PART I.—THE TIMBERLANDS. 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF TRACT. 
The tract of timberland owned by the E. P. Burton Lumber Com- 
pany is situated in Berkeley County, S. C., between the Cooper and 
Santee rivers, and is made up of holdings which still retain the names 
of their former owners. The holdings vary in size from 599 acres to 
20,213 acres. The total area of all lands controlled is 44,943 acres. 
Of this 5,243 acres are cultivated and waste lands, and 39,700 acres 
timbered. On 10,158 acres of the latter the company owns only 
stumpage. Adverse holdings, aside from those on which stumpage is 
owned, are insignificant, comprising only a few small lots of from 10 
to 100 acres each. Except for these adverse holdings.the tract forms 
a solid block. 
The land is uniformly flat, but may be divided into uplands and 
swamps. Small sink holes, or ‘** pocosons,” are scattered all over the 
uplands. Theswamps, of which Hell Hole is the largest, are but little 
lower than the flat uplands. Their area is approximately 13,000 acres, 
or nearly one-third of the total timbered area. 
The soil varies from a nearly pure sand in the northwestern part of 
the tract to a sandy loam with an admixture of clay in the southern 
and eastern parts. The swamps have a uniformly wet, deep, sandy 
loam, which in a few instances becomes mucky. Over a few areas 
the soil seems physically unsuited to tree growth, but generally soil 
conditions are excellent. 
There is no outcropping of rock throughout the tract. 
Small runs or streams are plentiful. The principal ones are Turkey 
and Nicholson runs, which form the headwaters of the east branch of 
Cooper River and drain the southern portion of Hell Hole Swamp. 
Savannah Creek, which flows into the Santee River, drains the north- 
ern part of Hell Hole. 
The tract is accessible by roads which traverse it in all directions. 
These roads are good in dry weather, but in wet weather they become 
almost useless for hauling; since, however, the logging is done almost 
entirely by rail, wagon roads are of minor importance. (See map at 
end of volume.) 
THE FOREST TYPES. 
The forest lands of this region are divided, by differences in topog- 
raphy and composition of stand, into three broad types—loblolly pine 
land, longleaf pine land, and swamp land. The latter may be further 
subdivided into bottomlands and true swamps. 
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