MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY 245 



PURE PINE STANDS. 



The best system of management for pine land is to cut clean. 

 Where the land is to be devoted to another crop of pine, it is gen- 

 erally best to cut the pine off in strips along the east side of the 

 woods. The strip should not exceed 150 feet in width. After the 

 first strip is cut, 2 or ?> years should elapse before the next one is 

 cut, so as to allow ample time for the recently cut-over strip to be 

 fully seeded from the standing trees on the windward side. By cut- 

 ting succeeding strips, and giving sufficient time for each to become 

 seeded from the adjoining woods, a new stand will be established 

 after each cutting without expense. Where fields have grown up in 

 dense young pine stands, and where small sized firewood can be used, 

 it will often pay to cut out the dead trees and those that are being 

 killed out slowly by larger overtopping trees. This will insure a 

 more rapid growth and a better development of the trees in the stand. 

 Since there is so little market for small wood, it will generally not 

 be advisable to thin the stand, since it is likely to cost more than is 

 warranted by the slight increase in final returns. 



The market prices for cordwood and pulpwood are good, and will 

 undoubtedly advance as more accessible supplies become exhausted. 

 Even with present prices there is much of the sandy land now being 

 cultivated with small profit, that Avould yield better returns if 

 allowed to grow up in pine. 



A thick stand of pine at 20 years of age will cut nearly 20 cords 

 per acre, and will increase in growth about 1 cord per acre each 

 year up to 35 years, when maturity is reached. With cordwood 

 stumpage at 60c. per cord, the gross return will be $12 per acre at 

 the end of 20 years, or $18 at the end of 30 years. 



