26 LOBLOLLY OB NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 



The pine reaches a height of from 80 to 100 feet and a diameter of 

 from 20 inches to 3 feet. The trees yield 3 and 4 logs. The wood is 

 fine grained and the quality of the butt and second logs excellent. Big 

 Bay in Brunswick County and the Lumber River Swamp yielded some 

 excellent pine timber from this type. Plate XII, C shows a pile of 

 No. 1 and No. 2 logs which were cut in Big Bay. The pine tends to 

 reseed and maintain its position and proportion in the forest after lum- 

 bering if it is not cut at too small a diameter. There is no danger of 

 fires on this type. 



LOBLOLLY PINE IN HARDWOOD AND SHORTLEAF PINE FORESTS CHIEFLY ON 

 THE PIEDMONT UPLANDS. 



Loblolly pine has appeared in these forests (particularly on the Dur- 

 ham soil series, in Person, Wake and Durham counties and in the 

 sandier phases of the Cecil soils in the eastern Piedmont counties and in 

 Halifax, Northampton, and Nash counties) where the oaks and short- 

 leaf pine have been cut, especially on slopes near streams. The trees of 

 loblolly pine are generally young, varying in age from the smallest 

 seedling to 40 or 60 years old. They seldom form more than five per 

 cent of the entire stand. The number of loblolly pines is increasing, 

 however, as the breaks in the forest cover become larger, and as the 

 number of seed-bearing pines of this species increases. The associated 

 trees are white oak, southern red oak (Quercus digitata), black oak, 

 scarlet or Spanish oak {Quercus coccinea], white hickory, red hickory, 

 sand hickory, yellow poplar, and shortleaf pine. These species are more 

 tolerant of shade than the loblolly pine which, however, makes rapid 

 growth for the first two or three decades, though the rate usually de- 

 creases rapidly after the thirtieth year. "When the stand of hardwoods is 

 open, the pines have large crowns, short stems, and knotty and coarse- 

 grained wood. (Plate VII.) "When 60 to 70 years old, which is about 

 the age limit, the trees are 70 to 75 feet high and 14 to 18 inches in 

 diameter, and the scale of the average log is about 55 feet. The logs 

 grade as Nos. 3, 4, and 5. 



FOREST CHARACTERISTICS. 



FORM. 



Stem. 



In young trees the stem continues through the crown without divid- 

 ing. In old forest trees the trunk, as a rule, divides into massive spread- 

 ing branches. The division of the main stem into a number of branches 

 usually takes place soon after the period of rapid height growth is well 

 passed. In trees growing in open stands the division of the trunk into 

 branches takes place earlier and lower on the stem than in crowded 

 stands. As a rule the stems of young trees are nearly straight. Those 

 of old trees, especially when grown in open stands or on poor soil, are 



