Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 7 



being the character of the agriculture, the occupation of lumbering, 

 and the cattle tick. 



The character of the agriculture of the Piney Woods region has 

 had considerable effect on the number of cattle produced. Like 

 other portions of the South, the section followed largely a one-crop 

 .system, growing cotton for a cash crop, and neglecting the raising 

 of winter feeds and the saving of hay. Clearing the land of stumps 

 was the main difficulty in preparing land for cultivation, and such 

 small areas as were cleared were planted to cotton, sugar cane, pea- 

 nuts, and sweet potatoes, grass being fought as a deadly enemy. 



From the middle nineties until the present time the lumber indus- 

 try has overshadowed all others ; considerable numbers of the people 

 turned from farming to lumbering as an occupation, and farms were 

 often neglected. Lumbering did not diminish the area of grazing 

 lands, but the quality of the ranges deteriorated. With the removal 

 of the virgin pine a thick undergrowth of scrub oak or young pine, 

 depending upon the kind of soil, rapidly covered the land ; " down " 

 timber left from logging covered much of the ground and fires 

 became more destructive, destroying most of the " switch ". cane, on 

 which the cattle depended for winter grazing, and preventing the 

 spread of desirable pasture plants. The chief demand for cattle 

 during this time was for work oxen. 



As large tracts of the cut-over sections are owned by lumber 

 syndicates and sawmill companies which have been interested chiefly 

 in the timber value of their lands, efforts have been made in rela- 

 tively few instances toward agricultural development. The cut-over 

 lands were left open and were used for grazing the native cattle, but 

 the system was not one that would induce large operations or en- 

 courage the entrance of outside cattlemen. 



The cattle tick has not only been responsible for large losses of cat- 

 tle, but the quality of the cattle produced in ticky territory and the 

 necessary restrictions placed on their shipment have affected the mar- 

 ket for cattle from these sections to isuch an extent that there was 

 no inducement for greater production. Before the Revolutionary 

 War, restrictions were placed on southern cattle being driven into 

 the Northern States, as it had become known that they carried a dis- 

 ease which was fatal to northern cattle and which afterwards became 

 known as Texas fever. 



Even under such adverse conditions considerable numbers of cattle 

 were maintained and in many cases they furnished the chief source of 

 income. Prior to the building of the sawmills, the Piney Woods 

 region was frequently referred to as the " cow country." With the 

 disappearance of the sawmills in cut-over sections, interest in farm- 



