508 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
With such efficient fire protection it can easily be seen why the 
longleaf seedling is able to withstand a degree of heat that would be 
fatal to older and in other respects hardier plants. The same facts 
also explain why, in a state of nature, these trees tend either to 
congregate in pure forests over large areas or to become extinct if 
exposed to unrestricted competition with hardwoods. In the 
latter case the older conifers may hold their own for a time, but 
as these die out from superannuation or other causes, the new 
generation that should replace them, unable to develop in the shade, 
and cut off from the sunlight by the broad leaves of the hardwoods, 
fails to reach maturity and the race in time becomes extinct. On the 
other hand, when forest fires, especially of the minor type known 
as ‘“‘ground fires” and “brush fires,’’ occur at not too frequent 
intervals, the immunity of the pines enables them to take the lead 
in the work of reforestation, and through the gradual elimination 
of their rivals to become finally the sole possessors of the soil. 
Rome, Ga. 
