﻿FOREST MANAGEMENT OK LOBLOLLT I'INE. 35 



The cost per acre of sowing- in plowed furrows or seed spots ranges 

 from $2 to $5, depending upon cost of seed and labor, and spacing 

 used: 50 cents to $1.50 for seed, J $l to $2 for cultivation, and 50 

 cents to $1.50 for sowing. 



Planting. 



In planting loblolly pine it will usually be advisable to use nursery- 

 grown stock. In some cases, however, wild stock seedlings can be 

 advantageously used to supplement incomplete natural reproduc- 

 tion, as in transplanting seedlings from areas overstocked to nearby 

 areas understocked. 



The size and age of nursery stock it is best to use varies. On 

 Qualities I and II soils 1 or 2 year old seedlings are usually successful. 

 These can be planted either in the fall, at the end of the first or second 

 season's growth, or set out in the spring following. On site Quality 

 III it is always best to use 3-year-old stock which has been trans- 

 planted for* two years in the nursery. It is best to use this kind of 

 stock also on the better site qualities if there is a heavy undergrowth 

 or growth of hardwood sprouts and seedlings with which the pine 

 has to compete. In Quality I soils a spacing of 10 by 10 feet each 

 way, or 436 trees per acre, is sufficient; for site Quality II, S by 8 

 feet spacing should be used, or 680 trees per acre; and for site Quality 

 III, 6 by 6 feet, or 1,210 trees per acre. On moist to wet sites plant- 

 ing should not be done in the fall, unless the plants are pretty well 

 mulched, because of the danger that the unrooted plant will be 

 frost-thrown during the winter. On such sites spring planting is 

 always advisable. In the fall the best time for planting is after 

 growth has ceased; in the spring, as soon as the frost gets out of 

 the ground. 



The cost of growing loblolly pine nursery stock on a large scale 2 

 should be about as follows: 



One-year seedlings $0. 75 



Two-year seedlings 1. 25 



Three-year stock (two years transplanted) 3. 00 



The cost of handling the stock from the nursery to permanent 

 plantations in the forest should be about as follows per 1 ,000 : 



One-year seedlings $3. 50 



Two-year seedlings 4. 50 



Three-year stock (two years transplanted) 6. 00 



1 Seed to be collected by party using it. If purchased from nursery, price would be much higher. 



2 In a nursery producing 500,000 or more plants a year, as shown by the work of the P. R. R. nursery at 

 Morrisville, N. J. For a smaller nursery the cost would be somewhat higher, although a farmer will often 

 be in a position to collect his own seed and grow a few thousand loblolly seedlings every year in garden at 

 practically no expense. 



