78 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



almost without failure; they ripen in the fall of the second, year; the seeds are discharged through 

 the winter of the second year until spring. Germinating easily, their seedlings are found to come 

 up copiously from early in the spring to the beginning of the summer in old. fields and on every 

 opening in the vicinity of the parent trees, wherever the rays of the sun reach the ground. The 

 plantlets bear six to seven seed-leaves (cotyledons). As soon as these have fairly expanded the 

 terminal bud develops rapidly, and the first internode of the stem, increasing quickly in length, is 

 densely covered with the soft, narrow, linear, pointed, primary leaves, which are fully an inch long. 

 Before the end of the second month, in the axils of some of the leaves, the undeveloped branchlets, 

 bearing the fascicle of the foliage leaves, make their appearance. With the further development 

 of the foliage leaves, increasing in number during the growing season, the primary leaves wither 

 away. By the close of the first season the plantlets are from 8 to 9 inches high, with a very 

 slender taproot and many lateral rootlets near its upper end. After the beginning of the second 

 season but few of the primary leaves are found to support the buds of the foliage leaves. The 

 tendency to the production of secondary axes becomes manifest by the appearance of a single 

 branchlet; on having reached the end of their second year the plants are from 12 to 15 inches 

 high, with a taproot not more than 4 inches long; at the end of their third year they average little 

 less than 2 feet in height, with the taproot 6 inches long — the laterals being much longer. The 

 crown from this period develops in regular whorls for a long succession of years. 



The Cuban pine, in its rate of growth and when fully grown, exceeds in its dimensions the 

 longleaf pine. The taproot, less powerful than in its allies, is assisted by mighty lateral roots 

 running near the surface of the ground to support the tall, sturdy trunk, rising to a height of 110 

 or 115 feet, with a diameter of 2J, not uufrequently exceeding 3, feet, clear of limbs for a height of 

 from 60 to TO feet above the ground. The heavy limbs are horizontally spreading, from 22 to 24 

 feet at their greatest length, somewhat irregularly disposed; they form in the trees of full growth 

 a rather dense crown of rounded outline. Trees of the dimensions mentioned, having passed the 

 fullness of their growth, are found to be from one hundred to one hundred and forty years old, 

 according to the surrounding conditions. The thick bark is of a clear, reddish color, laminated, 

 and exfoliating in thin, broad, purplish flakes. 



Seedlings of the longleaf pine, which those of the Cuban jrine somewhat resemble, can be 

 readily distinguished at this period by the disproportion of height and diameter and absence of 

 branch growth in the former. The rate of growth differs, of course, according to the conditions 

 of soil and exposure. 



Saplings showing five rings of annual growth were found from 4£ to nearly 6 feet in height, 

 with a diameter of from three-fourths to seven-eighths of an inch; between the age of from ten 

 to twelve years the trees measure from 10 to 18 feet in height, with the stem clear for over half 

 its length — even when grown in the open — and from 2 up to 4 inches in diameter. From this 

 stage on the rate of growth proceeds most rapidly. At eighteen and twenty years heights of 40 

 to 50 feet and over, and diameters from 9 to 10 inches across the stump, cut close to the ground, 

 are attained. 



Soil. — For its best development the Cuban pine requires a light, sandy, but constantly damp 

 soil, which is attained where the sandy surface is underlaid by a loamy subsoil retentive of 

 moisture but sufficiently loose to give the roots unhindered access. Such conditions are found on 

 the lands rising above the perpetually wet swamps. On the flats, with a soil of fine, compact 

 sand, devoid of all drainage and underlaid by a hardpan, where nothing but the saw palmetto 

 appears to thrive, the tree remains of low, stunted growth, scarcely ever reaching medium size. 

 In the depth of the swamp, with the soil wet and slushy throughout the year, where the tree is 

 commonly met with, closely surrounded by white bay, red bay, black gum, titi, and white cedar 

 towering high above it, it is of slow growth and frequently affected by red heart or red rot, partic- 

 ularly near its northern limit. It is never found in alluvial bottoms, and eschews the dry, i;>ine- 

 barren hills, requiring a moderate but sure and even supply of soil moisture. 



Climate.— The range of its distribution coincides with the area of greatest rainfall in the 

 Southern States, which, evenly distributed through all seasons, amounts for the year, in the mean, 

 to 60 and 64 inches. 



The Cuban pine demands a warm climate, free from excesses in the range of temperature, as 

 is afforded by the vicinity of the sea. It is found in greatest abundance and most perfect within 



