DIAMETER LIMIT. oo 
TURPENTINING. 
The timber to be boxed is marked beforehand in the same way as 
that which is to be cut. Only those trees which are 15 inches and 
over in diameter and are to be cut later for saw logs are allowed to be 
boxed. 
GFENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 
- 
{In railroad building, in skidding, and in felling the destruction and 
waste of young longleaf pine, which at present is too small to be mer- 
chantable, but which can be counted on to form a part of the next 
crop, is in nearly every case avoided as far as circumstances will per- 
mit. In a few instances, however, where timber is being cut in or 
near groups of second growth, extra care should be taken by the saw- 
yers to avoid felling trees into these groups. In this way the thrifty 
young poles and saplings of which these groups are composed, instead 
of being broken down and ruined, might be saved to grow up to mer- 
chantable size. With very little care and no additional expense trees 
could be felled away from young growth, leaving the slash where fire 
would do least damage. 
CUTTING TO A DIAMETER LIMIT. 
Owing to the marked tendency of the longleaf pine to reproduce by 
groups and to the consequent fact that the forest is composed of 
even-aged groups, in each of which the trees are nearly of even 
age, the practice of adhering strictly to one diameter limit in cutting, 
of taking out absolutely all trees 15 inches and over in diameter, and 
of leaving absolutely all trees under that size, does not leave the forest 
in the best possible condition for producing a second crop. 
In the older groups, which cover areas varying in size from a frac- 
tion of an acre up to several acres and in which practically all the 
trees are over 15 inches in diameter, the cutting is virtually clean, 
and there is nothing left as a basis fora second crop except a few 
scattered, much suppressed, and stunted trees. 
On the other hand, no trees are felled in the younger groups. where 
nearly all the timber is under 15 inches in diameter, and where the 
judicious selection and removal of some of the trees which are being 
suppressed by or are crowding their neighbors would result in a 
more rapid and healthy development of the stand. The proportion of 
the forest where the distribution of the diameter classes is such that 
cutting to a fixed diameter limit of 15 inches results simply in the 
remoyal of the dominant trees and the leaving of a stand of smaller 
trees evenly distributed over the ground and in the best condition to 
develop into a second crop, is extremely small. The intelligent use of a 
diameter limit in this forest requires that the limit be raised or lowered 
5315—No. 68—06——3 
