48 BULLETIN No. 82. 



trees left after the first cutting, and in the good reproduction secured 

 during the interval between the two cuttings. The first cutting 

 amounts to a partial clearance ; it isolates the crowns of the trees left so 

 that in a couple of years they will seed heavily, and it allows the admit- 

 tance of sufficient light on the ground to insure reproduction. By the 

 time the second cutting is made the ground should be well covered with 

 seedlings which are to form the new stand. It will always be well to 

 leave one or more old trees to the acre to seed up vacant places which 

 may exist after the final cutting. 



There are often serious impediments to the germination of the seed 

 and the subsequent growth of the seedlings, such as (1) too thick a 

 ground cover of undecomposed forest litter; (2) tops and branches left 

 after lumbering; (3) undergrowth of hardwood sprouts, shrubs, and 

 weeds. It is advisable to go to some trouble in overcoming such hind- 

 rances to reproduction. In lumbering, the trees should be utilized as 

 far into the tops as possible and the branches lopped off and scattered 

 so that they will decompose quickly. The more the soil is cut up and 

 the undecomposed litter distributed in the logging operations, the bet- 

 ter will the seed germinate ; so the tramping of horses and the scraping 

 of logs over the ground will certainly encourage reproduction. 



The most effective method of improving the seedbed is a judicious 

 use of fire, which, however, must be very skilfully applied. In some 

 cases it may be well to confine it to the mere singeing over of the brush 

 left scattered on the ground, which can be accomplished best in winter, 

 or when the brush is damp. This partial destruction of the brush 

 would be a great benefit to reproduction, and also lessen the danger 

 from fire. Where the undecomposed litter is especially thick, it would 

 be beneficial to burn over the entire area, after it is cut over, in order 

 to destroy both brush and litter. Such a fire should only take place in 

 the fall of the year, and when it is seen that the seed trees are full of 

 cones which will scatter abundant seed over the area the following win- 

 ter. Care should be taken to prevent fire from spreading into adjacent 

 standing timber, and especially into recently reproduced stands; also 

 the brush should be well scraped from around any seed trees left, to 

 prevent damage to them. It may be practicable sometimes to run a 

 plow and turn a furrow to limit the area to be burned over. A ground 

 fire will temporarily destroy much undergrowth and weeds, which will 

 be a great advantage. 



To reproduce loblolly from uneven, mixed stands of pine and 

 hardwoods, the latter should be removed first and the sprouts and un- 



