122 TIMliER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



follows (|iiite ("losely tlio isotliennal line of 5(P F. ; westward, in the direction of the Gulf Coast, 

 the isotbcrniiil line of (iO^. The mean tetuperatnre of the winter along the northern limit is about 

 45°, with the lowest temperature only oceasioually falling below 10^ F. This tree approaches 

 the Appalachian zone only under the intiuence of a peninsular clime between tlie Delaware aud 

 Chesapeake bays. 



The Loblolly appears to be indifferent to the wide difiereuces in the amount of atmospheric 

 precipitation existing witliin the vast range of its distribution. Extending from Florida (isotherm. 

 74°) to the ^'.)^ of north latitude on the Atlantic Coast (isotherm, 50^), it is fouLd of equal thrift 

 on the Gulf shore, with its damp air and annual rainfall exceeding 04 inches, and in the Hat woods 

 of Texas, where the nu'an annual precipitation is only one-half that amount, with a mean of C> 

 inches during the winter months. In fact, the Loblolly Pine is found most fretiuently and is more 

 widely distributed in the districts of lesser precipitation. It is certainly more dependent on the 

 supplies of soil moisture than ujjon atmospheric humidity. 



KELATION TO 1-lGHT AND ASSOCIATED SPECIES. 



This species is less exacting in its demands for direct sunlight than the kindred species within 

 its range. To this relation may be ascribed the success which it achieves in the struggle for the 

 possession of the soil with the Shortleaf Pine. Observing this contest as it is going on between 

 the competing species in the forest, the conditions of the soil being erpially favorable, the Loblolly 

 Pine, under the cover of shade, outstrips the Shortleaf Pine under the same conditions; and, on 

 the other hand, where the sunlight has had unhindei-ed access, it gives way to its competitor, 

 being then subjected to the disadvantage resulting from a speedier desiccation of the soil. 

 Through such iiitiuences it is that, under conditions seemingly equally favorable to either one of 

 these pines, uow the one and now the other is found to ]iredominate. 



In the deep forests covering the rich swampy lands of the coast regions, the Loblolly Pine 

 forms comparatively a small part of the rich and varied growth consisting chiclly of deciduous 

 trees, P>lack Gum, Sweet or Red Gum, Water Oak, aud jNLx^kernut, to which in the lower South the 

 Magnolia, Sweet P>ay, Ped P>ay, aiul Cuban Pine are to l)e added. Although re(|uiring less sunlight 

 than most i)ines, in the gloomy impenetrable shade of these dense forests the progeny of the 

 Loblolly Pine has no future, especially as these lands once cleared are devoted to tillage, being of 

 great agricultural value. 



On tlie lands of a ])oorer, more exposed soil in tlu' mariiinu^ plain of the soutlii'in Atlantic 

 States, in Virginia and North Cai-olina, aud in southwestern Texas, this pine forms more or less 

 compact forests. In these forests the tree is always succeeded by its own i)rogeny, either in the 

 course of initurc or after the artificial renu)val of the original forest growth. On the coast of 

 Georgia, in Morida, and in the coast plain of the eastern Gulf States, the Lol)lol!y Pine is scattered 

 among the Cuban and the Longleaf Pine: there its second growth meets a formidable competitor 

 in the first named of these species. In tli<' llat woods, deprived of drainage, the Cuban Pine is 

 always found to \astly outniunber the Loblolly among the young forest growth. In the ui)])('r ]iart 

 of the great maritime pine belt the Loblolly Pine is frequently found among the mixed giowth of 

 Magnolia, Spanish, Ped, Post, and Plackjack oaks, Mockernut and Pignut Hickory, Shortleaf 

 Pine, and Southern Si)rnce IMiie. Throngliont this region the tree takes almost un(lis]iuted 

 possession of the old fields. 



In the interior, on the uplands of oaks and Shortleaf Pine, the Loblolly is sure to gain the 

 up])(M- hand and to retain its Inild among the young forest growth, giving way to its most aggressive 

 competitor, the Shorthsaf i'ine, only when under the disadvantage of a greater exposure and a 

 greater lack of moisture in the soil. 



ENEMIES. 



Princii)ally confined to low, damp localities, not easily liable to invasion by the freqiuuit 

 conflagrations which scour the Southern ])inc forests, the Loblolly Pine sutlers less from destruction 

 by fire than any other species. In virtue of the inherent facilities for its natural renewal resulting 

 from its fecundity and from the rajiidity of its (h'velopnuMit from the earliest stages of growth, 

 any damages iullicted by that agency are more easily repaired. The same causes afford it also 



