Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 23 



Bermuda grass is not found extensively in native pastures, except 

 in a few favored spots where it has been transplanted. It is im- 

 portant only on cultivated land. (See Farmers' Bulletin 1125.) 



CABEYIXG CAPACTTT OF NATIVE PASTURES. 



No experimental data are available as to the carrying capacity 

 of the native pastures, but from observation and hundreds of in- 

 quiries it appears that 10 acres per head for 8 or 9 months in the 

 year is a fair average. Cattle, as a rule, have unlimited pasture, 

 and where the pasture is limited it is under fence and usually has 

 been improved to some extent. 



Questionnaires were mailed to every owner of a pure-bred beef 

 bull in the Piney Woods, so far as lists were available, and -answers 

 to the question, "How many acres necessary to carry a cow on cut- 

 over pasture ? " varied from 1 to 20 acres, with an average of 8.3. 

 Most of the answers of men grazing a considerable number of cattle 

 were " Ten acres or more." Cattlemen of long experience in grazing 

 cut-over lands, without exception give that number as the mini- 

 mum for unimproved pasture during a grazing season of 8 or 9 

 months. During spring and the early part of summer the carrying 

 capacity is probably 5 acres or less per head, but provision must be 

 made for the inferior grazing after wire grass and broom sedge 

 mature. Ten acres per head seems high for a humid region where 

 vegetative growth is rapid, but is much lower than that required 

 on western ranges and may be reduced considerably under proper 

 management. , 



KANGE FIKES. 



The native pastures have been almost universally burned over 

 each year ever since the country was settled in Florida for fully 150 

 years, and especially since the time turpentine operations began in the 

 virgin timber, long before the Civil War. In timber tapped for tur- 

 pentine the face and base of the tree are saturated with resin and the 

 box which catches the resin flow is within easy reach of ground fires. 

 To protect the trees against accidental and pasture fires, the trash 

 is raked away from the bases of the trees and the woods burned 

 under watch each year, the carpet of pine straw and dead grass 

 furnishing fuel. This practice makes it easier for the workmen to 

 cover the ground as the underbrush is burned off. 



During logging operations no precaution is taken to prevent fires 

 from locomotives, and where the woods are not fired from this source 

 the woods crew burn the undergrowth to make walking easier. 



