The timber on these areas will cut from 300 to 1,000 feet per acre. Cut- 

 over areas have been logged within the past five years and are practically 

 stripped of their timber. These lands are reproducing to mixed hard- 

 woods and some pine where fires are kept out. Very little land in this 

 class is suitable for agriculture. 



Some progress is being made in general methods of farming. A small 

 acreage is cleared annually and at the same time there is a decided ten- 

 dency to build up older run-down farm lands. Timber is burned when 

 clearing land. Farms range in size from 20 to 2,000 acres and if not 

 terraced are subject to severe washing. Three-fourths of the county has 

 hog law. 



Although lumbering operations date back 25 years they have not been 

 conducted on a very large scale and the bulk of the virgin timber remains 

 to be cut. At the present time 13 mills, one of which cuts 150 thousand 

 feet daily, the remainder small and irregular in their output, produce 

 approximately 30,000,000 feet of lumber per annum. At this rate the 

 timber is growing practically as fast as it is being cut. 



About 10,000 ties, 75 per cent of which are pine, are cut annually. The 

 easily accessible tie timber will be exhausted within the next few years 

 even at this small rate of production. The fuelwood industry is a purely 

 local one conducted by the farming population. There are perhaps 50 

 small, portable shingle mills in the county, but their output is small and 

 irregular. 



The fire problem is a serious one in Walker County. Approximately 

 60 per cent of the total area burns annually and as a consequence a mixed 

 hardwood growth is taking possession of the logged pine lands. Such 

 a condition is deplorable notwithstanding the extent of the timber lands 

 as yet untouched. 



WOOD COUNTY. 



Not more than 20 per cent of the total area of Wood County, the extreme 

 eastern portion, lies in the shortleaf pine region, the remaining 80 per 

 cent being within the post oak region. The land surface, hilly in the 

 northern but more rolling to level in the southern portion, drains to the 



