60 



HEIGHT 

 IN FEET. 

 103 



TIMliKK riNKS Ol" TIIK SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



;a;3Bt5.5t7.0r8.l-t 9-6-fll.5-*-l3.0-f-l4.5--<*---l6.0--f--l8.0--*-- l9.5---i- --20.5- - f- - 21.3--* 



' ° ' DIAMETERS. 



IN INCHES. 



Flo. 8 — Growth of I.ongleaf Pino: Height, diameter. an<l riil)ir. ront«iiiH of avi^rage troea at 10, 20, etc., years of age. 



CONDITIONS OF DEVELOl'MENT. 



Demands upon noil and climate. — In it.s dcinaiul.s upon the soil this ])ineis to be counted anionji 

 the most frugal as far as mineral eonstituents, which are considered as ])lant food, are concerned, 

 if only the mechanical (lonilition.s wliicli inlhu^nce favorable soil moisture are not wautinj;. It 

 thrives best on a light .siliceous soil, loamy sand or pebbles or light sandy loam, with a slightly 

 daj'ej- subsoil sufficiently i)orous to insure at least a partial nndcrdrainage and to i)ermit unim- 

 peded devt^lopnient of the long taproot. Whenever the tree meets an ob.stacle to the development 

 of tliis root it renuiin.s more or less stunted. 



The luxuriance of the growth and increase in size of the timber, however, i.s greatly intiu- 

 enced by the quantity of clay present, jjarticularly in the deep subsoil, which improves mechanical 

 and moisture cimditions. Tiiis is strikingly exhibited in tln^ timber of the level jiinc tlats west of 

 the -Mississijipi Kiver, although the surface drainage is almost wanting and the underdraiuage 

 through the loamy strata slow, so that the surface of the soil remains damj) or water-soaked for 

 the greater ])art of tlie year: the stand of timber of first class dimensions exceeds considerably 

 that of the rolling i)ine ui)lands on the Atlantic sloi)c and the lower jiart of the i)iiie belt in the 

 Eastern (lulf region, which are poorer in clay. Kvidently, although the underdraiuage is less 

 perfect, the moisture c<nulitions during the dry sea.son of the year, tlie time of most active growth, 

 must be most laNorable. Tlie same fact is apparent in the ujipcr part of the coast i>ine belt in 

 Alabama and Missi.saiititi, where upon the same area, with a smaller numix'r of trees, the crop of 

 timber may be considered almost twice as heavy as that found on the pine barrens jjrojicr farther 

 south. On the .soil of line, closely comj)acted sand, entiiely deficient in drainage as found in the 

 so-called pine meadows along the coast of western Florida, .Mabama, and Mississippi, as well as 

 on the siliceous rocky ridges of central and northern Alabama, the tree is .so stunted as to be of 

 little or no value for its timber. 



"It is neither temperature alone, nor rainfall and moistuie conditions of the atmosphere alone, 

 that influence tree growth, bat the relation of these two climatic factors, which determines the 



