THE SEEDING OF THE LON(i-LEAF PINE. 



53 



THE SEEDING OF THE LONG-LEAF PINE. 



Although the writer has not yet carried on systematic observa- 

 tions, on (1) the frequency of seeding of the long-leaf pine, (2) the 

 relative abundance of its seed as compared with those of other 

 pines, and (3) the relative fertility of boxed and unboxed trees of 

 the same species, long enough to have obtained accurate results, 

 yet the observations of different persons, thoroughly familiar, for 

 many years, with the pines of the barrens, will, he thinks, for most 

 of these cases, be found sufficiently accurate, their results being 

 supplemented by his conclusions drawn from a personal investi- 

 gation extending over several years. Although there were certain 

 years in the primeval or virgin long-leaf pine forest, just as there 

 are with all other trees, when no seed were borne, yet these years 

 were rare and the yield of seed was usually abundant. William 

 Byrd, writing in 1728, says"^ the jnast of this tree (the long-leaf pine) 

 is very much esteemed for fattening hogs, through all of Albemarle 

 county (North-eastern North Carolina) on account of its greater 

 abundance and the greater certainty of its occurrence (than that of 

 the oaks). The forests of which he was speaking w^ere largely 

 virgin at that date. There are to be found frequent statements 

 mentioning the same fact by other historians, of both an earlier 

 and later date. 



So far as could be ascertained the masts (as the seed of this pine 

 are called) have not been as abundant for the past fifty years as 

 they formerly were. There seems to have been only three large 

 long-leaf pine masts since 1845. One of these occurred just about 

 that time, the next one was in 1872 and there was one in 1892, 

 which was not so large, however, as either of the preceding. 

 There is a fairly abundant mast about every four or five years, and 

 on intermediate years the production is small and localized. In 

 North Carolina most of the trees which now bear seed are boxed 

 and have been in this condition for from ten to fifty years. And the 

 opinion prevails throughout the pine barrens that pine masts are 

 less frequent and less abundant now than before the pines were so 

 largely boxed and thinned out. The removal of a great portion of 



*Histor3- of the Dividing Line between Virginia and North Carolina, p. 29. 



