•i ( 



Soutliern yellow pines. The tree grows rapidly when 

 young, but after it reaches an age of forty or fifty years 

 it is apt to increase its size more slowly. For that rea- 

 son the annual rings in a characteristic shortleaf trunk 

 are broad near the heart and narrower as the bark is 

 approached. The sapAvood is thick, the heartwood com- 

 paratively small. The wood is rather soft. The com- 

 mercial range of shortleaf pine extends into the northern 

 part of the State, its best development being in regions 

 farther north. 



Spanish Cedar. — All of this wood is imported, as it 

 does not grow in the United States. It comes from Cuba, 

 Mexico, and adjacent regions. Most of that used in Flor- 

 ida was cut in Cuba. 



Evergreen Magnolia. — It appears in Table 1 as the 

 cheapest wood in Florida, and more than two and a half 

 million feet were used. It is an evergreen of beautiful 

 foliage, and with wood varying much in value. The best 

 has been compared with yellow poplar, but the poorest 

 is intersected with hard streaks and black patches. The 

 largest trees are 80 or mor^ feet high and three or four 

 feet in diameter ; but an average size is scarcely half that. 

 It does best in rich, wet ground. In early lumber opera- 

 tions it was frequently left standing because its conver- 

 sion into lumber was not profitable; but in recent vears 

 uses have been found for the wood and it is now cut 

 when lumbermen come to it. In Florida the boxmak- 

 ers are largest users of magnolia. 



Red Gum. — Bed gum is cut in most parts of the north- 

 ern half of Florida, but it is not as important as in 'iome 

 of the more northern and western States. It attains 

 large size and is of good form for sawlogs, but it does 

 not usually occur in thick stands like the pine, and it 

 goes to the mills along with other hardwoods. Its chief 

 use in Florida is for boxes and crates, but farther north 

 its greatest importance is as furniture material and house 

 finish. 



