﻿FOREST MANAGEMENT OF LOBLOLLt PINE. 31 



latter case the intact areas between the strips or patches would be 

 equal in size to the strips or patches which are clean cut. 



These methods of cutting can sometimes be advantageously used 

 in conjunction with the scattered seed-tree method. When it is 

 wished to cut in wider strips or larger patches than can be adequately 

 seeded from the adjacent woods, reproduction on remote parts can be 

 provided for by leaving scattered seed trees or groups of trees. 



SUCCESSIVE THINNINGS. 



This consists in removing the mature stand in two or three cuttings. 

 It is adapted primarily to fully stocked stands of practically pure 

 loblolly pine. Under this method the reproduction takes place more 

 or less under the shelter of the old trees left. It can best be used on 

 moist or wet situations, where loblolly-pine seedlings are compara- 

 tively tolerant of shade. The first cutting, so called, which may 

 often be omitted, consists in a heavy thinning to give the crowns and 

 roots of the trees left more growing space, thus causing them to pro- 

 duce more seed. Overtopped and small-crowned loblolly trees should 

 be removed in this cutting, but the thinning should not be so heavy 

 as to seriously interrupt the crown cover and cause large openings 

 in the leaf canopy, which. would result in the luxuriant growth of 

 weeds and underbrush. Trees of other species, if any occur, should 

 all be removed at this cutting. The second cutting should be made 

 when it is seen that there is a good seed year at hand. The largest 

 crowned trees should be left, since these produce the most seed. At 

 this cutting about one-half the volume of the stand should be removed. 

 The third cutting should preferably be made as soon as possible after 

 adequate reproduction has taken place, which should be accomplished 

 within 1 to 5 years. The younger and smaller the seedlings the less" 

 will be the damage done to them in removing the old trees. Where 

 it is wished to take advantage of the increased growth of trees left 

 after cutting, or where the market conditions warrant, the periods 

 between the first and second and the second and third cuts might be 

 prolonged to 5 or 10 years, though this will usually be disadvantageous 

 to the reproduction. 



ORDINARY METHODS OF CUTTING. 



The necessity of properly planned systematic cutting according to 

 one of the methods just described can not too strongly be emphasized 

 whenever it is wished to provide for. adequate seed production. 

 Under ordinary methods of lumbering it is purely a matter of chance 

 whether there^will be a sufficient number of properly distributed seed 

 trees left after cutting. Of the ordinary methods the most favorable 

 to reproduction is the diameter-limit method, but even this is a make- 

 shift in providing for a future stand, and only under exceptional con- 

 ditions can it be relied upon to furnish adequate seed production. 



