68 WORKING PLAN, FOREST LANDS IN ALABAMA. 
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CUTTING. 
The general recommendations and rules for cutting in Coosa County 
hold good for the Bibb County tract, but the work of carrying them 
out will be somewhat more difficult. Owing to the smaller proportion 
of the lower-diameter classes in this tract there will be fewer cases 
where it will be advisable to lower the cutting limit and more cases 
where, in order to leave a satisfactory basis for a second crop, the 
cutting limit will have to be raised. The great prevalence of redheart 
and damage from windfall will often make it necessary to cut much 
below the limit in order to get rid of all defective trees. 
The area on which the composition of the forest is such that the 
given limit of 18 inches can be strictly adhered to is comparatively small. 
The tendency will be to cut too heavily. In order to leave a sufficient 
basis for a second crop without unduly curtailing the present yield it 
will be necessary *n selecting trees for cutting to exercise even more 
care and judgment than on the Coosa County tract. 
A TuHrrp Crop—FIRE PROTECTION. 
To obtain a reproduction of the longleaf pine as a basis for a third 
crop under the present conditions is impossible. If, however, the 
public range were abolished and the interior holdings were bought up, 
the expense of protection could be brought within reasonable limits 
and the production of a third crop would be as feasible here as on the 
Coosa County tract. 
The fact that there is no stock law on this tract and that in the 
improvement to the grazing the owners of the interior holdings have 
an actual incentive to fire the woods renders the task of fire protection 
difficult and expensive. Under present conditions the cost is absolutely 
prohibitive. 
