46 BULLETIN No. 82. 



The protection and improvement of stands once established, and 

 until ripe for final cutting, constitute an important part of forest man- 

 agement. They include mainly improvement thinnings and protection 

 from fire. The former can always be made the source of substantial net 

 returns from loblolly stands in Delaware, in addition to improving the 

 growing condition of the trees left, while the latter will never be ex- 

 pensive or hard to accomplish. 



Loblolly pine is decidedly the most desirable species in the State 

 for commercial timber-growing, because its silvical characteristics make 

 it particularly adaptable to forest management, in conjunction with 

 the high prices which its lumber demands. It is the most rapid grow- 

 ing and easiest to reproduce of any species of pine. 



Loblolly grown in even-aged, fully stocked stands will undoubted- 

 ly yield satisfactory returns wherever the initial cost of an acre of land 

 well stocked with one-year-old seedlings, does not exceed $20. In thirty 

 years such a stand will yield 18,900 feet of box-board lumber per acre 

 worth at least $5 a thousand stumpage, at which price the net income 

 would be: 



18900 feet at $5 a thousand $94.50 



Less 20 cents per annum for 30 years for an- 

 nual recurring expenses, including taxes, 

 calculated at 5 per cent compound interest, 13.30 



Net profit $81.20 



This profit of eighty-one dollars and twenty cents in thirty years 

 amounts to 5J per cent compound interest on a land valuation of $20 

 an acre, the stand having been reproduced naturally and without ex- 

 pense. 



Methods of Treatment. The chief aim of forest management for 

 loblolly pine in Delaware should be to grow even-aged, well-stocked 

 stands which will produce the best quantity and quality yield of tim- 

 ber. Such stands should not be considered ripe for final cutting until 

 thirty years old, although trees large enough for box lumber are to be 

 found in stands fifteen years old, as the table on page 55 indicates. The 

 only cutting which should be undertaken before the stand is thirty 

 years old consists of improvement thinnings which remove the dead, 

 dying, suppressed, and defective trees. The best method of removing 

 the mature stand so as to secure the best results is to cut to a diameter 

 limit of 9 inches, when the stand is thirty to thirty-five years old, and 

 later, in about five or ten years, to clear cut the trees left. ( See figure 

 5.) The advantages of this method are in the increased growth of the 



