the past 15 years, woods fires are still Florida’s num- 
ber-one forest problem. 
Grazing and Timber Growing 
Cattle raising in Florida is rapidly growing in 
importance. Between 1940 and 1945, the number of 
cattle and calves increased from 721,000 to 1,115,- 
000, a 55-percent increase (24). The trend has con- 
tinued upward since 1945. In 1948, the gross cash 
income of Florida farmers from cattle and calves 
amounted to 31 million dollars (7), equal to more 
than half the value of sawlogs, poles, pulpwood, and 
other rough wood products harvested from the 
forests. 
Cattle raising has an important bearing on forest 
conditions and the timber supply outlook. A great 
many of the cattle in Florida are scrub, or piney- 
woods cows, which generally depend entirely upon 
native grass on wild land (much of it forest land) 
for feed. The cattle themselves are seldom concen- 
trated enough to do much damage to the young 
trees by trampling. The damage to the timber comes 
almost entirely from the age-old practice of annually 
burning the woods to improve the cattle range. The 
owners of the cattle frequently own very little land 
themselves, and run their cattle on other people’s 
land. Thus, a great deal of the burning is done by 
people who are not interested in timber values. 
As has been pointed out, both timber growing and 
cattle raising are important sources of income in 
Florida. The question arises: To what extent is the 
sacrifice of timber values justified, or necessary, in 
improving cattle range? To fully answer this ques- 
tion, more information concerning the management 
of forest range and its relation to timber production 
is needed, including the income that might be ex- 
pected from alternative or integrated uses of various 
types of land. However, information now available 
indicates that Florida’s forest land could be made to 
produce more of both timber and beef, and that the 
conflict between timber growing and grazing is not 
as great as it seems to be (/8). Further, methods of 
harmonizing timber and cattle production will vary 
considerably according to the relative importance of 
_ the two industries, which varies markedly in differ- 
ent parts of the State. 
In the northern part, timber production greatly 
overshadows cattle raising as a source of income 
from forest land. Yet many cattle are raised there; 
according to the Bureau of the Census, 40 percent of 
The Timber Supply Situation in Florida 
all the cattle and calves on farms in the State in 1945 
were in Northeast and Northwest Florida (fig. 35). 
A large part of these were scrub cattle, which depend 
entirely on native range for feed. 
Experience on the Olustee Experimental Forest in 
northeastern Florida indicates that with only native 
range and piney-woods cows the timberland manager 
is seldom justified in sacrificing timber values to 
benefit the cattle (1/8). The damage to timber values 
caused by annual burning to improve the cattle 
range is usually far in excess of the returns from the 
cattle. However, under proper management some 
cattle can be grazed on forest land without interfering 
with timber production (fig. 36). 
This means adjusting cattle stocking to the carry- 
ing capacity of an annual burn of 10 to 15 percent 
of the area instead of the 30- to 50-percent usually 
preferred by operators who use prescribed burning 
primarily to obtain better forage to increase cattle 
gains (18), (3). With burning keyed in this way to 
the needs of the timber and without the use of im- 
proved pasture, it is estimated that 50 acres of flat- 
woods forest land will provide enough feed for one 
cow grazing throughout the year. The returns from 
such yearlong grazing would not be high but they 
would materially help in meeting the expense of 
taxes on the land. Also, grazing is beneficial in reduc- 
ing the fire hazard by retarding the build-up of 
flammable undergrowth, such as gallberry and pal- 
metto (3). 
Herd management studies on native forest range 
at the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station 
have shown the advantage of seasonal grazing and 
supplemental feeding on the range when the nutritive 
value of native forage is deficient (8). This permits 
growing a better grade of cattle and results in a 
greater annual crop of larger calves. 
In Central and South Florida, the timber-growing 
possibilities on much of the forest land are open to 
question. In contrast to conditions in the northern 
part of the State, concessions to timber values at 
the expense of the production of grass may not be 
justified on certain areas. However, this question has 
never been studied adequately. Here is a real need 
for research on both the technical and financial as- 
pects of land use in Central and South Florida. 
Many people feel that much more timber could 
be raised along with cattle in the southern part of 
the State, and a greater total income produced from 
39 
