Some clear cutting is done in connection with 
preparing the land for improved pasture, citrus 
orchards, and other farm crops. While land clearing 
for agriculture is active in certain areas, notably in 
Central Florida, for the State as a whole the amount 
of clear-cut land which is actually converted to agri- 
cultural use is rather small. 
Poor cutting practices not only contribute to 
poor stocking, but species composition and stand 
quality are likewise affected. Heavy cutting of the 
pine has converted many mixed _pine-hardwood 
stands to pure hardwood types, and, in part, ac- 
counts for the million-acre increase in lowland hard- 
wood types between the two forest surveys. Cutting 
of the most valuable species and highest quality 
trees has left hardwood stands with an extremely 
high proportion of poor-quality trees. These not 
only take up growing space and interfere with the 
development of the more valuable young growth, 
but they frequently grow very rapidly following 
esis 
F — 421475 
Ficure 38.—Cutting which leaves the land without an adequate seed source is still a common practice in Florida. 
cutting and add to the volume of cull trees. Also, 
many of the trees left are of such poor quality that 
they soon become culls. The large increase in both 
the proportion and quantity of cull hardwood tim- 
ber in Florida since the first forest survey is, for the 
most part, the result of this practice of “high-grad- 
ing” the stands. 
Land Ownership and Forest Practices 
Land-use practices affecting forest conditions vary 
widely, depending upon who owns the land. Many 
of the undesirable practices contributing to poor 
forest conditions arise from the fact that a great 
deal of the forest land is owned by people who 
have little or no interest in growing timber. A 
large proportion of the timber cut comes from 
this class of ownership. In 1945, 87 percent of the 
privately owned forest land in Florida was owned 
by people who were not associated with the wood- 
44 Forest Resource Report No. 6, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
