Converting Scrub Oak Stands to Pine 



Many upland sites have been taken over completely by scrubby 

 hardwoods- -very little or no pine is left. These areas produce no tim- 

 ber and have low grazing value. A study installed in 1948 on the Kisatchie 

 National Forest shows that they can be converted back to pine quickly and 

 at a reasonable cost. 



Loblolly, slash, and longleaf seedlings were planted at 6-foot in- 

 tervals under a fairly dense stand of inferior upland oaks. The oaks were 

 then girdled or poisoned to release the pines. Some plots were released 

 immediately after planting, some one year later, and some two years 

 later. 



Hogs destroyed the longleaf seedlings after the first year, but the 

 slash and loblolly plots showed that both survival and height growth are 

 improved if the pines are released by hardwood control soon after plant- 

 ing (fig. 10). The longer release is delayed, the poorer will be the sur- 

 vival and development. Table 1 shows results three years after planting. 



Figure 10. --These 5-year-old loblolly pines are growing on a site former- 

 ly dominated by worthless hardwoods. (Photo by Elemore Morgan) 



