28 



BULLETIN" 244, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



areas, the core of coppice being composed of large conspicuous rings 

 in contrast to the small rings of seedling trees. 



ECONOMIC VALUE. 



Fire as a menace to young pine in great measure prevents capital 

 from going into what otherwise appears to be a paying investment. 

 White pine in New England is a well-known example. The case is 

 somewhat different with shortleaf, in which practically the only fire 

 loss is from exceptionally hot fires which destroy large saplings or 

 pole stands too large to sprout. Repeated burning in the dormant 

 seasons of the year, when almost all fires occur, seems to offer no 

 appreciable setback for at least three sprout generations. Therefore 

 the element of fire risk in the production of all important eastern 

 coniferous species is reduced to -the minimum in shortleaf pine by 

 its vigorous sprouting habit. This, feature highly recommends the 

 species for profitable managment throughout its range. 



GROWTH. 



HEIGHT. 



The long growing season throughout most of its range and its 

 inherent vigor make shortleaf pine a tree of rapid height growth. 

 In situations of equal favorableness it is more rapid than longleaf 

 pine and only slightly less so than loblolly pine. On average upland 

 soils typical of most of its range it excels its most common associates 

 among the oaks and hickories. In Arkansas and adjacent States, on 

 the better sites bigbud and bitternut hickories are distinctly below it, 

 yellow and Spanish oaks nearly equal it, and sweet gum slightly 

 exceeds it in height growth. In the Piedmont and Arkansas regions 

 height growth is not widely different on similar qualities of site. 

 Table 9 shows the rate of growth and relation of heights to age for 

 the two regions. 1 



Table 9. — Height growth of shortleaf pine, based on age, in Arkansas and North 



Carolina. 2 









WESTERN 



YR KANSAS. 









Age (years). 



Height. 



Age (years). 



Height. 



Maximum. 



Average. 



Minimum. 



Maximum. 



Average. 



Minimum. 



20 



Feet. 

 51 

 56 

 59 

 62 

 64 

 66 

 68 

 69 

 71 

 72 

 74 

 75 

 76 

 78 



Feet. 

 45 

 50 

 54 

 57 

 60 

 62 

 64 

 65 

 66 

 67 

 69 

 70 

 71 

 72 



Feet. 



37 

 43 

 48 

 52 

 54 

 57 

 59 

 60 

 62 

 63 

 64 

 65 

 65 

 66 



90 



Feet. 

 79 

 80 

 81 

 83 

 85 

 87 

 88 

 89 

 90 

 91 

 92 

 93 

 93 



Feet. 

 73 

 74 

 74 

 76 

 77 

 78 

 79 

 80 

 81 

 81 

 82 

 82 

 S3 



Feet. 



67 



25 



95 .. 



68 



30... 



100 



68 



35. . . 



110 



69 



40... 



120 



70 



45. . . 



130 



71 



50 



140 



71 



55 



150 



71 



60... 



160 



72 



65... 



170 



72 



70... 



ISO 



72 



75... 



190 



72 



80... 



200 



73 



85 











i Table 7 shows the height growth of shortleaf known to be of coppice origin. 



8 The Arkansas table is based on age-height measurements of 285 trees and diameter-height of 3,214 

 trees; the North Carolina table is based on age-height measurements of 332 trees and diameter-height of 384 

 trees. 



