SHORTLEAF PINE. 79 



the isothermal lines of 64° and 68° F., with a miniinuin of but a few degrees below the freezing 

 point. The tree, as observed at Mobile, has escaped uninjured the severe and unprecedented 

 long spell of ice and snow during the latter part of January and first week of February, 1895, 

 when the thermometer fell as low as 11° F., the flowers unfolding unimpaired by frost during the 

 succeeding first days of milder weather. 



In its dependence on light it is less exacting than either the longleaf pine or the loblolly pine. 

 It appears to thrive, from the earliest stage of its development, as well when partially shaded as 

 in the open^in this respect resembling the Southern spruce pine. It is due to these facts, com- 

 bined with the rapid progress of its growth from the earliest stage, that the Cuban pine is gaining 

 the upper hand over the offspring of the light-requiring longleaf pine, which, on the damp soil of 

 the coast plain, is soon outstripped and finally almost completely suppressed by the seedlings 

 of this tree. 



In the inherent capacity for natural reproduction, or in the advantages for the renewal of its 

 forests by man, the Cuban pine is not surpassed by any other of the species with which it is found 

 associated. This tree commends itself strongly to the tree planter in the coast i3lain of the lower 

 South. Producing seeds in abundance regularly and with certainty, being less exacting in its 

 demands for direct sunlight, and hence successfully resisting the encroachment of competing 

 species, being less liable to succumb to the destructive agencies of fire on account of its more 

 rapid development in early life, it has greater promise of success than the others. If to this is 

 added the rapid rate of growth, the great value of its timber, being equal to the longleaf, if not 

 superior, and the abundant yield of its valuable resinous product, it becomes evident that in the 

 reforestation of the low pine lands of the Southern coast region the Cuban pine is to be preferred 

 to any other, not only within its original boundaries, but as far beyond its range of natural 

 distribution as the climatic requirements of the tree will permit. 



SHORTLEAF PINE. 



The seeds begin to swell and to germinate in the early days of spring. In Mobile County, on 

 the end of the first week of March, the plantlets had their cotyledons fully unfolded, which were 

 found to vary from six to seven in number, with the lower (hypocotyiedonaiy) part of the axis from 

 1J to 2 inches long, the rootlets being somewhat less in length (PL XVI, e 9 g). The development 

 of the upper part of the axis (caulicle) from the terminal budlet and of the primary acerose leaves 

 proceeds now rapidly. These primary leaves succeeding the cotyledons are stiff and spreading, 

 about three-fourths of an inch long and covering the stem densely (PL XVI, g), remain during the 

 first season, withering from below during the warmer part of the season. By the close of the first 

 season the caulicle or first shoot has attained a length of from 3 to 4 inches. On the shoot of 

 the second season (rarely before) the secondary leaves, which constitute the foliage, make their 

 appearance from the undeveloped branchlets in the axis of the primary leaves (PL XVI, g). At 

 the end of the second year the plants are 7 to 8 inches high, with a taproot 2 to 3 inches long. 

 During this season adventitious buds appear at the collar of the stem, which bring forth vigorous 

 sprouts, particularly if the stem has sustained the slightest injury. These shoots are covered 

 with primary leaves, which are retained for one season. They are apt to form strong branches 

 before the tree has reached its fourth or fifth year; such branches, which are produced profusely 

 from the stumps of larger trees, scarcely survive another season. It is rarely that branches are 

 produced in the second year, the first branches appearing generally in the third season in whorls 

 of three to four. In the third year foliage leaves alone are produced in the axils of scales with 

 their bases close to the stem. At the close of *the third year the plants are from 12 to 18 inches 

 high. Now the development of the root system advances rapidly, the taproot being by this time 

 about 8 or 10 inches long, with strong lateral roots often double that length. Both taproot and 

 lateral roots are finally vigorously developed, penetrating deep into the ground, so that trees of 

 this species are rarely blown down by winds. At the end of the fourth year the plants are from 

 2 to 3 feet high, with the stem at best from five-eighths to seven-eighths of an inch thick. 



The branches of the whorls begin now in their turn to develop branchlets in whorls of secondary 

 order. The development of the primary axis and its branch system proceeds henceforth in the 

 regular acropetal order. As in all pines, the shoot of the main axis takes the lead in rapidity and 



