THE PINES OF THE SOUTH 



559 



market conditions indicate that the growing of Loblolly 

 Pine may be more profitable in the future than that of 

 any other southern pine. Its future is bright, indeed, 

 for there is a keen demand for the kind of wood that it 

 produces, and its rapid rate of growth and its adaptabil- 

 ity to soil unsuited for agriculture tend to give it a prom- 

 inent place in the practice of forestry in the South. 



The Cuban Pine is the handsomest of all the southern 

 pines. It occurs along the coast from South Carolina 

 to the valley of the Pearl River in Louisiana, and is also 

 found in Cuba, the Bahamas and the highlands of Cen- 

 tral America. It is distinctly a coast tree and it is doubt- 

 ful if the occurrence of this tree can be extended much 

 beyond its natural range, which usually reaches from 30 

 to 100 miles inland. Where the ground is not too wet 

 it is often associated with Longleaf Pine. The latter 

 tree has longer, more flexible and more drooping needles 

 and larger cones than the Cuban Pine. The wood of 

 Cuban Pine is very hard, heavy, strong, durable, and 

 fully as hard as Longleaf Pine and used for about the 

 same purposes. While it is probable that the range of 

 the Longleaf Pine will be reduced unless special pro- 

 tection is given to it, on the other hand the range of the 

 Cuban Pine may be extended, for it grows rapidly in 

 youth and is an excellent competitor with its associates. 



The Pond Pine is a medium-size tree usually 40-50 

 feet high and rarely exceeding 2 feet in diameter. It 

 occurs in wet flats and peaty swamps along the coast 

 . from North Carolina to the banks of the St. John's River 

 in Florida. In the northern part of its range it is asso- 

 ciated with the Loblolly Pine and in the southern part it 

 grows with the Cuban Pine. Among its chief distinguish- 

 ing characteristics are its leaves, which are 6-8 inches 

 long and occur in 3's. Its oval, pointed cones are 2 to 4 

 inches long and persist for many years. The wood is 

 occasionally sawed into lumber ; the low grades are sold 

 as Loblolly Pine and the best grades as Longleaf Pine. 

 Locally, it is tapped for resin which flows rather freely 

 and is fair in quality. 



The Spruce Pine is a medium-size tree found on fresh. 

 damp soils and occasionally in swamps from South Car- 

 olina to Florida and eastern Louisiana. It usually occurs 

 singly or in small groves, except in northwestern Florida, 

 where it occupies areas of considerable extent. It is easy 

 to distinguish the Spruce Pine from all other southern 

 pines by its short needles, small cones, and reddish- 

 brown and deeply furrowed bark. The needles are in 

 clusters of two and are less than two inches long. Sand 

 Pine is the only other southern pine with needles reg- 

 ularly in clusters of two and usually less than three 

 inches long. The wood resembles that of Loblolly Pine 

 but has little commercial value. 



The Sand Pine is a small tree found along the coast 

 of Florida and southern Alabama. It seldom extends 

 inland for more than 30 miles and rarely exceeds 25 

 feet in height. It reaches its best development in eastern 

 Florida, but rarely is a specimen found which exceeds 

 one foot in diameter. The trunks usually bear lateral 



branches down to the ground. Exceptionally good speci- 

 mens are occasionally cut for small shipmasts. The tree 

 is used chiefly as a soil binder on shifting sand areas so 

 common in the region where it grows. 



One of the first steps necessary to the practice of suc- 

 cessful forestry in any region is to know the trees which 



VETERAN LOBLOLLY PINE TRUNK 

 One of the best features of Loblolly is its thick bark. Trees 

 from 12 to 14 inches in diameter at breast-height may be cov- 

 ered with bark 1 to 2 inches thick. This gives the tree an un- 

 usually high fire-resistant quality. 



are to be handled. An attempt has been made in this 

 article to set forth the distinguishing characteristics of 

 the seven southern pines and to point out a few of their 

 most striking features and peculiarities. Each of the 

 southern pines has habits of its own, and by knowing 

 all of them, it will be possible to give a proper place to 

 each separate species in the forests of the future. 



The southern pines are known commercially in all 

 parts of the world. Their wood and the naval stores 

 derived from them have been big factors in the indus- 

 {Continued on page 574) 



