CHARACTERISTICS OF DISTRIBUTION IN DIFFERENT REGIONS. 69 



would make the possible stand 270,000,000,000 feet, provided it was in virgin condition and not 

 mostly culled or cut. 



The probability is that the amount of standing timber of such sizes as are at present market- 

 able will fall far below 200,000,000, although by a reduction of the standard of marketable logs, 

 which is now 8 to 10 inch as lowest diameters, it may be increased to 300.000,000 feet B. M., of 

 which one-third may be accredited to the most valuable — the longleaf pine. The annual cut of 

 these pines exceeds at present 7,000,000,000 feet B. M, 



Those who rely upon the spontaneous natural reproduction of these pines to fill the gaps made 

 in the virgin timber will do well to read the chapters on natural reproduction in Dr. Mohr's mono- 

 graph on these pines, and the incidental remarks regarding the conditions for renewal and the 

 appearance of the aftergrowth. If, in addition, they study the chapters on conditions of develop- 

 ment, they will realize that the longleaf pine is bound to disappear largely even in the regions where 

 it reigned supreme; that the Cuban pine, no despicable substitute, will take its place in the lower 

 pine belt if allowed to propagate at all; but on large burnt areas the growth of scrubby oaks and 

 brush will forever exclude this species, which eminently needs light. Loblolly and shortleaf, better 

 fitted for warfare with other species, will do much in their respective habitats to recuperate, except 

 in the mixed forest, where they are culled and the hard woods are left to shade out the after- 

 growth, or where the continuous conflagrations have destroyed the mold and aftergrowth and 

 given over the soil to scrubby brush growth, which for ages will either prevent the gradual return 

 of the pines or impede their renewal and growth. Considering that the timber on which we now 

 rely and on which we base our standards comes from trees usually from one hundred and fifty to 

 two hundred years or more old, and that none of these pines makes respectable timber in less than 

 from sixty to one hundred and twenty- five years, the necessity of timely attention to their renewal 

 is further emphasized. 



Characteristics of Distribution in Different Regions. 



longleaf pine. 



This pine occurs in all the South Atlantic and Gulf States at some distance from the coast, 

 covering a belt of about 125 miles in width, interrupted only by the alluvial plains of the Missis- 

 sippi and Red rivers in Louisiana and Texas. In addition, there is found in western Georgia and 

 Alabama an extension in islands or patches northward to latitude 34.5°. 



Within this range, going from the shore inland, the following divisions can be made; First, 

 the coast plain, from 10 to 30 miles from seashore, contains only scattered growth on the grassy 

 flats — the higher levels on which this pine prevailed are now mostly occupied by loblolly and 

 Cuban pine; second, the rolling pine lands or pine barrens proper, covered with alluvial sands, 

 are occupied almost entirely by this tree in perfection ; third, the region of mixed growth, where 

 this pine occupies in the main only the drift-covered ridges and is associated with the loblolly and 

 shortleaf pines. Here it attains a larger size, with more full-sized trees per acre. 



In Virginia this pine is almost extinct and replaced by loblolly. In North Carolina, through 

 the agricultural district, this pine is mixed with loblolly and shortleaf and is of little importance 

 down to the Keuse River. The forests exclusively of longleaf pine begin below Bogue Inlet, with 

 a widtb of 03 to 123 miles inland, reaching down to the State line, covering about 6,500,000 acres; 

 very largely tapped for turpentine. 



In South Carolina the pine belt is about 150 miles wide; is mainly occupied by this pine, but 

 on*the hill lands is intermixed with the shortleaf. The southwestern plateau, with a porous sand 

 soil, furnishes timber of excellent quality, much of which is still untouched. 



In Georgia the flat woods of the shore are mostly stripped of this pine; the vast interior plain 

 of about 17,000 square miles is almost exclusively covered with this tree. 



In Florida the belt of longleaf pine of the Atlantic coast may be traced as far south as St. 

 Augustine, being thence southward largely replaced by the Cuban pine. On the Gulf side more 

 important longleaf growth is found farther southward, until the savannas and everglades are 

 reached, where again the Cuban pine replaces it. In western Florida large areas are pretty well 

 exhausted. The Gulf coast pine belt, covering some 40,000 square miles to the Mississippi River 

 basin, shows no difference from the Atlantic forest. 



