Figure 7. — Improved roads 

 permit the trucking of forest 

 products from the woods to the 

 mill, supplementing the haul- 

 ing by railroads. 



and Atlantic Coast Line, together with interconnect- 

 ing carriers, serve the State so well that the only ex- 

 tensive regions more than 6 miles from a railroad are 

 along the coast and in the mountains. Most forest 

 areas, therefore, can be reached by rail and highway, 

 and their products are easily transported to market 

 (fig. 7). 



Water transportation is possible along the coast 

 and up the channels of the larger rivers of the Coastal 

 Plain, The Intercoastal Waterway skirts the coast 

 from Savannah to the North Carolina line, thus 

 providing a channel between the mouths of the navi- 

 gable rivers for small power boats, barges, and 

 rafts. The Congaree, Wateree, and other rivers are 

 navigable for short distances; completion of the 

 Santee-Cooper River hydroelectric project makes 

 possible an improved waterway from Charleston to 

 Columbia. In recent years little use has been made 

 of these waterways for transporting forest products, 

 although the construction of pulp mills at George- 

 town and Charleston has increased the barging of 

 pulpwood. 



Climate 



The climate of South Carolina is marked by local 

 variations from the coast to the mountains. The 

 growing seasons are generally long, the summers 

 warm, the winters mild, and the rainfall abundant 

 and well distributed. The interval between the last 

 severe frost in the spring and the first killing frost in 

 the fall ranges from 294 days in the extreme southern 

 part to 186 days in the extreme northwestern part of 

 the State. South Carolina's mean temperature is 

 63° F.; the January average is 45° and the July 

 average 80°. Coastal areas have even relatively 

 temperatures, but farther inland the seasonal varia- 

 tion is marked. 



Rainfall averages about 48 inches per year for the 

 State as a whole, with a recorded minimum of 2iG 

 and maximum of 64 inches (in 1929). The heaviest 

 rainfall is in the upper piedmont and the mountains, 

 a factor that contributes to the erosion problem of 

 the region. Although the rainfall usually reaches 

 its peak in the summer, it is fairly evenly distributed 

 throughout the year. In general, the climate favors 

 a relatively rapid growth of the forest. 



