A.N ECOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE SABINE AND 
NECHES VALLEYS, TEXAS. 
BY JAMES E. GOW. 
During the winter of 1902-3, and again during the winter 
of 1903-4, the writer was one of a party sent by the United 
States Bureau of Forestry to take stem analyses and valua- 
tion surveys on the holdings of the Kirby Lumber Company 
preparatory to making a working plan for the use of the 
company in the future treatment of its timber lands. The 
holdings of this company lie in Hardin, Orange, Newton, 
Jasper, Angelina, Sabine and San Augustine counties, and 
include the largest continuous area of virgin Longleaf pine 
existing in the United States at the present time. In- 
cidentally to the work in hand, occasion was taken to make 
a few observations on the ecology of the region, and these 
observations will be presented in the present article. 
From the coast of the Mexican Gulf as far north as 
Beaumont the country is practically treeless. It is a flat 
coastal plain, flooded in wet weather, and its only striking 
feature is its monotony. Only along the banks of the 
Neches river are a few scattered trees — Gums, and Mag- 
nolias, and Cypresses covered with festoons of gray Spanish 
moss — reminders of the flora which is to be met with on a 
larger scale further up the stream. The town of Beau- 
mont marks the southern boundary of the pine woods. On 
the northern edge of the town is to be found young 
Loblolly and Shortleaf pine, and even a few seedlings of 
the Longleaf may occasionally be found. From Beaumont 
to Silsbee, in Hardin county, along the G. B. & K. C. rail- 
way, the greater part of the pine timber has been destroyed, 
( 39 ) 
