Tasie 8.—Area of commercial forest land by forest type 
and location, Florida, 1949 
Forest type ! Northeast | Northwest} Central | South loride 
Million Million Million | Million | Million 
acres acres acres acres acres 
Longleaf pine_ -_---- 2-3 2.4 225) 0.1 Ue} 
Slashypine= === 22225 1.9 3 ed 7; 6.0 
Loblolly pine ?______ oo a | a es a ee oe ae. 
Pond pinesss=- =- +. a2 a) | eo Uh besa -4 
Sarid«pines=. == 232 - ay 1 be Ee ae 4 
Cypress: 2s) ==>2- == -6 sil 3 a) 153 
Lowland hardwoods_ el -8 8 1 -8 
Upland hardwoods_- 5) ail P74) Mere aes .6 
Crib oaks=--72 22-5 nef -6 260 |2eessooe Lcd, 
Ralms= 23 tessa = os | So RS Aa Se ee 1, |SS2ee | 
All types___-- 76 5.9 5.8 2.2 2125 
1 See description of forest types in appendix, p. 55. 
2 Includes 29,100 acres of shortleaf pine type and 20,600 acres of 
redcedar type. 
oak. The low prairie lands east and west of the 
Everglades support still another kind of forest. Open 
stands of slash pine grow on the higher and usually 
better-drained flatlands, while cypress dominates the 
many ponds and swamps. 
Half the Forest Land Fair to Good Quality 
About one-half of Florida’s commercial forest land, 
10.7 million acres, is rated fair to good for timber- 
growing purposes (table 9, fig. 19). Fair sites are 
capable of growing pine trees 55 to 64 feet high in 
50 years, and hardwood trees with two merchantable 
16-foot logs when mature. On good sites, pines will 
attain a height of 65 feet or more in 50 years, and 
hardwood trees will have at least three merchantable 
logs when mature. 
Two-thirds of the fair and good timberland sup- 
ports pine forests. Over half of this land is rated 
good timber-growing land. In 60 years this kind of 
land, when fully stocked, will have a stand of about 
17 thousand board feet per acre. This is an average 
annual yield of 280 board feet (fig. 20). On the 
average, the remaining fair-quality pine land will 
yield about 10 thousand board feet per acre in 60 
years, an annual yield of about 160 board feet. Po- 
tential pulpwood yield in 40 years varies from three- 
fourths of a cord per acre per year on fair sites to 
about one cord on the good sites. 
Three and a half million acres of fair and good 
land support hardwood and cypress forests. About a 
third of this area is rated good quality. Here the 
mature trees normally have a merchantable length 
TaBLe 9.—Quality of commercial forest land by forest 
types, Florida, 1949 
Quality of forest land 
Forest type Area 
Poor Fair Good 
Million 
acres Percent Percent Percent 
Longleaf pine_--=-_ = =-=— 7.3 55 25 20 
Slashipine== =!222 222525 6.0 47 24 29 
Loblolly-pine:!=:—s>==—= = ail 5 15 80 
‘Pondépines=2-- = ee a: (?) (?) @) 
Sandtpines=e .a ene 4 (2) (2) 2) 
Cypréss=ee Ses 133 18 52 30 
Lowland hardwoods- ---_- 2.8 17 57 26 
Upland hardwoods---_--- .6 66 32 2 
Scrubroak:=s2s5= ss 169 2) 2) @) 
Palms es Se ere ail () (2) ?) 
Allitypes-=sss2- 2155 43 31 26 
1Includes 29,100 acres of shortleaf pine type and 20,600 acres of 
redcedar type. 
2 Land not classified, but generally is poor-quality forest land. 
F—459794 
Ficure 20.—Florida has 3.8 million acres of good pine tim- 
berland which, when well stocked, can grow about 280 
board feet per acre per year on a 60-year rotation. 
26 Forest Resource Report No. 6, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
