SILVICAL DESCRIPTION OF LONGLEAF PINE. 37 
DEMANDS UPON SOIL AND MOISTURE. 
For the best development of longleaf pine a light, dry loam or sand 
is required. Over considerable areas, however, it develops well on a 
clay loam. With it, as with loblolly, moisture is of more importance 
in determining its distribution than soil qualities, longleaf pine with- 
standing very little moisture. 
FORM AND DEVELOPMENT. 
Owing to the removal of the large longleaf pines the average size 
of the trees is not great. The largest tree seen measured 40 inches in 
diameter, and trees over 2 feet in diameter are not common. In 
height, also, it is inferior to loblolly, seldom exceeding 100 feet. 
Under favorable conditions longleaf pine develops a long, straight, 
cylindrical, clear bole 60 feet in length, with a small, flat crown. In 
youth it has a thin crown, with the branches turning up at the end, 
giving a candelabra-like effect. In the sapling stage trees have a 
remarkable height for their diameter and depend much on one another 
for support. 
TOLERANCE AND REPRODUCTION. 
Longleaf pine is the most intolerant species on the tract. From 
the start it endures little or no shade. Reproduction is found-only 
in very open stands, where there is an abundance of sunlight. In the 
sapling thickets overtopped trees die out very fast, the first stage of 
their decline being the dying off of the leader. 
If there is plenty of light, trees begin to bear seed when very small. 
Seed years occur less frequently than with loblolly, generally at inter- 
vals of three or four years. Seed is carried well by the wind, and a 
few trees will seed up considerable areas. 
A mineral soil is most favorable for the germination of longleaf 
pine seed, but is seldom found except after lumbering. A heavy crop 
of grass nearly always covers the ground, and seeds germinate fairly 
well in this. 
As a result of fires, the present tendency is for the trees to come up 
in even-aged groups. A small patch of ground is free from fire fora 
few years, and a group of trees springs up on it. If fire be kept out 
after cutting, the stand will come up as even-aged forest, provided 
sufficient seed trees be left. 
Loblolly pine is not encroaching upon the longleaf land to any 
marked extent. Very few cases of loblolly following longleaf were 
seen. 
RELATION OF AGE TO DIAMETER. 
The diameter which a longleaf pine will reach in a given number 
of years is shown in Table XVI. Diameter growth is very uniform. 
