LONGLEAF PINE 7 
provided, of course, that the right steps are taken in accordance 
with the natural laws of tree growth. 
Cut -over lands on which there are seed trees are worth more than 
denuded lands, for the reason that they are earning an income from 
the growth of the trees, which is accelerated by the increased supply 
of light and soil moisture and from the constantly enhancing value 
of the young forest stands. It is claimed by some practical lumber- 
men that the value of such lands with young growth will be doubled 
within about five years after logging. These factors do not diminish 
the prospective value of these lands for agriculture or interfere to 
an appreciable degree with the use of the land for grazing. Lands 
that contain some timber are more valuable for farms than are 
One sawmill, that cuts mostly longleaf pine, re- 
quires daily the timber from about 100 acres, or 
yearly that from about 25,000 acres. About 4,000,000 
acres of southern pine timber land, it is estimated, 
are cut in this country yearly, and about 1,000,000 
acres are left fire-swept and practically idle. Is it 
not time steps were taken to remedy this situation? 
It is not a question of decreasing the rate of cutting 
the timber, but rather of stopping fire devastation 
and putting the nonproducing acres to work. Mil- 
lions of acres of lands now denuded and nonproduc- 
tive should be growing trees of use and value. 
The supplies of coal, petroleum, and iron are lim- 
ited, but not so with wood. A forest is not a thing 
to be exploited and then abandoned, but a property 
that under right management can be made to yield 
fair annual dividends in perpetuity. 
Lumber should be among the cheapest of com- 
modities, since with adequate forethought and care 
the forest becomes, like the air, water, and soil, an 
inexhaustible resource. 
" skinned " cut-over lands, because a supply of timber is available for 
sale and for home use, there is shade in the pastures, and the trees 
make the homes more attractive. 
RATE OF GROWTH 
During the first 30 to GO years of its life — the period under special 
consideration in this bulletin — and on the better soils or situations 
where it occurs, longleaf pine grows at a moderate to rapid rate. 
The general rating of longleaf as a slow-growing species of pine is 
the result of the almost exclusive handling and consideration of old 
timber, which grows at a slow or very slow rate. 
The rate of growth shows wide variations, apparently related 
closely to differences in the depth and texture of the soil and its 
