16 FOEEST CONDITIONS IN LOUISIANA. 



cypress to jobbers for ties and fence posts. Cut-over lands are 

 valued at from $2 to $10 per acre, depending upon the distance from 

 the bayous, amount of timber left, and feasibility of draining thenu 



The future value of tupelo in the cypress swamps is rarely con- 

 sidered. Water ash in the swamps is very inferior, and only the 

 clearest is used in heading and oar factories. The best ash stumpage 

 usually brings from $4 to $5 per thousand feet; the poorer usually 

 is either left in the woods or used for fuel. 



On the bottom type, which covers hundreds of thousands of acres, 

 much of the best white oak has been cut by stave operators, who 

 utilize only the select portions of the tree and leave the rest. North 

 of the junction of the Red and Mississippi Rivers the bottom forests 

 remain intact, except where some of the best ash and oak have been 

 removed. The forests in this section of the alluvial region, especially 

 in the parishes of Concordia, Catahoula, La Salle, Franklin, Tensas, 

 and Madison, form, in fact, the largest compact bodies of hardwood 

 timber in the United States'. Average stands of merchantable oak, 

 ash, gum, elm, hackberry, and hickory run from 5,000 to 8,000 board 

 feet per acre. Much of this timber is in the hands of northern 

 capitalists and is being held as speculative investment. Moreover, 

 freight rates from this section to northern markets are about $2 

 per thousand higher than on the railroads in the State of Missis- 

 sippi, a fact which retards the development of lumbering west of 

 the river. Improved river transportation, however, will soon permit 

 the timber to be marketed. 



Large bodies of timber are owned by northern furniture, auto- 

 mobile, and sewing-machine factories and other wood-using indus- 

 tries which will cut the oak, ash, and red gum to supply their own 

 needs. The price paid for hardwood lands within the region ranged 

 from 14 cents to $6 or more per acre. To-day the timber alone is 

 worth from $25 to $50 per acre. Red gum and tupelo together form 

 approximately 40 per cent of the stand; red and white oak, 35 per 

 cent; and cypress, ash, elm, hickory, hackberry, cottonwood, etc., 

 together form the remaining 25 per cent. Oak stumpage sells for 

 from $5 to $8 per thousand board feet; ash, from $6 to $10; red 

 gum, from $3 to $5; and elm for about $4. Cypress ties delivered 

 at the railroads or on the levees bring about 40 cents, and oak ties 

 about 30 cents. 



On the ridge lands, the area of which is relatively small, the 

 timber is short and often scrubby. Occasionally the ridges are 

 wide and flat, with gum, oak, and hickory of the best quality. Often 

 the wide ridges are in cultivation. All of the ridges are favorite 

 feeding places for cattle and deer in winter and furnish refuge for 

 them during periods of high water. 



