IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. 199 



order to secure the regeneration of a new crop beneath the old 

 trees. Where lack of grazing lands makes woodland pasturage 

 necessary, the plan of utilizing one-half of the woodland for grazing 

 until the young growth in the other portion becomes too large to 

 be injured by cattle, and then turning the cattle into that, while 

 the pastured area is permitted to rest and secure a new growth, 

 could be adopted. Where there are yet many black oaks, white 

 oaks and hickories standing, they can be allowed to naturally seed 

 the ground, and the seedlings from them form the new wood. 



In places, however, these species are nearly wanting, or the 

 white oak has been largely removed, so that if a new crop were to 

 be naturally regenerated beneath the remaining trees it would be 

 formed largely of little-desired species. Underplanting with the 

 white oak, and retaining the old cover for several years, and then 

 removing it after the young white oaks have formed thickets so 

 as to shade the ground, is here recommended. The most naked 

 spaces, without any cover at all, might well be sown in the short- 

 leaf pine. 



Some localities show absolutely no signs of young growth of 

 broad-leaf trees except sucli kinds as are neglected by browsing 

 cattle; the old trees which are standing have passed their matur- 

 ity, their tops are decaying, the trunks are often hollow, and their 

 vigor is constantly lessening from the free access of the sun to the 

 soil around their roots. Any kind of a young growth in such sit- 

 uations will be valuable in protecting the soil from washing and 

 preventing the further decay of the old trees by shading their 

 roots. Nearly all of this thinned wood has more or less young 

 short-leaf pine in it which is rapidly increasing, being passed over 

 bj' cattle. 



THE FORESTS OF THE LOOSE GRAY LOAMS. 



The forests of this division cover the greater portion of the sec- 

 tion of the Piedmont plateau which lies between Rutherford and 

 the southeastern part of Mecklenburg, on the south and west, 

 and Yadkin, Rowan, Caswell and Orange counties on the north 

 and east; within this division lie the smaller areas of compact red 

 loams with their somewhat different growth. There is not always 



