22 



TIMBER riNES OK THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



Siiifo the custom of i)aiiitiii{,' and paining' woodwork has given way to natural grain witli oil 

 finish, the wood of tliosc hard jdncs is Ix'coniing very pojuilar for inside (inisli. 



Kiln-drying is successfully jiraeticod with all four species, but especially wiLli tlie Shortlcal 

 and Loblolly pines which, if not artificially seasoned, an^ liable to "blue." Tlie wood can be dried 

 witliout great injury at high temperatures. 



RATE OF GROWTH. 



The s])eeies naturally develop somewhat diflerently, according to the soil conditions in whi(!h 

 they occur. Without going into a detailed discussion, which will be found in the body of this 

 work under each species, a comparison of the rate of growth of the lour species, based on a large 

 number of measurements, gave, for average trees and average conditions, the results shown in the 

 accompanying diagrams (figs. ."> to 7), which permit the determination of the rate of growth at 

 dill'erent i>eriods of their life. 



Fio. r>. — niajTram bIio-witik romparntive progress of height prowlh in average trcoa. 



From these it appears that the Cuban Tine is by far the most rapid grower, while the Longleaf 

 Pine, which usually grows associated with the former, is the slowest, Loblolly and Shortleaf 

 occiiiiying a i)osition between the two. 



Tlie Longleaf shows lor the first five to seven years hardly any development in lieight and 

 begins then to grow rapidly and evenly to the fiftieth or seventieth year, and even after that 

 period, though the rate is somewhat diminished, jirogresses evenly and steadily, giving to the 

 lieight curve a smooth and persistent <;liaracter. 



The diameter growth shows the same even and persistent progress from the start, and the 

 volume growth also progresses evenly after the rapid lieightgrowth rate is ])asscd at seventy years. 



The Cuban I'iiie ceases in its maximum rate of height growth at thirty years, starts with its 

 diameter growth at about the rate of the Loblolly, but after the twenty-fifth year leaves the latter 



