AGENCY OF FIRE IN PROPAGATION OF 
LONGLEAF PINES 
E. F. ANDREWS 
(WITH FIVE FIGURES) 
The important part played by forest fires in the life history of 
the longleaf pine has been recognized by a number of recent writers, 
and HARPER’ even goes so far as to say “that if it were possible 
to prevent forest fires absolutely the longleaf pine . . . . would 
soon become extinct.” The connection between the periodic 
recurrence of these catastrophes and the success of the pine seed- 
lings in competing for possession of the soil was pointed out by 
Mrs. ELLEN Catt Lona, of Tallahassee, more than 25 years ago, 
but the suggestion appears on the face of it so at variance with 
universal experience as to give little occasion for surprise that it 
should have been received with incredulity, or at best with indiffer- 
ence, by those unacquainted with the adaptive provisions of the 
species and the conditions prevailing in its habitat. 
The writer has recently been favored with exceptional oppor- 
tunities for investigating this subject by means of an experiment 
carried out by nature herself, in the native home of the longleafs, 
with all the exactness of detail that could be expected in a well 
ordered laboratory. Even that refined test of scientific accuracy, 
a control experiment, was provided by a neighboring group of the 
same species that was not exposed to fire on the occasion referred to. 
The scene of this spontaneous demonstration lies on the northern 
slope of Lavender Mountain, in Floyd County, Georgia, a ridge 
of the Southern Appalachians which is certainly very near, if not 
actually itself, the extreme inland and upland limit of the longleaf 
pines as they occur at present. The crest of the ridge, accord- 
ing to the United States Geological Survey, attains a maximum 
height of 1695 ft. above sea level, and extends for 12 miles or 
more in an approximately east and west direction. It is divided 
* Economic Botany of Alabama, Part 1, p. 26. 
497] [Botanical Gaze tte,vol. 64 
