1917] ANDREWS—LONGLEAF PINES 503 
The fire had not spread in this direction, and I had some difficulty 
in finding again, among the coarse grasses which these nurslings 
so closely resemble, the solitary seedling upon which the future 
hopes of the colony depend. A careful search among the under- 
growth failed to bring to light any further additions to this decadent 
family, and, as matters now stand, it looks as though the last 
remnants of the longleaf forest that once clothed the knoll were 
doomed to early extinction.’ 
It would, of course, be rash to attribute this result solely to the 
absence of fires. Various other factors may intervene, among 
which must be reckoned the infrequency of seeding that char- 
acterizes this species, a full crop being produced only at intervals 
of four or five years. If a forest fire should occur during one of 
these “lean’’ periods, it would have comparatively little effect, 
since there would be few seedlings to take advantage of the oppor- 
tunity offered, while one closely preceding a season of abundance 
would prepare the way for a proportionate increase in the longleaf 
population. 
Another fact to be considered is that the early growth of the 
longleaf seedling is very slow. The main energy of the plant 
during the first year or two is expended in developing the long 
taproot which enables it to cope successfully with the poverty of its 
habitat by making the most of the meager resources of the soil, and 
later provides a safe anchorage for the towering shaft of the adult 
tree. The young specimen shown in fig. 4, and scarcely distinguish- 
able as yet from a clump of grass, is not less than two years old, and 
may be more. But while giving due weight to these considerations, 
I think that after we have studied the effects of fire a little more 
closely in those cases where its agency is too obvious to be doubted, 
we cannot deny that it is, and has been in the past, an important 
factor in the propagation and distribution of the longleaf pines. 
In July and August of the same year (1915) I made a longer 
stay on the mountain, during which time I was able to continue 
my observations on the pines to better advantage. In the lower 
?Later observations (September 1917) show a flourishing group of 66 saplings 
and seedlings in the first colony; while the lower one on the knoll has been reduced 
to 2 individuals by the loss of the seedling and one of the adult trees. 
