SLASH PINE GROWTH IN THE SOUTH 



BY WILBUR R. MATTOON 



EXTENSION SPECIALIST IN FORESTRY, U. S. FOREST SERVICE 



Ml'L'H has been said about the vast area of cut-over 

 tiniberland in the South, its idle condition, and its 

 j)otential vahie for farm crops, hvestock, and tim- 

 ber. Passing over the big problem of fire protection, 

 which should not be an insurmountable obstacle to good 

 management with the right sort of encouragement to 

 private owners from tlie Federal and State Governments, 

 the factors that make the Southern pine belt economically 

 attractive for investments in young or growing forests 

 are (i) an abundance of land of low value in excess of 

 all that can ijossibly be used for farming and stock raising 



and South Atlantic coastal region and passing northward 

 to Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia. 



Slash pine {Piiins caribca), formerly called by the U. S. 

 Forest Service "cuban" pine, occurs over the central 

 plains from South Carolina to the Alississippi River. It 

 is very closely associated with longleaf pine, from which 

 it is not easily distinguished. Its home is in the poorly 

 drained flat lands and sour soils, and in this respect it 

 is the complimentary species of longleaf pine, which 

 occupies the dry, sandy "ridges." These ridges, alternat- 

 ing in somewhat regular fashion with the flat lands. 



LOGGIXG MATURE SLASH PINE IN THE FLAT WOODS 



On account of the close similarity in the foliage, bark, and wood, mature slash and longleaf pines are not commonly distinguished and are cut and 

 marketed as longleaf pine. The effect of repeated forest fires is seen in the damage and killing of many trees. 



during the next 30 to 50 years — the life or rotation of a 

 second-growth forest crop; (2) a very long growing sea- 

 son; (3) good logging and shipping facilities, and (4) 

 relative nearness to the big eastern markets. 



Four species of pines must comprise the chief agents 

 of economic production during the next half century on 

 a vast area of low-valued, southern cut-over land, an 

 area consisting of the "excess" lands that cannot possibly 

 be utilized for other crops or for livestock development. 

 The "big four" pines are : Slash, longleaf, loblolly and 

 shortleaf pines, mentioned in the order of their geo- 

 graphical predominance beginning at the extreme Gulf 



make up the extensive, slightly undulating coastal plain. 



In its younger stages slash pine has very generally been 

 mistaken for loblolly pine, which it resembles in growth 

 even more than it resembles longleaf pine in its more 

 mature stages. This fact affords the chief explanation 

 for the lack of general acquaintance with and general 

 recognition of slash pine. 



With the cutting of the virgin forest in this region, 

 slash pine seems to have acquired a much larger local 

 distribution, in much the same way as in the case of 

 loblolly pine farther north. 



Slash pine is the predominating species in the young 



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