20 



FORESTS, FOREST LANDS AXI) FOREST PRODUCTS. 



more abundantly, can be worked for a longer time, and is less 

 injured by repeated boxing and chipping. It is the more abund- 

 ant in Onslow and Brunswick counties near the sea-coast, and on the 

 highest sand hills of northern Bladen, Sampson and Cumberland 

 counties. The yelloiv pine, containing mostly heart wood, makes 

 the finer lumber and is the variety sought for by lumbermen. 



Loblolly pine (P. Taeda L.) was originally confined to the 

 lower and moister land, especially where it was loamy or slightly 

 clayey, over the entire coastal plain region and westward beyond 

 it about forty miles. While its limits have not materially changed 

 it has increased its acreage, occupying now some of the higher and 

 more sandy land, especially tracts which have once been under 

 cultivation and much of the moister soil once completely or par- 

 tially occupied by the long-leaf pine. Some original loblolly land 

 which had a clayey or gravelly soil has been occupied by a hetero- 

 geneous growth of oaks, the white, post and black oaks and 

 the black-jack being those that form the greater portion of the 

 hardwood growth. As in the case of the long-leaf pine, the 

 quality of the wood of the loblolly pine varies considerably with 

 the different kinds of soil upon which it grows, and these varia- 

 tions in the wood and habit of the tree have given rise to the use 

 of diff'erent local names which are applied by many persons through- 

 out this region to what are considered by them different varieties 

 of the ''short-leaf pine," as the loblolly is commonly called. They 

 are all, however, the same species (the loblolly pine) and their dif- 

 ferences in quality of wood and appearance are due simply to dis- 

 similarity of soil and other conditions which surround their growth. 

 The principal kinds to which local names have been given are the 

 following: 



(1). The rosemary pine has a fine-grained (or sometimes coarse) 

 wood, with a thin sap. It grows along the borders of deep swamps, 

 or on mounds and hummocks within them, which are usually 

 flooded during winter and spring. It grows with gums, cypress 

 and ash, and is here the largest of the native pines, frequently 

 attaining a diameter of 5 feet and a height of 130 to 140 feet, 

 with a clear trunk of 80 to 90 feet. It has a bright brown bark 

 broken into large, smooth, rectangular plates. It is found from 



