PINE INVENTORY 



spacing. Next the turpentine trees are scrupulously 

 selected and chipped. Finally, there is a harvest of poles, 

 piling, and lumber trees. And by that time the younger 

 growth has come along, ready to repeat the cycle. 



Under this system it takes fortitude to permit the 

 trees to grow to timber size. However, since they in- 

 crease in girth around the outside, the amount of wood 

 produced multiplies greatly year after year. Since the 

 price of sawwood promises to advance proportionately 

 more than pulpwood, it becomes an increasingly wise 

 gamble. If the landowner is to gather his third crop 

 and go in for turpentine, he will be wise not to chip 

 faces on trees less than eight or nine inches in diameter, 

 and then to continue this cutting for at least three or 

 four seasons. Even the modern method of light bark- 

 chipping does definitely retard the growth of the tree, 

 and the chipped faces cut down its value either as 

 pulpwood or lumber. The trees should therefore be 

 compelled to make good these losses by producing 

 several crops of gum. 



To burn or not to burn? that is the question. Sincere 

 advocates of controlled burning to keep down the un- 

 dergrowth are by no means confined to the backwoods 

 cracker who follows grandpappy's practice of burning 

 the woods each spring to encourage the growth of grass 

 for his scrub cattle. This type of burning, according to 

 the soil conservationists, is utterly without justification. 

 The young grass that springs up so fresh and green 



149 



