FOREST POLICY. 



(2) Firing of woodlands is punishable unconditionally and 

 everywhere. The only fires allowed are those kindled between 

 March 10 and May i by land owners- intending to burn their 

 clearings previous to plowing. 



8. Reservations : Nbne. 



9. Irrigation: None. 



FORESTRY CONDITIONS OF FLORIDA: 



1. Area: 37,700 square miles, or 70% of State's area, under 

 forest, mostly stocked with commercial timber. 



2. Physiography: Southern section consists largely of 

 swamps and hummocks, impassable from June to October (Lake 

 Okeechobee). North of the 28th degree of latitude, the country 

 is level, rarely undulating. Here the swamps are found more 

 near the coast. 



The western section of the State, near Tallahassee, is higher 

 than the rest (average about 250 feet above sea level), inter- 

 cepted with low mountain ranges. 



Frost is rare; the summer climate is unhealthy in the south. 

 The Everglades show from i to 3 feet of water even during the 

 dry season of the year. Drought frequent from February to 

 June. 



3. Distribution: Sargent estimates, in 1880, the stand of 

 pine at 6,615,000,000 feet b. m. A line drawn from Charlotte Har- 

 bor to Cape Malabar divides the State into a northern three- 

 fifths and a southern two-fifths. 



(a) Northern section. It contains long leaf and Cuban 

 pine, with some little Taeda. Long leaf pine, on its way south, 

 loses continually in volume and in quality of timber. Along the 

 shore, evergreen oaks, notably live oak, are found in place of 

 pine; further, palmetto and scrub pines. In the western coun- 

 ties, near Tallahassee, broad-leafed species of northern character 

 prevail besides the pines. Large yellow poplars, ashes and hick- 

 ories occur here along the water courses. 



In the bottoms, cypress and gum swamps are said to scale 

 10,000 feet b. m. per acre. Evergreen broad-leafed species (mag- 

 nolias, oaks, bays) fringe such swamps. A species peculiar tO 

 this region is the "stinking cedar" (Tumion taxifolium) and the 



22 



