44 



FORESTS, FOE EST LANDS AND FOREST PRODUCTS. 



pine barrens of the sand-hill regions. These barrens are dr}^ and 

 frequently form large tracts of rolling or even hilly laud. 



The first of these soils is not unproductive and is well adapted 

 to agriculture : and as the original growth of long-leaf pine is 

 removed from it the loblolly pine and a small growth of different 

 kinds of oak, mostly the post, Spanish and black oaks, take its 

 place. In the pine barrens, on the other hand, no oaks will flourish 

 except two very small, worthless trees, the sand black-jack and the 

 "barren" willow oak, and no pine except the long-leaf pine. 

 Unless the soil has been previously cultivated the loblolly pine 

 does not take posession of these lands, even when there are numer- 

 ous trees of this species standing near by in wet places. From 

 this it follows that when these high sandy lands are being stripped 

 of their original growth of long-leaf pine, if its young growth is 

 not allowed to develop, no tree of economic importance will natu- 

 rally take its place. The sand black-jack oak in twenty years will 

 have matured and begun to decay, while in that time a pine has 

 only fairly begun its life, although its usefulness, even then, will 

 be much greater than that of the more quickly maturing black- 

 jack. . 



There are few uses to which the black-jack can be put. Its 

 small size excludes it from being employed in construction ; in con- 

 tact with the soil it decays rapidly, and so is unfit for fence posts. It 

 makes a very good fire-wood and is largely used for this purpose 

 in Wilmington, Southport and other towns, and also in the coun- 

 try. Its bark is said to be valuable for tanning, but although the 

 growth of this tree covers a very large area it is doubtful if the 

 yield of bark per acre would be sufficient to make it of any commer- 

 cial importance. The upland willow oak is even of less impor- 

 tance than the sand black-jack. While the presence of these trees 

 is not pernicious, and is in fact much more beneficial to the land 

 than would be a state of entire denudation of all forest growth, 

 yet their growth is not near so valuable as that of the long-leaf 

 pine, and the advantages arising from their presence are greatly 

 inferior to those derived from a forest of the long-leaf pine of the 

 same age. For this reason every means should be taken to enable 

 the long-leaf pine to regain a firm hold on all high sandy land 



