18 SHORTLEAF PINE IN VIRGINIA 



original thinning, made, as shown by the number of wide rings, 

 forty-seven years before the tree was cut. Several thinAings, made 

 since the original thinning, have prevented any marked decline in 

 the comparatively rapid rate of growth which took place after the 

 crown of the tree was originally freed of overcroAvding. The rate 

 of growth is one inch of radius every eleven years, or about one 

 inch in diameter every five years '(the bark thickening as well as 

 the wood), an excellent average rate of growth to seek to main- 

 tain in the trees of a stand. It produces timber suitable for the 

 highest classes of uses. 



METHOD OF THINNING 



The several thinnings are for the benefit of the final cutting 

 and unless the thinnings are made at a profit, the yield of the 

 final cutting must be far heavier as a result of the thinnings in 

 order to make them worth while. In young stands then, it is 

 possible to distribute a portion of the thinnings in the dominant 

 class; in old stands, thinnings must be largely restricted to the 

 suppressed and intermediate classes. Stands more than twenty 

 years old, which have never been thinned, require heavier thin- 

 nings than stands of the same age which have been thinned pre- 

 viously. 



Sapling Stands (Younger than Tweny Years}. Thinnings ol 

 sapling stands are seldom possible on account of the expense of 

 making them and the small amount and poor character of the 

 wood obtained. Under average conditions of growth, the wood 

 which could be cut in a thinning in such a young stand would 

 be from two to four inches in diameter and would make only a 

 poor quality of fuel. Thinnings at this age are not recommended 

 unless the wood can be used. (Plate II). 



Small Pole Stands (From Twenty to Thirty Years Old). A 

 crowded stand twenty-five years old contains a number of large 

 trees eight or nine inches in diameter breasthigh; and a few even 

 ten inches ; many of which are in the advance growth, two or more 

 years older than the average age of the stand. Such trees are fre- 

 quently bushy and very limby, with wide-spreading crowns. Usu- 

 ally all of the nine and ten-inch trees in such a stand and many of 

 the eight-inch trees can be cut. These will furnish a small quan- 

 tity of saw timber. In addition to the large trees, all of the trees 

 below four inches, and usually about one-half of the five-inch trees 

 can be removed. If no previous thinning has been made, about 



