should be neglected. Can they be remedied? Nature has fur- 

 nished us several remedies which, with a little exercise of man's 

 intelligence and energy, may become operative. 



i. Old Field Pine The name of this pine suggests the 

 tendency so well known which the tree has to take possession of 

 old worn-out fields. It usually grows very thickly over the whole 

 surface; the seeds being very abundant and light, making them 

 easily transported by the wind. When this pine once gets thickly 

 set upon an old field the surface is protected from washing both 

 by the canopy of the young forest and by the thick mat of needles, 

 which also stop washes already begun. This may be observed in 

 any of the old fields of the State occupied by this pine. 



This is a valuable tree for future use for timber because 

 of its quick growth and rapid reproduction. When it does not 

 occur in old fields it should be planted, unless the area is to 

 be used for pasture, when a different course may be pursued. For 

 reforesting purposes it is one of the best, and much of our hilly 

 lands should be reforested and kept in forest. In the long run 

 the lands will prove most remunerative used in this way. 



Considerable areas of the worn-out hill lands have from time 

 to time reverted to the State for non-payment of taxes. Since 

 the law gives the Governor authority to withdraw from sale lands 

 so forfeited to the State, it might be a good present policy for the 

 more hilly and sandy of these lands, particularly where favorably 

 located to conserve the water of our streams, to be withdrawn 

 from sale for an indefinite time, reset with a good growth of old 

 field pines or other useful trees, and made the nucleus of a State 

 forest reserve. 



Should the increase of population in 'Mississippi at some 

 future time demand these reforested lands for agriculture, and it 

 should be deemed a wise policy to do so, they can again be 

 cleared and farmed with profit in small tracts on the intensive 

 plan, though now no longer profitable as farm lands under pres- 

 ent methods of culture. 



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