74 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Formerly these pines, except for local and bouse use, were mostly cut or hewn into timbers, 

 but now especially since the introduction of dry kilns, Southern pine is cut into every form and 

 grade of lumber. Nevertheless a large proportion of the total cut, especially of the longleaf pine, 

 is still sawed to order in sizes above by 6 inches and lengths above 20 feet for timbers, for ^\hieh 

 the longleaf and Cuban pine furnish the ideal materials. 



The resinous conditions of these two pines make them also most desirable for railway ties of 

 lasting quality. 



Since the custom of painting and graining woodwork has given way to natural grain with oil 

 finish, the wood of these hard pines is becoming very popular for inside finish. 



Kiln drying is successfully practiced with all four species, but especially with the Shortleaf 

 and Loblolly pines which, if not artificially seasoned, are liable to "blue." The wood can be dried 

 without great injury at high temperatures. 



Growth and Development. 



longleap pine. 



In a fruitful year, before the close of the season, with the advent of spring, a dry and sunny 

 state of the atmosphere favoring the fall of the seed, the seedlings are found to come up abun- 

 dantly in every opening of the forest where the rays of the sun strike the dry ground. The lower 

 (hypocotyledonary) part of the axis of the plantlet is close to the ground, with eight to ten erect 

 cotyledons from 1 to 1J inches in length, their tips inclosed in the shell of the seed, with the long 

 wing persistent and borne banner-like at the top of the plantlet. (See PL X, a.) The elongation 

 of the ascending axis proceeds slowly, growth in length being retarded until a certain thickness 

 has been attained, resembling in this respect the growth of the stem of endogenous trees. 



Upon examination of a seedling in the latter part of April the cotyledons had disappeared 

 and the caulicle was found to be from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch long, its length not 

 exceeding its diameter, hidden by a dense tuft of the needle shaped primary leaves, which closely 

 invest the terminal bud. At this stage a few fascicles of secondary leaves are already showing 

 themselves, still inclosed in their sheaths. 



During the first three or four years its energy of growth is mainly expended upon the 

 development of its powerful root system. (See PL X, e.) Before the first spring season has 

 passed, the stout spindle-shaped taproot of the seedling is found to be over 3 inches m length 

 and provided with several fine lateral rootlets, sometimes nearly as long as the main root. 



With the opening of June the primary leaves covering the axis aie neaily all withered, only 

 a few remaining to the end of the season. With the development of the suppressed secondary 

 axes from which the foliage leaves proceed, the primary leaves are reduced to chatty fimbriate 

 bracts. Only a few of these primary leaves retain the needle-shaped form and green color, namely, 

 those from which no leaf bearing branchlets were developed. During the first season many of the 

 fascicles of the foliage leaves contain only two leaves, and sheaths inclosing only one leaf are 

 frequently observed. 



By the end of the first year the stem of the plantlet is rarely over three-fourths of an inch in 

 length, the main loot having attained a length of from 8 to 10 inches. 



Having reached the end of the second year the taproot is found from 2 to 3 feet in length, the 

 stem scarcely 11 inches long, with an increase of diameter hardly perceptible. The conical ter- 

 mination of the spring shoot is now densely coveied with the delicately fringed bracts inclosing 

 the buds of the foliage leaves, which impart to it the appearance of a silvery white tuft, by which 

 this species is recognized at first sight. 



During the following two years the growth proceeds but slowly, the length by the end of the 

 fourth year averaging not more than 5 inches with a thickness of three-fourths to seven-eighths 

 of an inch. During the same time the taproot is found to gain constantly both in thickness and 

 length. (See PL X, e.) A few single branches now make their appearance on the main axis. 

 The increase of growth from one season to another up to the seventh or eighth year is difficult to 

 follow, since the difference in the appearance of the spring and summer wood cells in the spongy 

 wood of young trees is hardly perceptible, and the rings of annual growth, even as seen in cross 

 sections prepared for microscopical examination, are mostly too indistinct to afford a safe criterion 



