104 TIMBER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



From tlie place this species is taking among tbe second growth it can be safely predicted that 

 it is destined to be the timber tree of the fnture, as far as the Southern States of the Atlantic 

 forest region north of the Longleaf Pine belt are concerned. It is upon this tree that in this 

 section snccecding generations will have to depend for their supplies of pine timber of superior 

 (juality, and in which the nearest substitute is to be found for the supplies furnished at present 

 by the Longleaf Pine. That the resources of tlie latter under the increasing strain to which it 

 is subjected will be completely exhausted before its restoration can be effected is too evident to 

 admit of any doubt. 



Among the timber trees of the coniferous order found in the Atlantic forests, there is, then, 

 scarcely a species presenting stronger claims to the attention of the forester than the Shortleaf 

 Pine. As far as its demands upon climate and soil are concerned, it is capable of successfully 

 establishing itself over the immense territory reaching from 30o to 38° north latitude and from 

 the Atlantic Slope to the treeless i)lains of the West, embracing within these limits areas of wide 

 extent, with all the conditions required for the best development of this species, and in great 

 measuri^ adapted to nothing better than the growth of timber. Of not less importance than its 

 value as a timber tree are its facilities tor natural roiewal, resulting from the abnn(huit crops of 

 seed produced almost without failure every year and its aggressive behavior toward competing 

 species in the successful struggle for the possession of the soil. 



From a closer observation of the young forests of spontaneous growth at different stages, it is 

 apparent that in the establishment and rearing of a forest of Shortleaf Pine, where mother trees 

 exist, nature requires comparatively little assistance from the hands of the forester, and that the 

 ellbrts of the latter will be chiefly confined to measures of protection against destruction by 

 lire and against the injuries caused by inroads of live stock during the earlier stages of growth. 

 That by thinning out, practiced after the lirst to the middle or end of the third decade, the forest 

 growth would be benefited, there can be but little doubt. To what extent, by such interference, 

 the product ion of merchantable timber can be promoted and in quantity and (luality imi)roved at 

 the least cost remains a matter of future experiment. In the total absence of facts, based on 

 experiment, no suggestions can be offered on these points other than such as can l)c deduced liom 

 the natural rc(inirenients of this species, as already discussed. 



In conclusion, it can be safely asserted that the Shortleaf Pine is destined lo take a iiromineiit 

 place in the forest management of the future througiiout the regions favorable to its grow^th, not 

 only on account of its economic value in the natural forest, but also in holding out better ])ros- 

 pccts lo the forest jdanter for the production of tiudter of higher (luality in the shortest time 

 tlian any tree of the same order in the Southern Atlantic forest region. That the methods of a 

 rational forest management will have to be resorted to at no distant time can with certainty be 

 j)rc(licted, although the timlier wealth existing at jjresent in the vast territory of its growth may 

 api)eai' enormous. 



Of great importance in the reforestation of large areas, this tree is of no less significance to 

 the farmer who is aware of the advatitages resulting from the restoration of the tree-covering on 

 liis denuded uplamls. either originally unfit for profitable tillage or thrown out of cnltivalion after 

 their exhaustion. Py the facility of its natural renewal the Shortleaf Pine affords within a short time 

 a firm piotecti(m to the light soil, preventing it from being Cirried away by wind and rain, providing 

 a shelter for the crops and for insectiv(U-ons birds, a lasting income of increasing supplies of tind)er 

 and fuel on lands that yield no other profit whatever, and to the lands abandoned after their 

 exhaustion a chance for their recuperation while resting under the cover of its shade. 



