84 TIMHEU PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



1JEQUIT5EMENTS EOK DEVKLdPMlCNT. 



^Soil. — For its best ik'vel<)i)im.-iit the Cuban I'iiic ie(iuiies a ligbt, saiuly . but constantly daiiii) 

 soil, which is attained where the sandy surface is underlaid by a loamy subsoil retentive of 

 juoisturc but stillicicntly loose to ;;ivi! the roots unhindered access. Sncli conditions are found im 

 the lands risinjf above the ix'rpetually wet swamps. On the Hats, witli a soil of fine, conipact 

 saml, devoid of all drainage and underlaid by a liardpaii, where nothing but the Saw Palmetto 

 appears to thiive, the tree remains of low, stunted growth, scaicely ever reaching medinni size, 

 lu the depth of tlie swamp, with the soil wet and slushy throughout the year, where the tree is 

 commonly met with, closely surrounded by White Bay, lied Bay, Black Gum, Titi, and White 

 Cedar towering high above it, it is of slow growth and frequently affected by red heart or red rot, 

 l)articularly near its northern limit. It is never found in alluvial bottoms, and eschews the dry, 

 pine-barren hills, requiring a moderate but sure and even supply of soil moisture. 



Climate. — The range of its distribution coincides with the area of gieatest rainfall in the 

 Southern States, which, evenly distributed through all seasons, amounts for the year, in the mean, 

 to CO and 64 inches. 



The Cuban Pine demands a warm climatx', free from excesses in the range of temperature, as 

 is aflorded by the vicinity of the sea. It is found in greatest abundance and most perfect within 

 the isothermal lines of 04^ and 08^ !•'., with a minimum of but a few degrees l)elow the fieezing 

 point. The tree, as observed at ]\Iobile, has escaped uninjured the severe and unprecedented 

 long spell of ice and snow during the latter part of January and first week of February, 1895, 

 when the thermometer fell as low as 11'^ F., the flowers unfolding unimpaired by frost during the 

 succeeding first days of milder weather. 



In its dei)endence on light it is less exacting than either the Longleaf Pine or the Loblolly 

 Pine. It api)ears to thrive, from the earliest stage of its develoiJinent, as well when jiartially 

 shaded as in the open, in this respect resembling the Southern Siiruce Pine. It is due to these 

 facts, combined with the rapid progress of its growth from the earliest stage, that the Cuban 

 Pine is gaining the upi)er hand over the offspring of the lightiequiring Tjongleaf Pine, which, on 

 the damp soil of the coast plain, is soon outstripped and finally almost completely suppressed by 

 the seedlings of this tree. 



In the inherent capacity for natural reproduction, or in the advantages for the renewal of its 

 forests by man, the Cuban I'ine is not suri)assed by any other of the species with which it is found 

 associated. This tree commends itself strongly to the tree planter in the coast plain of the lower 

 South. Producing seeds in abundance regularly and with certainty, being less exacting in its 

 demands for direct sunlight, and hence successfully resisting the encroachment of competing 

 species, being less liable to succuuib to the destructive agencies of fire on account of its more 

 rai)id development in early life, it has greater promise of success than the others. If to this is 

 added the rai)id rate of growth, the great value of its timber, being equal to the Longleaf, if not 

 superior, and the abundant yield of its valuable resinous product, it becomes evident that in the 

 reforestation of the low pine lauds of the Southern coast region the Cuban i)ine is to be preferred 

 to any other, not only within its original boundaries, but as far beyond its range of natural 

 distribution as the climatic requirements of the tree will permit. 



