LOBLOLLY OR NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 167 



apart. A pound of seed is sufficient to plant 300 feet of drill. The 

 seeds sprout in a few weeks and the seedlings should be from 8 to 12 

 inches high by the end of the first season, when they should be perma- 

 nently planted. If the bed is located on moist soil or where it receives 

 partial shade, as in a small clearing in the forest, no shading will be 

 required. On very dry soil it will be desirable to shade lightly by a 

 screen made of slats or boughs on a frame 2 or 3 feet above the seedbed. 

 If the bed is located in the forest a deep trench should be dug aroimd 

 it to prevent the roots of nearby trees from draining it of moisture. A 

 liberal application of ashes to the seedbed two or three weeks before 

 planting and well worked in makes the plants more thrifty and stockier 

 and gives a more compact and better developed root system. The soil 

 of the seedbed must not be wet, since this may lead to "damping off" 

 of the plants when very young. This is a disease caused by a fungus 

 which may attack and destroy the stem if plants are over-crowded in 

 seedbeds although so far it has not been known to attack loblolly pine. 



Planting. 



Loblolly pine reproduces only from seed. Plantations can be started 

 either by young plants or by direct seeding. Direct seeding is cheaper 

 and under most conditions is more satisfactory on account of the diffi- 

 culty of transplanting the young pines. It is desirable to use plants 

 only on land which is very foul and on which young seedlings might be 

 smothered. One-year-old wild seedling plants can be used in place 

 of nursery grown stock. Planting should be done during late winter or 

 early in the spring. Fall planting, except on wet soils, is not advisable. 

 Planting is most quickly done by two persons, one making the holes 

 with a mattock, the other carrying the plants in a box strapped over the 

 left shoulder. The plant is held upright in the hole with one hand; 

 the roots are spread out with the other; the earth is drawn up to the 

 plant with the foot and firmly pressed around it on both sides with the 

 feet. Every precaution must be taken to prevent the roots of the plants 

 in the box from drying out; they should, therefore, be kept all the 

 time covered with a thick wet cloth. It is preferable to puddle the roots 

 on lifting the plants from the seedbed by dipping them in a thick mud, 

 so as to coat them thoroughly. On the better soils planting can well be 

 made 6 by 6 feet; on the poorer, 5 by 5 feet. "When the condition of 

 the surface will permit it, furrows can be laid off with a plow the 

 desired distance apart, and one man can plant in these furrows without 

 assistance. On account of the rapidity of its growth it would seldom 

 be necessary to cultivate a plantation unless on dry and heavy clay soils. 



Direct Seeding. 



On account of the large proportion of sound seed, the ease of germina- 

 tion and the hardiness and rapidity of growth of the young plant, direct 

 seeding succeeds remarkably well. This can be either broadcast sowing 

 or by seed spot planting. 



