Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 23 
Bermuda grass is not found extensively in native pastures, except 
in a few favored spots where it has been transplanted. It is im- 
portant only on cultivated land. (See Farmers' Bulletin 1125.) 
CARRYING CAPACITY OF NATIVE PASTURES. 
No experimental data are available as to the carrying capacity 
of the native pastures, but from observation and hundreds of in- 
quiries it appears that 10 acres per head for 8 or 9 months in the 
year is a fair average. Cattle, as a rule, have unlimited pasture, 
and where the pasture is limited it is under fence and usually has 
been improved to some extent. 
Questionnaires were mailed to every owner of a pure-bred beef 
bull in the Piney Woods, so far as lists were available, and answers 
to the question, "How many acres necessary to carry a cow on cut- 
over pasture ? " varied from 4 to 20 acres, with an average of 8.3. 
Most of the answers of men grazing a considerable number of cattle 
were " Ten acres or more." Cattlemen of long experience in grazing 
cut-over lands, without exception give that number as the mini- 
mum for unimproved pasture during a grazing season of 8 or 9 
months. During spring and the early part of summer the carrying 
capacity is probably 5 acres or less per head, but provision must be 
made for the inferior grazing after- wire grass and broom sedge 
mature. Ten acres per head seems high for a humid region where 
vegetative growth is rapid, but is much lower than that required 
on western ranges and may be reduced considerably under proper 
management. 
RANGE FIRES. 
The native pastures have been almost universally burned over 
each year ever since the country was settled in Florida for fully 150 
years, and especially since the time turpentine operations began in the 
virgin timber, long before the Civil War. In timber tapped for tur- 
pentine the face and base of (he tree are saturated with resin and the 
box which catches the resin flow is within easy reach of ground fires. 
To protect the trees against accidental and pasture fires, the trash 
is raked away from the bases of the trees and the woods burned 
under watch each year, the carpet of pine straw and dead grass 
furnishing fuel. This practice makes it easier for the workmen to 
cover the ground as the underbrush is burned off. 
During logging operations no precaution is taken to prevent fires 
from locomotives, and where the woods are not fired from this source 
the woods crew burn the undergrowth to make walking easier. 
