102 TIMHKli PINES Ol' THK SUUTllEKN UNITED STATES. 



ii'tiMitive of innisturo. That a purely siuuly and lii},'lily porous soil is not favorable to this tree 

 is shown l)y tlie stunted f,ao\vth of the waifs sometimes found in the openings of the fin-ests of 

 Longleaf Pine tui the sandy, arid uplands in the lower i)art of the coast pine belt. 



Distributed in its ranges over 10 degrees of latitude ami exposed to wide differences of 

 temperature, it shows almost the same thrift of growth near its northern limits under the Isotlierm 

 of 50- r., and in regions where the thermometer falls to near 20' below zero, as in lower latitudes 

 with a mean annual temperature of G4'' F. It can, therefore, endure a considerable range of 

 temperature. 



The conditions of atmospheric moisture evidently exei'<'ise a much more decided intbience 

 over its distribution, and, witliout doubt, upon its individual development. The tree is found in 

 greatest abundance and of best growth where, within the limits of its distribution, the annual 

 rainfall varies between 48 to 52 inches, it is less freciuent in the districts where tlie precipitation 

 exceeds 50 inches, still scarcer wheie tlie annual rainfall averages below 44 inches, and entirely 

 wanting where this is less than 40 inches. Hence it is found best developed in tlic u|)per part of 

 the Gulf States and west of the Mississippi liiver in ailjai'ent northern districts from the interior 

 of Georgia to northeastern Texas, where tiie most favorable conditions in regard to atmospheric 

 precipitation prevail. The tree seems to avoid the humid air of the coast along the Gulf, as well 

 as along the seashore of the Southern Atlantic States, nor does it ascend tlie mountains in these 

 States above an altitude of 2,5oo feet. 



RELATKJN TO LIGHT AND ASSOCIATED .SPECIES. 



The Shortleaf I'ine, like most pines, is a light needing species, being, however, less sensitive 

 to a deficiency in this direction than the Longleaf and Cuban pines, which latter succumb in 

 com])etition with the Shortleaf Pine. Originally the Shortleaf Pine is found moi-e or less asso- 

 ciated with various oalvs (Spanish Oak, lihick.jack, Scarlet Oak, Post Oak, and Black Oak), the 

 Mockernut and the Pignut Hickory, and more rarely with the Chestnut, the Jlountain Oak, and 

 the Scrub Pine. All of these species prefer the warm, lighter soils of th(^ ni)lands. These 

 companions of the Shortleaf Pine art; Joined in tln^ lower Southern States by the Loblolly anrl 

 Longleaf Pine. Wherever in these upland forests an opening is made the Shortleaf Pine gains 

 over its associates, linding its only successful rival in the Lol)lolly Pine. It is in the Southern 

 States proverbial that in the ujiland forests "the pine is crowding out the hard-wood timber," 

 a fact early observed. The displacement is effected either gradually in the course of time, or 

 instantly when the removal of the original timber growth has been sudden. In the ujiper part 

 of the maritime piiu> belt, where it is associated with the Longleaf i'ine, the latter is sure to be 

 replaced by the Shortleaf species, often joined in the course of such invasion by the Loblolly Pine. 



ENEMIES. 



Little is known of the fungoid i)airasites and of the insects end.angering the life of the 

 Shortleaf Pine. Piom my own observation, it seems that this tree is less affected by the former 

 than the other jjiues of the same region. In the lumbering districts of Alabama a disease called 

 redheart or redrot, caused by the mycelium of a large species of Polyporus, which is so highly 

 destructive to the Longleaf Pine, is in this si)ecies almost unknown. In nortlicastcrn Texas this 

 disease was found to affect the supeiannuated timber trees, which were over two hundred years 

 old. According to A. S. Packard ' the hosts of insects affecting this pine seriously are scarcely less 

 in number than those infesting the Longleaf Pine; its enemies belong to the same or very nearly 

 related kinds. Among the borers the Momthumiiiis roii/Ksar and other speciiis of the same genus 

 dig burrows in the timber to the heart; the larva', of numerous Bupreittida', Gvrambicidir, and 

 ('iircnlionifhr burrow under the bark, and the Tnmicns cuUUjraphus, rarofirapliiis, cHTlotHn, and 

 other sjjecies of Scolytkhv, at certain seasons arc in immense^ numbers carrying on their work 

 of destruction in the cambium layer, leaving in wonderful delineation on the inside of the bark 

 the marks of their pernicious activity and causing the speedy death of the tree. 



-Mr. E. A. Schwarz, of the Division of Kntomology, Department of Agriculture, remarks in this 

 connectiou that of more thau usual interest is the remarkable and disastrous invasion of one of 



' A. S. Packard : Insects in iiiriouH to forest and shade trees. 



