42 MISC. PUBLICATION 217, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



acres, made up of 126,027,000 acres of southern pines and 23,412,000 

 acres of wet-land hardwoods and cypress (pi. 6). It embraces 

 about 30 percent of the total forest lands of the country. 



Four species of pines, namely, shortleaf, loblolly, longleaf, and 

 slash, make up the bulk of the stands (pi. 7). These are mentioned 

 in the order of their prevalence in passing from north to south across 

 the region. Shortleaf pine is found over an extensive region from 

 New Jersey south to Florida and west to Missouri, Oklahoma, and 

 Texas. Its best growth is in the broad piedmont or hilly area between 

 the mountains and the Coastal Plain. Loblolly pine grows exten- 

 sively over the upper Coastal Plain. Mixed loblolly and shortleaf 

 pines occur over a vast area in large timber holdings and on hundreds 

 of thousands of farms. Over two-thirds of the total naval stores 

 (spirits of turpentine and rosin) of the world is derived from the 

 crude gum or resin of longleaf and slash pines growing in the south- 

 eastern part of the United States. The bulk of production centers 

 in southern Georgia and northern Florida. During the past few 

 years, the amount produced yearly has averaged about 600,000 casks 

 of turpentine (50 gallons each) and about 2,000,000 barrels of rosin 

 (500 pounds each), together valued at about $17,000,000. 



Three other pines make a slight addition to the total amount; 

 namely, the pond pine (a close relative of the pitch pine of the East) 

 in the acid lands and swamps of the Atlantic Coastal Plain; the sand 

 pine of the sand barrens of Florida; and the spruce pine, a tree which, 

 although it is not a white pine, somewhat resembles the northern 

 white pine in appearance of the bark, color of the foliage, and softness 

 of the wood. 



The southern pines yield the bulk of the total timber cut from the 

 region (lumber and other timber products), which has ranged mostly 

 from 6 to 12 billion board feet of lumber and 1% million cords of 

 pulpwood yearly, besides large quantities of railroad ties, piling, and 

 fuel wood (pi. 8). About half of this, it is estimated, was cut from 

 stands of second-growth or comparatively young trees. The lumber 

 cut of the South alone is about one-third of the total for the United 

 States. 



The lowland and swamp hardwoods, southern cypress, and an inter- 

 mittent fringe of southern white cedar cover about one-third of the 

 total area of the southern forest region. The prevailing hardwood 

 trees are red (or sweet) gum, swamp black gum, and tupelo gum, 

 willow oak, water oak, cottonwoods, willows, magnolias, and bays. 

 The red (or sweet) gum occurs over an extensive area, grows rapidly, 

 and holds a high position with respect to quantity cut annually and 

 total value. The large size of the tree and the interlocked fiber of 

 the wood make it one of the leading veneer woods of the country. 

 Only a relatively small amount of the once abundant and highly use- 

 ful cypress is left; when logged it does not come back abundantly as 

 do the pines. 



The prevailing trees, which compose the forests of the two divisions 

 of the Southern region, follow in the order of their relative importance: 



