FOREST MANAGEMENT. 65 



What has been said of the geograpliical distribution of this tree and its demands upon climate, 

 soil, and exposure, demonstrates that east of the Mississippi River it can be successfully grown all 

 over the maritime plain of tiie Southern States (Austro rijjarian zone) and in tlie interior of Ala- 

 bama, through a large region of the Carolinian and the extreme southern extension of the Appa- 

 lachian zone to an elevation above the sea falling little short of 1,00(» feet. And the sandy soils 

 of this region, largely too poor for agricultural use, are par excellence Longleaf pinelands. In the 

 renewal of the forests of Longleaf Pine, ui)()n areas denuded, tlie fact must be borne in mind that 

 to produce timber which is under present conditions considered of fair merchantable rjuality a 

 period of not less than one hundred and fifty years is required, and that to produce timber of the 

 strength, clearness, and durability for which it is held in such high esteem tlie slow growth under 

 the severe and hardening conditions involved in the struggle for light in the crowded forests is 

 necessary. Hence, economic reasons would point to the maintenance and conservative manage- 

 ment of the existing forests of Longleaf Pine and their renewal by natural reproduction, and 

 perhaps best the method of selection which under the pi'esent conditions appears the most practi- 

 cable, involving chiefly methods of protection. 



P>y this method all or most of the mature trees, corresponding in their ](ro])ortions to the most 

 desirable quality of timber, are cut and the rest left to grow till they reacli similar dimensions, to 

 be in their turn replaced by the second growth, which in the openings from time to time springs 

 up. In fact, this method was followed in the earlier days of the timber industry in the several 

 regions of the Longleaf Pine, where the forests were being culled for the best sizes at intervals 

 of from fifteen to thirty years. But owing to the exhaustion of the mature pine from forests 

 within distance of railroad lines and water courses, which necessitates great outlays of capital 

 for constructing tramroads or waterways, the original practice of selection has been abandoned, 

 no tree being spared at present that will make a stick of timber, however small, as long as 

 it finds a sale in the market. Care should of course be taken to leave always enough seed 

 trees evenly distributed, and the chief care is to be directed to the protection of the seedlings 

 and other young growth from the destructive agencies mentioned — fire, cattle, and the encroach- 

 ment of invading species. A forest under such management would necessarily present a great 

 diversity in the growth of the trees, and the length of time between one cutting and the next 

 would be equally variable. It must be remarked that the demand of this species for the unhin- 

 dered access of direct sunlight during the time of germination and successive stages of growth 

 might prove a serious obstacle to the continued success of this method of selection ; and the "group 

 method," as described in the report of the chief of the Division of Forestry for 1894, might be sub- 

 stituted with advantage. Where it is desired to reestablish the growth of Longleaf Pine upon 

 denuded areas, the ground must be cleared of every obstacle in the way of free access of the rays 

 of the sun before the sowing. Owing to the ease with which the seeds germinate and the seed- 

 lings take root in the ground, but slight preparation of the same would be required, and there 

 would be no difficulty in procuring a good stand. If transplanting is to be resorted to, the seed- 

 lings should be taken up during the fall or winter su(!ceeding the first season of their growth, 

 before the further development of the rapidly growling taproot, the precaution always being taken 

 to prevent any injury to the rootlets and their drying out before their transfer to the ground. 

 Since the trees clear themselves easily of branches, the stand in the plantation in the earlier 

 stages does not need to be as dense as with other species. In order to secure improvement and 

 permanency of favorable soil conditions, the litter from the shedding of the leaves and gradual 

 decay of herbage should be left undisturbed on the ground. 



There can be hardly any doubt that the introduction of other shady species would greatly 

 assist in improving soil conditions and producing more rapid development of the pine. Care 

 would have to be taken to bring in these species later, say between fifteen and twenty years, when 

 the pine has begun to make its rapid height growth and can escape the shade of its neighbors. 



For the present, however, the economic conditions are hardly yet ripe for any artificial 

 reforestation, but the great importance of this valuable forest resource to the industrial and 

 commercial development and prosperity of the people living within its limits should be apparent 

 enough to keep them at least from preventing its natural reproduction. The growth of the j-oung 

 timber after the first few years is rapid enough, as may be seen from the table on page 57, and 

 17433— No. 13 5 



