The Southern herald., 1899-08-11
TimberIn the SOuth.
STATEMENT or THE
VAST FORESTRY INTERESTS II
TIE SOUTHERN STATES

~ SIS "@A@ ~@4t-6 - F%~-s
Cd in the N0ythsrn aad Western
States. and that The nation must
look 10 iew years to the South for
i,s supply Of timber. This hss
been most foreibly shown IN the
chapter devoted TO The subject IN
the msgni6eisnlly printed and IL
lus,rated volume, The Empire I
%! the South, which has just been .
published aud is nov being dis
trlbuted By the Southern Railway. /
The author Of the book, Mr.. Frank /.
presbsey, has presented, with the
corporation Of The Railroad Com
pany, some most forc.ble facts H.
Illustrative oflhe fortunes awaiting
the South in this great avenue Of
national wealth. lie Gays;
The Southern States contain at
present the largest amount Of mark.
etable timber standing iD any Sec
tion OF the continent, 39.5 percent.
is wooded, as against is . percent.
Tor the entire country.
Although the larger amounts are
claimed as standing on the Pacific
coast, these are, by reason Of the
distance from places Of consump-
lien, practically for most part on
Of the market, and are being dGci-
mated by reckless numbering and
fires SO rapidly that even il. am cunt
they will SOON be less than the
Southern resources. Prof. B. Z.
Fernow, Chief ofibe Forestry Di.
vision Ofthe U. S, Geoligal Survey
says the South contains not only
the largest amount and the greatest
variety Of hard woods, but it also
contains in the greatest abundance
aud perfection that most important
class Of timber which furnishes
three-quarters Of our lumber con-
snmpIion-ihe' pine and lis confer
ons substitutes like the cypress,
cedar, spruce end hemlock. The
importance of this fact will appear
more strikingly 10 few years,
when the white pine supplies OF the
! Northern States will have been
decima,ed and brought to sub.
ordinate condition. At present.
Of the nearly thirty billion feet o.
pine and c0niferous lumber used IL
the United States, the Northern
States furnish the bulk, the South.
ern States little over one quarter
But presently the white pine OF th'
North, which now reaches an an
nual outputof eight to twelve bill
lion feet Of material, will gradually
decrease, in fact, it has already be
gun 10 decrease, and in the same
propotion the output OF the South
ern pine must increase. N0rlherr
lumbermen are investigating il
Southern pine rapidly, and in a few
years the centre of lumber produc
tian will be found South Of tn
Ohio and Potomac rivers.
The Souihefnpine beltstreichini
with a width yaring from 100 Il
200 miles along the Atlantic an
Cult coasts, and containing nearl.
one hundred and fifty million acres
contains not less probably thai
twenty million acres Of unculle,
i virgin pine, and altogether proba
bly, over two hundred billion feet G
y standing pine. The quality ofthi
pine is world renowned, especiall
/. that Of the longleaf, yellow pine
Georgia varieties, and their assoc
' ates, the Cuban pines, which fc
II strength and durability, excel a
il other pines Of The market. 1t
/. the material for heavy construcIio
is "par excellence" while the Loni
n leaf and Lobloliy furnish excellel
Ie finishing material.
'r In addition to the wood, thel
at pineries furnish annually from Sc
re en- TO eight million dollars worl
ss of naval stores, rosin and spirits
rs turpentine; and, as Investigation
rg of the Division of forestry of Il
United States Agricultural Depal
:, ment have lately shown witho
- impairipg the value of the wood.
! The mountains tf Georgia, TIE
- nessse and North Carolina conta
es considerable though scattered are
of the northern conifers, white pi
he and spruce, while hemlock ski
RI the mountain streams. But featuI
h. which have made these mohnta
an forests famous are the big tul