The Pensacola journal., 1905-03-29

Ten million acres of virgin pine
timber remain in the state of Florida
Ten million acres of pine timber
have been cut away, sawed up into
lumber and shipped to the four quar-
tiers of the earth, after having been
worked for turpentine. rosin and
pitch.
Half of the mighty forests of Florida
yellow pine. the long leaf variety, have
been cleared away and instead of
many of the people of the state being
"land poor" as they were but a few
short years ago, they now shove their
hands deep down into their pockets
and jingle the golden coin that mas
continued to flow into them since the
time that the distilling of spirits
became an important industry in this
state.
Not only the state of Florida, but
the south at large, owes much Of its
wealth, and the prosperity that has
come to it, to the apparently mex
haustible pine forests that covered
so many square miles of its sunny
BOSOM"
In turn, each of the southern sea-
ports have had an era of business
success and great activity, due to the
heavy shipments of naval stores"
the railroads, touching them, the
merchants and their employees being
likewise benefited.
Southwark Ho."
But the movement of, the industry
has been ever southwark, turpentine
and lumbermen, as the great forests
had their valuable rosin drained from
them and fell away, before the ak of
the sturdy woodmen, seelilng new
fields and finding them. moved on with
cry of southwark, no."
The conditions of soil and climate
that exist in the states that have beon
thus shorn of their pine forests, are
future prosperity and permanent ad-
vantage.
Some districts wherein the soil was
fertile and productive, have been
greatly benefited, for crops have been
planted towns and cities have sprung
up. where but snort time since, the
cry of some wild denizen of the for
est, or the falling of pine cone, were
the only sounds to break the still
ness.
Other sections, not blessed with
fertile soil and invigorating climate,
were benefited temporarily by the
sawmills and turpentine stills that
sprung up and gave employment and
wealth to those connected WITH, and
operating them, but are now desert.
ed and desolate, only thousands Of
acres of charred pine stumps and vast
heaps of sawdust remaining to tell
the tale of vanished industry 3
Naval Stores craveyards.
Thousands of these naval stores
"graveyards" dot our southern land
scape, stretching from the ''Old
North State" along the Atlantic and
Gulf States to the eastern banks of
the Father of Waters and still the
work goes on, virgin pine timber is
becoming scarce, the price Of timber
land is bounding upward and the
products of the pine are bringing
higher prices tnan ever before in the
history of the industry, except in time
of war.
Like wheat before the scythe, are
the giant pines of the state of Florida
being cut down, sawed up and loaded
on fiat cars and whisked away to all
parts of the United States, to build
| factories, homes, schoos-houses and
every kind of structure and on ships,
the same thing to be done in Europe
and other foreign countries.
Tramroads and branch lines have
been built to tap every portion OF the
state in which the pine has flourish
ed and to those portions to which
lines have not been built, they soon
will be.
Two counties in Fporada remain
practically untouched by the naval
stores men, viz: Lee and DeSoto, al
though they are owned almost entire
ly by them and are simply held as a
reserve.
A few years ago the turpentine and
| lumbermen realized the fact that they
would have to organize in order that
their products could be marketed at a
profit. There were thousands of them
but there was no order in their ranks,
all was chaos and each operator strug-
gled on against adversity and fierce
competition, brought about by prevail
ing conditions.
Well Organized.
lOQdy IH6y dI6 Wcll OtSdui1Cu, syn
dicated and prosperous, their entire
output Is consumed, money is advanc-
ed them by their organization, If they
require it, to work their turpentine
farms and no body of men in the
United States are more prosperous and
independent as class, than the naval
stores men.
But this is today's. What of the
future, when the ten million acres of
timber land are exhausted2 There
can be but one reply, the naval stores
industry in the state of Florida will
within a few years be thing Of the
past.
Exactly how many years will elapse
before that time no man can say, but
it is near IL the present demand for
naval stores continues as strong as it
is and the statement made by one of
the most prominent naval stores men
in Jacksonville, is true, that already
half of the states acreage of twenty
millions of pine land mas been ex-
hausted.
On the ten millions untouched as