SHORTLEAF PINE: IMPORTANCE AND MANAGEMENT. Al 
than any of its hardwood associates. In the lower and deeper soils 
red gum comes close to shortleaf pine in volume production. In 
general the principles of thinnings stated above for pure stands 
apply with only minor modifications to mixed pine and hardwood 
stands. 
RETURNS FROM THINNED STANDS. 
The relation of cost to financial return is much the same for 
thinning shortleaf stands as for similar operations with farm crops. 
The material obtained from thinnings can usually be utilized for 
cordwood, rails, and other purposes, and often pays for the work 
from the start. A market for peeled poles can perhaps be developed, 
especially in view of the success of treating sap pine with wood pre- 
servatives. The factors which determine the immediate financial 
success of thinning an acre of young pine vary widely with age, 
density, location, and opportunity fcr using the product. 
The results obtained by thinning shortleaf pine in Virginia have 
been studied by the Forest Service in cooperation with the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and Immigration of the State of Virginia. 
The study was made by Mr. W. W. Ashe, of the Forest Service, and 
the results are embodied in a publication issued in 1913 by the State, 
entitled “ Shortleaf Pine in Virginia—The Increase in Its Yield by 
Thinnings.” The tables and discussion which follow are based upon 
this report, and may be considered applicable over the northern and 
central Piedmont region, and with relatively small modifications over 
the entire region of distribution. 
Saw timber—The largest yield of saw timber is obtained from 
stands which are periodically and lightly thinned, following an 
earlier period of moderate crowding. The possibilities of increase in 
yield of lumber as a direct result of thinning are clearly indicated 
in Table 20, showing yields for understocked, thinned, and crowded 
unthinned stands. 
TABLE 20.—Yield’* of saw timber from understocked, crowded, and thinned 
stands of shortleaf pine in Virginia. 
[Trees 9 inches and over in diameter at breast height.) 
Crowded stands, Fully stocked, Understocked 
unthinned. thinned stands. stands. 
Age. SS Se 
Trees . Trees . Trees : 
per acre. Yield. per’acre. Yield. per acre. Yield. 
Years Bd. ft. Bd. ft Bd. ft 
30 1, 235 200 765 8, 400 350 3, 800 
40 860 6, 000 505 | 16,400 300 , 700 
50 535 13, 100 355 20, 400 150 6, 900 
60 395 16, 800 255 23, 000 100 7, 800 
1 Yield in terms of mill cut production under close utilization. 
