24 BULLETIN 308, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ESSENTIALS OF FOREST MANAGEMENT. 
Forest management aims to make the forest continuously produc- 
tive of the largest quantity and at the same time the most useful or 
valuable quality of.timber. It deals essentially with second growth, 
including in the South the so-called “ old field” stands. The increas- 
ing scarcity of virgin timber is daily developing new uses for second 
growth, and stands formerly considered of no value are now becoming 
commercial assets. Owners will find it more and more profitable, — 
therefore, to employ intensive methods of handling timberlands. 
Under forest management, it is necessary first of all to protect the 
growing tree crop against fire and other harmful agencies. The age 
at which the stand should be cut, or the period of rotation, must be 
determined in advance upon the basis of the size and kind of wood 
desired. The tree density, or amount of growing stock on the ground, ~ 
strongly influences the growth and should be regulated by thinning 
or artificial restocking. Cutting so as to secure complete natural re- — 
production is of great importance. | 
PROTECTION. 
FIRE. 
Owners of southern pine lands now realize that enormous loss and 
injury result every year from forest fires. They will be interested 
therefore in methods of preventing fires as far as is possible and of 
controlling at an early stage those which are started. To be sure, 
shortleaf pine regenerates vigorously by sprouts during early life | 
when subject to greatest fire injury. The injury caused to older 
trees, however, by even a surface fire is very often recorded in the © 
entrance of destructive fungi, or “punks,” through the fire scars, — 
and retarded growth, due to the removal of the protective layer of | 
leaf litter (“pine straw”) and soil enriching humus. The loss of 
trees by repeated fires during a period of 30 or 40 years and conse- 
quent reduction in the yield is surprisingly large. The person start- 
ing a fire which spreads to his neighbor’s forest is rightfully held 
responsible for the destruction of property. The best protection les 
in the hearty cooperation of all landowners and communities in the 
enforcement of efficient State fire laws. When rightly planned and 
constructed, fire lines are very helpful in protecting growing timber, 
and are proving effective in the yellow pine on the National Forests 
of Florida and Arkansas. A double furrow stops slowly burning 
surface fires and is a good base from which to fight others. Fire 
lines are best constructed by opening one or more furrows on each 
side of a strip 4 to 8 yards wide and, in favorable weather burning 
over the intervening ground. 
