﻿BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 11 



Contribution from the Forest Service, Henry S. Graves, Forester 

 January 23, 1914. 



FOREST MANAGEMENT OF LOBLOLLY PINE IN DELAWARE, 

 MARYLAND, AND VIRGINIA. 



By W. D. Sterrett, Forest Examiner. 

 LOBLOLLY PINE ADAPTED TO FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



Forestry oy forest management differs from ordinary lumbering 

 in that when a mature stand of timber is cut provision is always 

 made to secure a new crop of young seedlings — either by natural 

 seeding or by sowing or planting — to take the place of the trees 

 removed. It consists primarily in the growing of successive crops 

 of timber on the same area. It includes also the care of immature 

 stands, comprising chiefly improvement thinnings and protection 

 from fire. 



Loblolly pine is easily the leading tree for forest management in 

 those portions of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia where it grows 

 naturally. The factors which combine to make it particularly suit- 

 able for commercial timber growing are: The ease with which it 

 reproduces itself and forms pure, well-stocked stands; its rapid 

 growth and the wide range of sites on which it will grow; the many 

 uses to which its wood is adapted; the comparative cheapness of 

 logging and milling the timber, and the good prices which its lum- 

 ber commands. This bulletin aims to show the financial possibili- 

 ties in growing loblolly pine in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia and 

 to describe the best methods of management. As a basis for the 

 latter the silvicultural characteristics of the species are first discussed. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANCE. 



The accompanying map (fig. 1) shows the botanical and commer- 

 cial distribution of loblolly pine in Delaware, Maryland, and Vir- 

 ginia. The region to which this report applies is that covered by 

 the botanical range of the species. In this region loblolly pine occurs 

 naturally in some 60 counties, comprising an area of 21,100 square 

 miles (13,500,000 acres). Table 1 1 gives the total cut of lumber of 



1 Given in detail by counties in 1'able 22, Appendix B. 

 6242°— 14 1 



