The San Francisco call., 1908-05-10
USE OF LOBLOLLY
FOR RAILWAY TIES
Old Field Pine of United States
Is Of Commercial Inn
portance
Hitherto Valueless Woodlands
Will in Future Be a Source
of Revenue

Everywhere in the eastern and
southern states the ak is TRANSFORMING
the magnificent forests of the past into
culled and cut over land. The demand
( for lumber is so great and operations
are so extensive that in a compara-
lively few years those who wish to see
timber in it's virgin luxuriance will
have to visit distant Isolated sections
of the country.
Under the new conditions brought
about by the exploitation. of the virgin
forests type of woodlands known as
the old field pine has developed In COM
merciaI Importance within recent years
as result of clearing away the orig
inal forests for agricultural purposes.
This old field type promises to increase
in value more and more with the cor
responding increase in the price of
weod products. Old fields are common
both in the south and in the north, al
though they arise from different causes
and because reforested with different
species of trees.
In the south, before the civil war
vast areas OF land were in cultiva-
tion, which have since been allowed
to return to forest. Many thousands OF
acres were often included within a
single plantation, mostly cleared and
growing splendid crops of cotton. corn.
tobacco and many other valuable farm
products 1t is common today to see
in certain sections of the south old
plantations of great extent that are
now growing up with lobiolly, or, as II
is generally called, old field pine.
The war was responsible for this
neglect of cultivated land With the
freeing of the slaves the immense plan
tations could no longer be managed
and the land was abandoned. In many
cases, however, the land was impov-
erished through many years of cuitiya-
ton, but with the use of fertilizers will
be reclaimed in the future. Farmers
now point out splendid stands OF pine,
already large enough to be numbered,
on land that they once plowed. Growth
has been phenomenal, the trees being
often II to Il inches In diameter at an
age of no more than 20 to 25 years.
Loblolly pine bears seed prolificaily
nearly every year and being light these
seeds are carried long distances by the
wind. The open fields offer ideal places
/ for the young trees to start. The
ground has been worked many years
and there is no young oak brush to in
terfere with their growth as in the
case of the stump or cutover lands.
Longleaf pine. on the other hand seeds
much less abundantly and the seeds be-
far from the mother trees. so that its
reproduction Is much less abundant.
The loblolly. however, Is mort aggres-
sive in taking possession of abandoned
lands end pre-euinently deserves its
popular name of "old field pine
Ideas are changing rapidly now as TO
the values and uses of certain woods.
The longleaf pine is disappearing from
the land and there are few young trees
to take the place of the old. Necessity
for future wood material has resulted
!, in many Investigations and experiments
with inferior kinds of wood. Loblolly
or old field pine has been found to be
exceedingly durable when impregnated
with creosote. This has given the old
field pine a new value and today thous-
ands of railroad ties are cut near the
railroads and shipped to treating plants
to be creosoted. Small portable mills
are easily and cheaply located and
many of these are now cutting the best
trees in these old field stands for lum-
ber to be used locally among the farm
ers. The future numbering will be car
ried on extensively in these second
growth stands OF old field pine.
The situation in the north is very
much the same. White pine Is here
found occupying the old fields much as
loblolly pine does in the south. The
seeds are light and are carried consid-
erable distances TO the open fields,
where they find plenty of light and
suitable soil conditions to make excel
lent growth.
Fifty years ago or more there were
many small areas under cultivation
which have since been abandoned and
have now grown up to white pine.
Farming has always been on small
scale, but with the development of
great farming interests In the west the
farmer of the northeast has been handi-
capped in his competition for The mar
kets. Many of the younger generation
have left the old home farms and gone
to the cities for more Lucrative em-
ployment All this has resulted in
abandonment of old farms and fields,
and many of these are growing up to
pine. There is a tendency for men who
left the farms many years ago to re-
turn and spend the summer months
among their boyhood surroundings.
They love the native forests and con-
sequently encourage the growth of pine
in the fields once cultivated. So there
is an esthetic as well as commercial
value attached to this young growth.
The white pine of the northeast does
not compare in rate of growth with the
old field pine of the south, but the wood
is more valuable for lumber, box
boards, shingles and other purposes,
and the demand TOT second growth pine
is very great. 1t is estimated there are
200. .000 acres of abandoned land in
southern New Hampshire, and a large
part of this is growing up to white
pine Investigations show that tits
most profitable to lumber these second
growth stands OF white pine when they
are so to so years old.
There is large and increasing source
of wealth In our old field pine lands. 1t
oh ~
courage tree growth on land that Is
better suited for agriculture. At the
same time there are vast areas uncuiti-
waited that are producing no income to
their owners. Such land should be per-
mitted to grow trees and be protected
from fire and misuse until such time as
they may become more desirable for
other purposes.--New Haven Palladium.
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