A2INQUIJCS.I5ITT ; Oar Wilds Man has beoi: ir. the woods. As ustual, he has 

 come out again to tell us about his visits with Uncle Sam's Naturalists. 

 This time he brings us word of some of the recent findings of foresters 



which may make us change some of our old notions — You tell them, 



Mr. Wilds ManI 



Our foresters have been looking into Nature's ways of growing 

 trees, in our southern pine region. 



They have nade some remarkable findings, which may bring about 

 big changes in timber growing; and in the way we think of the woods. 



They noticed, that after logging, or after a big hurricajie has 

 swept throu^^ an old virgin pine woods, the second-grov/th trees which 

 spring from seed or sprouts on the cut-over land grow faster thaii the young 

 trees in a virgin forest. 



Nothing particularly remarkable about that. That has been a 

 matter of more or less ganeral knowledge. 



Nature grows trees together in a thick stand. ViThen the best type 

 trees are thinned out for any cause, weed trees creep in to take their 

 place. Or if the best trees grow, closely together, they crowd each 

 other out. They str^j^gle with each other for light, and air, and 

 nourishment. The older trees shade out the younger ones. Trees with 

 only five years difference in their ages ma^^ show a tremendous difference 

 in size. In the forest primeval there are giant trees and dwarf trees. 

 To get an even stand of fully developed trees even with such fast growers 

 as southern pines, takes from 125 to 175 years and up in the virgin 

 forest, prodigal ITature wastes much and tai<:es her time to develop high- 

 quality timber. 



Speaking by and large, that is the kind of timber we foimd here. 

 That is the kind we have grown up with. Nature's long-time timber growing 

 in the original soiithern pine forest v/hich used to cover 210,000,000 

 acres stretching from Virginia to Florida and v/est to Texas, is the kind 

 we think of. 



But most of the virgin timber is already gone. Nearly half of 

 the original southern pine lands have been cleared for other uses. Wr.at's 

 left is second-gro\7th. There are only 12,000,000 acres of virgin southern 



pine forests still left xmcut, !7e will have to depend for our future 

 southern pine timber and pulp supply on the second growth and the re- 

 plajated forests. 



