LONGLEAF PINE 155 



and planting seeds where the trees are to grow and where 

 the young trees will be protected from their worst enemies, 

 fire and cattle. Gathering seeds and planting in hills 

 broadcast sowing would not be advisable should be prac- 

 tically along the same lines as for other Pines. While its 

 habit is to grow in groves of pure stands, it will submit to 

 the presence of other species that do not deprive it of its 

 needed light. 



The future of the Longleaf Pine is not at all promising. 

 It is the great turpentine-producing tree. The demand for 

 naval stores will cause its ultimate destruction unless mea- 

 sures be taken looking to reproduction. The United States 

 Forest Service has done good work in devising and intro- 

 ducing a more economical and far better system of harvest- 

 ing the crude turpentine, one which saves not only more of 

 it but injures the tree less than the old method. But the 

 tapping must go on, and ultimately the tree is completely 

 girdled and will die. For a long time it was believed that 

 frequent tappings caused injury to the wood, and the lum- 

 ber trade demanded that which was cut from untapped 

 trees. This belief has been shown by the United States 

 Forest Service to be erroneous. Tests show that no de- 

 terioration in any shape takes place in the wood in conse- 

 quence of tapping trees for turpentine. 



There is a constant and growing demand for heartwood 

 timber cut from this tree for use for general construction, 

 and especially for freight cars and railroad ties, the lat- 

 ter requiring a tree fully fifteen inches in diameter, and it 

 is seldom that more than one tie is taken from a tree. 

 Besides this the trees are scarred and seriously wounded 

 by the turpentine gatherer ; they are also handicapped by 

 slow growth in early life, and are subject to ruthless de- 

 struction by cattle and fire. Suffering in all these ways, 

 the tree will soon become practically extinct unless those 

 who have to do with it take measures to restore and care 

 for it. 



