Stan
You're right friend, I know exactly what heart pine is and collect some of that "fat wood" every fall to start up the old fire place. And you are absolutely correct that there is nothing in GA that will eat or bore that stuff; and it sure did make great house lumber; just don't let the stuff come in contact with any stray sparks!
I don't know what part of south GA is home; but for many years I hunted with an old timer from Riddleville who told some great stories about the south GA woodlands. He said that in the 20's and 30's the price of lumber in that area was less than it cost to haul it out; and as cotton was the money crop, they would have "log rollings" to clear the land for cotton farming. According to my bud, they cut acre after acre of gorgeous Lob Lolly pine; rolled the logs up in large piles and burned them. As most farmers couldn't afford heavy equipment and were still plowing with mules; they just plowed around the stumps, which often caught fire when the fields were burned off in the spring and burned for days. Then he said WWII came along and suddenly there was a huge demand for the "lighterd" stumps by the munitions industry; so folks were out in the fields digging up "lightered" stumps. They'd then carry them to the rail yard, where they were exchanged for cash; he said there would be huge piles of stumps there awaiting transport. I miss my old huntin' bud, and really loved to her his stories. Can you imagine living in a time were quail were so numerous that the legal limit was 36 birds/hunter/day; and even more amazing, actually have enough opportunities to bag the limit? Wild quail are virtually extinct here in north GA nowadays; but for whatever reason, the limit remains 12 birds/day? I'm not sure I've even seen 12 wild quail in the past 12 years, much less 12 in a in one day!
