CLASSIFICATION OF THE FOBEST. 17 



COMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE SWAMP FOREST. 



J ii the Coast Plain of Louisiana the abundance of cypress makes the 

 swamp forests very valuable. In Texas the cypress is not plentiful 

 enough to be of special consequence. There isa fringe of it on almost 



all of the lowland streams, and there arc some minor cypress swamps, 

 but the best of this timber has already been cut, and what is left can 

 probably be marketed with profit only in connection with lumbering 

 of other species or of the swamp forest as a whole. A large amount 

 of tupelo and other timber is available for cheap lumber for boxes, 

 crates, and similar articles, but the demand for it scarcely exists as 

 yet. At present what utilization there is of timber from these trees, 

 as of black gum, for example, is drawn not from the swamp forests, 

 but from those of the alluvial bottom type. • 



Ultimately a part of the land now occupied by the swamp forests will 

 probably be turned into rice farms. It lies in the rice belt, and is 

 better adapted by the conditions of its water supply to the cultivation of 

 this crop than many areas which arc now being developed for the same 

 purpose. The apparently unlimited supply of cheap fuel furnished 

 by the recently discovered oil fields of the region may stimulate new 

 industries which will furnish a market for the great amount of timber 

 material contained in this forest type. Should such be the case, the 

 way would be open for the utilization of the timber now standing, as 

 an accompaniment to the reclamation of the swamps for agriculture. 



HARDWOOD FORESTS OF ALLUVIAL BOTTOMS. 



These forests nourish in the broad erosion channels which the 

 streams of east Texas have worn inland from the low-lying coast 

 plain, chiefly in the Lignitic area. Prof. K. T. Hill describes this 

 area as follows: 



The drainage basins, because of the readiness with which the unconsolidated 

 structure yields to erosion, occupy a far greater area than the remnants of the ancient 

 plains in which they are carved. The present level of the rather sluggish streams is 

 from 100 to 200 feet beneath the divides. Their Hood plains are wide and somewhat 

 unstable. A few feet above these bottoms are the inevitable accompaniments of all 

 the major streams of the southern cotton belt, known as second bottom, often a mile 

 or more in width. * * * The flat divides and wide valleys characterize the 

 wdiole extent of the region. a 



• An example of such a river bottom is that of the Trinity. For 

 at least lot) miles of its course from Liberty northward the heavily 

 timbered valley would no doubt average 5 miles in width. This would 

 mean 500 square miles of chieliy hardwood forest. Similar bottoms 

 are found along the Red River, Sulphur, Sabine, Neches, and Attoyac, 

 besides many more of less extent. 



"k. T. Hill, Irrigation, 1893, p. 04. 



2f;i , (iS— No. 47—0-1 2 



