32 WORKING PLAN, FOREST LANDS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 
The Loblolly Pine, unlike the Longleaf, which sends long roots 
deep down in search of moisture, develops a flat root system. This 
largely explains its inability to follow the Longleaf on dry sands which 
overlie a clay subsoil. | 
The crown of the Loblolly Pine in dense forest is small, and the stem 
is long and clear; in open stands, however, the stem is short and the 
crown full. A dense stand is necessary for the production of clear 
timber. The ill-founded prejudice against second-growth Loblolly 
Pine as a timber tree is partly explained by the worthless groves which 
have resulted from the too scattered seeding up of old fields. There 
are plenty of dense stands of second-growth Loblolly Pine on the tract 
of the Okeetee Gun Club which promise valuable timber. | 
CUBAN PINE. 
The Cuban Pine is locally known as ‘Slash’ or ‘ Yellow Slash’ 
Pine. When fully grown it reaches the dimensions of the Longleaf. 
The largest tree found on the lands of the Okeetee Gun Club had a 
breasthigh diameter of 35 inches and a height of 112 feet. When 
mature the quality of the timber rivals that of the Longleaf Pine, 
and it is lumbered and sold indiscriminately with the latter. 
Like the Loblolly Pine, the Cuban Pine requires a constant and 
even supply of soil moisture throughout the growing season. It with- 
stands an excess of moisture to a greater degree than the Loblolly. 
It is found in groups and narrow belts bordering the swamps, where 
it contends with Loblolly Pine for possession. Scattered by single 
trees, it enters far into the swamps. In mixture with Longleaf Pine 
it occurs in small groups occupying depressions and moist spots. 
In regularity and abundance of seed crops the Cuban Pine surpasses 
the other pines on this tract. Under favorable conditions the germi- 
nation of its seed is satisfactory, but it is greatly hindered by the 
rank growth of broom sedge in the moist situations especially suited 
to its growth. Fire largely prevents reproduction. That otherwise 
reproduetion would be successful is shown by the dense thickets of 
second growth on small areas which have been exempt from fire for 
several successive seasons. 
In its demands upon light the Cuban Pine stands between the Long- 
leaf and the Loblolly. During the seedling stage it bears consid- 
erable shade, but the growth of young trees is much more rapid 
where direct light reaches them. The root system is superficial. In 
its power to clear its trunk of branches in open stand it approaches 
the Longleaf Pine. In dense forest the Cuban Pine produces a long, 
clean stem and a short, thick crown. 





