122 TiMiii:R piNi;s of thk southekn uxitku states. 



Inllows c|iiitv rloscly the isotlierinal lino of "jCP F.; westward, in tlie. (liioction of tlic dull' Coast, 

 tin- isotlierinal line of (lO-'. Tiic mean t (Mil perat lire of the winter aloiifi the northern limit is about 

 45°, with tile lowest temperature only occasioually fallinj; below 10"' F, This tree aiiproaehes 

 the Apiialaihian zone only under the iiiHuciice of a ])eninsular eliiiie between the Delaware and 

 Clhesapeake bays. 



The Lobhilly appears to be inditferent to the wide dilferenees in the amount of atmospheric 

 precipitation existin-,' within tlie vast ran{?e of its distribution. Kxteuding from Florida (isotherm. 

 74=) to the .'5!P of north latitude on the Atlantic Coast (isotherm. 5G0), it is fouLd of C(iual thrift 

 on the Gulf shore, with its damp air and annual rainfall execedin;; <il inches, and in the flat woods 

 of Texas, wliere the mean annual precipitation is only one half that amount, with a mean of 

 inches durin^j the winter mouths. In fact, the Loblolly I'iue is found most frequently and is more 

 widely distributed in the districts of lesser i)ieci[)itati(>ii. It is certainly more dependent on the 

 supplies of soil moisture than upon atmospheric humidity. 



]!EI-ATH)N TO LIGHT AND ASSOCIATED SPECIES. 



This species is less exacting,' in its demands for direct siinlij;lit than the kindred sjiecies witliin 

 its raufje. To this relation may be ascribed the success which it achieves in the stnig};le for the 

 ])<)Ssession of the soil with the Shortleaf Pine. Observing this contest as it is going on between 

 the conipetinjr siiccies in the forest, the conditions of the soil bcin<,^ equally favoiable, the Loblolly 

 rine. uiuler the cover of shade, outstrips the Shortleaf Fine under the same cnnditions; and, on 

 the other hand, where the sunlight has had unhindered access, it gives way to its competitor, 

 being then sulijected to the disadvantage resulting from a speedier desiccation of the soil. 

 Through siieh iiiHuences it is that, under conditions seemingly equally favorable to cither one of 

 these pines, now the one and now the other is found to predominate. 



In the deep forests covering the rich swampy lands of the coast regions, the Loblolly Pine 

 forms comparatively a small part ot the rich and varied growth consisting chielly of deciduous 

 trees, Black Gum, Sweet or Red Gum,^Vater Oak, and Moekcrnut.to which in the lower South the 

 Magnolia, Sweet Bay, Bed Bay, and Cuban Pine are to be added. Although rei|niring less sunlight 

 than most pines, in the gloomy impenetrable shade of these dense forests the jirogeny of the 

 Loblolly Pine has no future, especially as these lands once cleared are devoted to tillage, being of 

 great agricultural value. 



On the lands of a poorer, more exposed soil in the maritime plain of the southern Atlantic 

 States, in Virginia and North Carolina, and in southwestern Texas, this pine forms more or less 

 comj)act Ibrests. In these forests the tree is always succeeded by its own progeny, either in the 

 cour.se of nature or after the artificial removal of the original forest growth. On the coast of 

 Georgia, in Florida, and in the coast ])lain of the eastern Gulf States, the Loblolly IMiie is scattered 

 am(mg the Cuban and the Longleaf Pine; there its second growth meets a formidable competitor 

 in the first named ol these species. In the flat woods, deprived of drainage, the Cuban Pine is 

 always found to vastly outnumber the Loblolly among the young forest growth. In the upper part 

 of tlie great maritime pine belt the Loblolly Pine is frei|uently found among the mixed growth of 

 JIagnolia, Spanish, Bed, Post, and Blackjack oaks, Mockernut and Pignut Hickory, Shortleaf 

 Pine, and Southern Spruce Pine. Throughout this region the tree takes almost undisimted 

 possession of the old lields. 



In the interior, on the uplands of oaks and Shortleaf Pine, the Loblolly is sure to gain the 

 upper hand and to retain its hold among the young forest growth, giving way to its most aggressive 

 competitor, the Slnjrtlcaf Pine, only when under the disadvantage of a greater exposure and a 

 greater lack of moisture in the soil. 



ENEMIES. 



Principally conlined to low, ilamp localities, not easily liable to invasion by tlie frecpient 

 contlagratioiis which scour the Southern pine forests, the Loblolly Pine sulVers less from destruction 

 by fire than any other s])ecies. In virtue of the inherent facilities for its natural renewal resulting 

 from its fecundity and from the ra|)idity of its devehqunent IVom the earliest stages of growth, 

 any damages iullicted by that agency are more easily repaired. The .same causes atibrd it also 



