﻿FOREST MANAGEMENT OF LOBLOLLY PINE. 7 



from 3 to 5 years. In some years hardly sufficient seed is produced 

 to give adequate reproduction. Loblolly takes two seasons to ripen 

 its cones, and because of this the relative amount of seed which will 

 be produced can be foretold a year in advance. The amount of seed 

 produced by any one tree varies normally with its age, size, and 

 amount of growing space. The best seeders are trees 40 or more 

 years old, or which have about completed their principal height 

 growth and which have comparatively isolated crowns and an ample 

 growing space. Trees in crowded stands do not seed so prolifically 

 as trees growing in the open. 



The seed falls in late autumn and through the winter and early 

 spring. It is disseminated chiefly by the wind. Trees with many 

 cones will scatter seeds very plentifully to a distance of twice their 

 own height in the direction of the prevailing winter winds. In 

 general loblolly pine can be relied upon for thickly stocking in one 

 season unobstructed areas adjacent to seed trees for a distance of 

 100 feet to 100 yards, according to the height of the trees and pro- 

 vided it is a good seed year and there is a suitable seed bed. 



Seed-bed Requirements. 



For germination loblolly pine seed is comparatively independent 

 of seed bed and soil conditions. The seed requires only a slight 

 degree of moisture to cause it to germinate. For seedling establish- 

 ment and growth following germination the seed-bed requirements 

 of loblolly vary with the moisture content of the soil. On fresh to 

 dry soils the seedling demands an open seed bed — that is, with plenty 

 of light and little or no overhead crown cover and the soil exposed, 

 or nearly so, with no layer of leaves and litter to prevent the develop- 

 ing roots- from immediately coming in contact with the soil. On 

 moist to wet sites, on the other hand, the seedling is able to exist 

 and develop under considerable shade on comparatively thick layers 

 of undecomposed pine needles and litter. 



The most favorable conditions for loblolly reproduction are, in 

 general, found in the open on an exposed loose soil, into which the 

 roots of the seedling can at once enter and where the crown has 

 plenty of light. Where loblolly pine seed trees occur in the vicinity 

 of unused fields the land very quickly becomes seeded up to pine. 

 Loblolly reproduction also takes place readily on a cover of grass, 

 provided it does not form a compact sod. It seeds well on areas 

 covered with tall grass, such as broom grass, which may come in 

 after the forest is cleared. 



On dry sites in the forest with a thick layer of undecomposed leaf 

 litter there is little chance for reproduction of loblolly because of 

 inadequate moisture, but on moist to wet situations reproduction 



