116 A STUDY OF FOREST CONDITIONS 



growth which should be retained will vary according to the 

 nature of the stand, even within one type. Much of the 

 longleaf pine occurs in pure stands of mature timber with 

 little or no young growth or reproduction. In such stands 

 mature seed trees should be left, but it is a question whether 

 as little timber as possible should be left standing, or whether 

 enough should be left to justify a second lumbering in 

 fifteen or twenty years' time when a good stand of repro- 

 duction has been secured. This will depend to a large extent 

 on present and prospective transportation facilities, and on 

 the nature of the stand. Three methods of cutting are here 

 given, all of which can be modified to suit local conditions. 

 They may be called the selection, the seed tree, and the 

 strip methods. 



The Selection Method is most practical on areas where 

 there is any young growth of pine. This contemplates the 

 selection of mature timber only for cutting. The thrifty 

 immature timber, often called "sap pine," should not be cut, 

 because it is growing and increasing rapidly in value. The 

 larger sap pines, say from 12 to 15 inches, will be seed trees, 

 and with the smaller ones, will form the basis of a second 

 crop. At least six seed trees should be left to each acre, 

 even if mature trees have to be reserved to make up any 

 deficiency in immature trees. All suppressed, crooked, 

 forked, or otherwise defective trees should be cut out with 

 the mature timber, as these are unprofitable trees to leave 

 for future growth. In some cases, however, where there 

 are no better seed trees available, such trees may be left 

 for this purpose. The young timber that is left to grow 

 would, if cvit, make timber of the lower grades and would 

 be the most expensive to log and saw. Therefore, the invest- 

 ment involved in this method is much smaller than one would 

 at first imagine. 



In many stands the young growth and the reproduction 

 are chiefly in groups, having come up in openings where 

 trees have died or been thrown by the wind. These groups 

 as a rule, should not be thinned, because in taking out the 

 larger trees from such groups, the faster-growing trees, 

 or those with the greatest promise of future value, are 



