168 LOBLOLLY OK NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 



Broadcast sowing should be made early in March. If the surface is 

 very foul with weeds or brush, the larger brush should be cut with axes 

 or brush hooks in strips early in winter and piled in windrows against 

 living brush. In early spring, when thoroughly dry, it should be 

 burned clean and the seed sown after the first rain. From three to four 

 pounds of seed per acre are required for direct seeding without covering. 

 If there is a heavy sod, it can be burnt and the ground harrowed with 

 a disk or tooth harrow before seeding and the seed covered with a 

 weeder after seeding two or three pounds of seed per acre. On plowed 

 ground seed should be broadcast at the rate of 1% to 2 pounds to the 

 acre and covered with a weeder. It is desirable to mix the seed with 

 one-half bushel of slacked ashes or earth, as is done with turnip seed, in 

 order to secure a uniform distribution. 



Seed spot sowing requires less seed than broadcast. Droppings can be 

 done either like corn or peas at places 4 by 4 feet, or furrows can be 

 laid off four feet apart, the seed dropped at distances of 4 feet in the 

 furrows and lightly covered ^ to % inch with earth. The soil can be 

 either plowed or unplowed. Plowing is seldom justified. On smooth, 

 clean, sandy land where there are few bushes, stumps, or little sod, it is 

 possible to plant with a horse corn or pea-planter, such as the Cole com- 

 bination planter. A plate with one small hole can be used which will 

 drop several seed every 4 feet. The seed should be thoroughly mixed 

 with dry ashes. It is necessary to adjust plow point and coverer so that 

 the seed are covered the necessary depth. On rough soil a hand corn- 

 planter can be used, adjusted for the small pine seed. If planting is 

 done by hand the soil should be loosened with a mattock for 6 inches 

 square and to a depth of 3 to 5 inches and from 10 to 15 seed should 

 be dropped in each spot and covered not more than one-half inch. 

 From one to two pounds of seed is ample for seed spot planting. On 

 most portions of the sandy longleaf pine lands the conditions permit the 

 use of a planter. Since from 3 to 6 acres of land can be planted in 

 a day by this means, the planting of these lands in loblolly pine, at a 

 total cost of planting of $2 to $3 an acre, would be, with adequate pro- 

 tection from fire, advisable from an investment standpoint. It is nec- 

 essary in all plantations to furnish absolute protection against fire. 



Advisability of Loblolly Pine Planting. 



At the present prices of pine stumpage it is possible to grow loblolly 

 pine in plantations profitably in places where land of good growing 

 capacity can be purchased cheaply. Plantations should never be made 

 on land which naturally stocks in pine, since in such a case the cost of 

 planting adds unnecessary expense. Neither should it be undertaken on 

 land which has a value greater than $10 an acre. If the land has a 

 value of $10 an acre and a producing capacity equal to that of upland 

 old fields of good quality, about Quality Site II, and the cost of seed spot 



