The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
FORESTRY.
TIMBER PINES OF THE soUrH.

Under the title Timber Ptnos OF the South.
srn United. States" the Department Of Agri-
culture has published an important.bulletin on
nvo OF tho principal pine. trees of the South
Atlantic States..from the pen; of DR.. Charles
Mohr of Mobile. with an Introduction bv the
Chief OF the Forestry division of the depart
ment, and q discussion of tho structure Of their
woods by Mr.. Hilbert Roth. DIR. Mohr has
long devoted himself TO an examination Of the
composition and character Of the forests Of the
Gulf States and in this.study OF a particular
IL valuable group of Southern trees he has
brought together, in convenient form q largo
amount Of taxonomlc, geogrn phical, historical.
sylvicultural. and economic information con-
corning them.
The genus Pinus, as the.botan.sts now usu-
ally limit 1t, Is a.remarkable natural one, all
pine trees possessing certain obvious charac-
ters,like their clustered leaves and woody cones,
maturing tho second season, which make IL
easy TO distinguish them readily from the trees
OF other cone-bearinG genera. The light,
strong, and often durable wood Of pine trees
makes this group specially valuable to man,
and as pine trees arei often gregarious, fire.
auontly forming puro-forests Of vast extent at
the sea level, their conversion.into lumber and
transportation to centres of human popula-
tion are neither expensive nor difficult.
About seventy .specics-of these trees can be
distinguished now, but 1t is moro than prob
able that the forests OF tho highlands of MoSico
and Central America, and OF ne great upex-
plored mountain region east of the Thibetan
plateau still hold the secret OF undescribed.spe-
cies. The present headquarters of the genus.
as represented by tho greatest number CT ex-
listing forms, Is the New World, in which pine
trees range from the high slopes Of the noun
tains Of Guatemala TO the Arctic Circle, and
where forty of the seventy species occur. thir-
ty-two inhabiting the. territory-.o the United
States. The fora of europe contains eight or
nine species, mostly confined to the region bor-
dering the Mediterranean, although the So
called Scotch pine Iinus s%ylrestr1sl makes great
forests on tle.central mountain.chains and-in
ali the countries OF tho north. This tree and
the Austrian pine tPinus Ldricio) of the noun
rains of the south and OF Asia Minor are the
most vnluabl. of tho pines Of Europe. The
Himalayan forests, unusually rich and varied
in composition, are remarkably poor in the
number of their pine trees. Pinus lOngifoliG.
however, forms great forests on some OF the
outer ranges from. the Indus to Bhutan, an6
Pinus kdSyd covers the Burmah hills between
the Stang and Yunzalin rivers.
The other Old World Pine trees are rather
widely scattered through southern and eastern
Asia. Il single species. Pinus Merkusii, cross
ing the equator In tho Indian Archipelago.
Japan, remarkable for the number Of its indig-
enous trees. Is poor. in pines as compared witt.
NHC "SSbC- u VI tusNSih -Noith a.
Il ouSh two OF tho Japanese species. Pinus
densiHUrI and PthuS Thuibergii, play n fore
most pr r, in supplying the empire with build
ing material. The United States. west of the
Rocky Mountains. surpasses. however. all
other regions OF equal AREA in the number of
its pine trees. nineteen of the thirty-two United
states species occurring in onr Pacific States and
Territories, and here exist the largest and most
beautiful members of the race. The region
q, ~ Ella Rnstr NInuptainR is nplv p saaI
bv the Pacific States in the number OF its pine
trees, and IN the Eastern States grows, per-
hnps. the most valuable of all pines. the
southern or long-leaved pine, PiRus ~paiustriS.
the great timber tree of the South Atlantic
ard Gulf States. This is the first Of the group
which DR.. Mohr deliberately discusses in the
bulletin before us.
The long.leaved pine occupies a maritime
belt usually about 1"5 miles.in width. extend
ing with fe y intervals from southern Virginia
to the month OF the Trinity River in Texas.
and occupies often tens Of thousands of square
miles covered with post-tertiary sands and
pebbles. The great maritime pine belt east
OF the Mississirpi.Riv DIR. Mohr divides into
three divisions; /. The coast plain or low
pine barrens within the tiuewater region, ex-
tending from the. seashore inland for II dis
tance of from ten to thirty miles. The pine
forests which occupy this poorly drained grassy
pihi w ppeh' o'ih u
inlets of the sea and by brackish marshes. The
pine forest here Is interrupted also by swamps
covered with the white cedar. the cypress, the
red ind white bays. the live OAKS. the water
oaks, raagnolias. and gum trees, and by grassy
savannas. .. Tho rolling pine hills. or pine
barrens proper. which DR.. Mohr describes us the
true home of the long-lenved pine. On the At
lantic coast these hills rise to elevations of over
800 feet. but In the Gulf region they rarely ex-
coed half that height, forming here broad,
gentle undulations. In this hiily region the
long-leaved pine reigns supreme, covering
hundreds of square miles with uninterrupted
pine forests. AT higher elevations begins DIR.
MoEr's third division. that OF mixed growth,
In which the forests OF the long-leaved pine are
confined to ridges capped blythe drifted sands
and pebbles and to rocky heights. alternating
with groves OF the post oak. In these elevated
and scattered groves the long-leaved pine at