

THE LOBLOLLY PINK. 



By CHARLES MOHR, Ph. D. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Among the trees remarkable for the part they take in the spontaneous renewal of the forests 

 in the Southern Atlantic region after the destructive interference by man, the Loblolly Pine is most 

 prominent. This readiness to occupy the ground lends to it a, special economic significance in 

 forest growth, aside from its value as a source of timber and as an abundant source of fuel. 

 There can be no doubt that in the future management of the forests of the lower Southern States 

 the Loblolly Pine will be assigned a highly important place. This view is confirmed by the fact 

 that in the older of the States within the limits of its distribution, where the original timber 

 growth has suffered greatest reduction, as in North Carolina, the second growth of this tree is 

 largely depended upon to furnish the timber supply for the existing lumbering industry. 



Although known to have contributed to the necessities of the earliest settlers of these coasts, 

 and forming at present a large part of the lumber supplies reaching the markets east and west of 

 the Mississippi River, the merits of the Loblolly Pine and its economic bearings are generally but 

 little understood, wide differences of opinion about its value as a timber tree prevailing. Such 

 diversity of opinion is in itself a sufficient reason for a fuller investigation of its life history. 



In the preparation of this monograph the writings of F. A. Michaux 1 and Rev. M. A. Curtis 2 

 and the report of the Tenth Census 3 have been consulted. To Prof. Lester Ward and Mr. Canby 

 thanks are due for valuable information on the distribution of the Loblolly Pine toward its 

 northern limits. Much information of practical value was elicited by the Division of Forestry 

 from numerous manufacturers of and dealers in lumber in the lower part of Virginia and in North 

 Carolina, which has been largely quoted. 



HISTORICAL. 



The Loblolly Pine was recognized as a timber tree of value by the earliest settlers of lower 

 Virginia and North Carolina. Its timber was largely used in the construction of their dwellings. 

 Michaux states that three fourths of the houses in lower Virginia were built of Loblolly Pine, and 

 that its mighty trunks, furnishing shafts of clear timber of largest size, were in early days held 

 in high esteem for masts by the navies of the world. The distinctive characters of the tree were 

 clearly understood by the earliest writers on North American botany. F. A. Michaux defined 

 the northern limits of the tree and its distribution in the southern Atlantic States, and first 

 pointed to its economic value. The Rev. M. A. Cuitis gives an account of its distribution in 

 \orth Carolina and recognized the form distinguished in that State as Slash Pine or Rosemary 

 Pine. Investigations of the forest growth by the writer, under the direction of Prof. Charles 

 8. Sargent, for the Tenth Census, and later investigations made in the transmississippi region, 

 under the direction of the Division of Forestry, have led to a more accurate knowledge of the 



1 Michaux, F. A. The North American Silva. Philadelphia, 1856. 



2 Curtis, M. A. The Timber Trees of North Carolina. Geol. and Natural History Survey of North Carolina. 

 Part III, Hotany. Raleigh, 1860. 



3 Volume 9 of the Tenth Census. Charles S. Sargent. 



115 



