THE pinp:-barren region. 



35 



pine. This pine is in all stages of growth, and is gradually taking 

 the place of the long-leaf pine as the latter is being destroyed by for- 

 est fires or otherwise. Many of these tracts covered with loblolly 

 pine appear, however, to have always been occupied by this tree 

 which here forms, on soil sufficiently moist and loamy, small clumps 

 of unmixed groAvth frequently 100 acres or more in extent. These 

 trees are coarse-grained, largely of sap wood, and are from two 

 to two and one-half feet in diameter. None of these have ever 

 been cut for lumber. In Big swamp there is probably 5,000 acres 

 of loblolly pine, which is largely of the rosemary variety, mixed 

 with large gums and cypress trees. Only a part of this swamp 

 has been lumbered. The area of the gum and cypress swamps is 

 about 30,000 acres, lying in Big swamp and its tributary marshes, 

 Flowers swamp and the other swamps along Lumber river. There 

 has been very little lumbering done in them. There are no exten- 

 sive oak flats in the count}" and little ash or poplar. On the long- 

 leaf pine uplands, lying in the southern and northern sections of 

 the county, there are 280,000,000 feet of merchantable timber. 

 The pine lying immediately along the railroads has been to a large 

 extent removed. 



Bladen county has about 12,000 acres of cypress land lying 

 along Brown marsh. Big swamp. Cape Fear river. Colly and Turn- 

 bull creeks. About 4,000 acres have been more or less thoroughly 

 lumbered; and there are about 3,500 acres of white cedar swamp, 

 which have to a large extent been cut over, but were left in a fair 

 condition. This latter lies in Big Juniper bay and various smaller 

 bays on the north side of the Cape Fear. There are large tracts 

 of untouched oak flats and gum swamps mostly in the southern 

 and western parts of the county. Good ash, except in the smaller 

 swamps, is becoming scarce. This county has a swamp area of 

 about 55,000 acres. The loblolly pine, except along the swamps, 

 is usually scattering. There cannot be less than 10,000 acres 

 occupied by this pine, only the finest and largest trees having been 

 removed. The long-leaf pine lands of Bladen have been very 

 badly treated. On either side of the Cape Fear river there are 

 extensive tracts of "pine barrens," on which this ,pine has been 

 very largely destroyed, so that it is really waste land. But there 



