1 8 WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES 



and third growths now furnish the principal source of lumber. Lands 

 once cultivated and then abandoned by the planters of several genera- 

 tions ago now afford merchantable trees. In the more southern States, 

 where longleaf pine and Cuban "slash" pine are still being cut, lob- 

 lolly is held in low esteem. Pine marketed and known as North Caro- 

 lina pine or Virginia pine is composed of nearly 80 per cent loblolly. 

 Of the wood reported for further manufacture, loblolly represented 

 nearly 45 per cent of the total as shown by this report. 



[~ SHORTLEAF PINE 



In importance to the lumber industry, and in value of its lumber, 

 shortleaf pine it is said is the most valuable softwood in Virginia. The 

 place which this species is taking among the second growth in Virginia 

 marks it as one of the most important timber trees of the future, while 

 original growth is rapidly disappearing large areas of exhausted lands 

 abandoned by farmers have been taken possession of by this tree, and 

 this second growth is the source of most of the shortleaf pine now cut 

 in Virginia. In quantity used 1 by ifoe Virginia (manufacturers iti stands 

 second. Shortleaf grows sparingly as far north as Staten Island, New 

 York, and once abounded in southern New Jersey. Delaware, and Mary- 

 land. It has since practically disappeared in all these States except 

 Maryland, and is now cut for lumber no farther north than Virginia. 

 West of the Mississippi River in northern Louisiana and Arkansas and 

 In Missouri shortleaf reaches its best development and is the most plenti- 

 ful. The needles of shortleaf are generally much shorter and the cones 

 smaller than those of loblolly pine, and as trees, therefore, they are 

 readily distinguished. It is far different with the wood. The two spe- 

 cies closely resemble each other and are difficult to identify. In some 

 grades of their wood they are closely alike in respect to weight, 

 strength, structure, and usefulness. 



South of the York River and as far west as Richmond and Peters- 

 burg is the zone in Virginia where loblolly pine generally predominates. 

 Narrow belts of shortleaf pine are here also, and in lower lands these 

 p-ines are associated with hardwoods. North of the York River and 

 throughout the Piedmont region, shortleaf is the ruling conifer. It is 

 most abundant on old fields. Virginia shortleaf pine was probably the 

 first timber made an article of commerce from this country. In colo- 

 nial days we read of it being shipped to England and West Indies in 

 large consignments. 



