LEAFLET No. 29
Planting SLASH and LOBLOLLY
PINE in Alabama's Piedmont
JAMES F. GOGGANS, Assistant Forester
ARMERS WHO want to get full produc-
tion from their farms cannot afford to
keep any land idle. Today there are large
acreages of abandoned farm land and
cut-over forest land. These acres could
yield returns if they were reforested. On
much of this land there are no seed trees.
Hence, it will be necessary to plant trees
to restock such land. The trees most
commonly planted in the Piedmont Re-
gion are slash pine and loblolly pine.
Loblolly pine, commonly known as old-
field pine, is native to the region. Slash
pine, though not native to the region, was
introduced in large quantities during the
days of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Most of the trees planted by the C.C..
are from 9 to 12 years of age. There are
practically no middle-age or mature slash
pines in the region. Therefore, it is not
known just how satisfactory slash pine
will be. However, it does show promise.
It may not be as good as loblolly pine,
or it may even be better. Anyone who
plants slash pine should understand this.
Recently the Alabama Agricultural
Experiment Station completed a study
of slash and loblolly pine plantings in the
Piedmont. These plantings were 5 to 13
years old. Many observations were made
in these plantations. This information
should be useful to those who make
future plantings.
LOBLOLLY MAKES FASTER EARLY
GROWTH THAN SLASH
On planting sites with more than about
3 inches of topsoil, slash pine grows
slightly slower than loblolly pine for the
first 9 to 10 years. After that, slash
grows slightly faster than loblolly. Ob-
servations were not made on plantations
older than 13 years of age. Many of the
plantations in the Piedmont are single-
row mixtures of slash and loblolly pine,
which were planted by the C.C.C. In
these plantations, every other row is slash
pine and the rows between are loblolly
pine. Because of its slower early growth,
much of the slash pine in these alternate-
row mixtures is already overtopped by the
loblolly. In time, the slash pine will die
unless some of the loblolly is thinned.
Because of this, it is not recommended
that the two pines be planted in alternate,
single-row mixtures. If an owner wants
mixed stands, he should plant three to
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
of the ALABAMA PO0LYTECHNIC INSTI T U T E
E. V. Smith, Director Auburn, Alabama
FEBRUARY 1951
five rows of slash alternately with three
to five rows of loblolly.
SURVIVAL of SLASH LOWER
THAN LOBLOLLY
On an average, 58 out of each 100
trees lived in the slash pine plantations
studied. In contrast, survival in the lob-
lolly plantations was 83 out of each 100
trees. Throughout the study, slash pine
had a consistently lower survival rate than
loblolly pine. It is usually cheaper to
take care of expected losses by using a
closer original spacing than to replant.
Hence, it is recommended that slash pine
be planted closer in the rows than the
final spacing desired.
It was observed that many plantings
failed because they were delayed until
very late winter or early spring. Seedlings
must be planted as early as possible after
the winter rains begin. This allows time
for them to develop enough to withstand
the dry weather that often follows during
spring and summer.
CARE and PLANTING
of SEEDLINGS
Evidence gained from landowners
showed many plantation failures to be
caused by:
(1) Improper handling of seedlings
after they are received.
(2) Careless or incorrect planting
methods.
After receipt of seedlings, it is well to
examine them. Seedlings with green tops
(without slight yellowing) and wet roots
may be assumed to be in good condition.
It is a waste of labor and materials to
plant seedlings that are not in good con-
dition.
Seedlings received in good condition
must be handled carefully until planting
time. If the trees are to be kept for only
a day or two'before planting, the bundles
can be slightly loosened, sprinkled with
water, and left in a cool, shady place. To
be kept longer, the trees are removed
from the bundles and heeled into the
ground at a well-drained, shady place.
The ground must be kept moist. When
carried to the field for planting, the seed-
lings are kept in a bucket of wet muck,
mud, or moss.
In planting seedlings, it is very import-
ant that the holes in which the seedlings
are planted be made deep enough. The
roots must not be doubled or bent. The
seedling is placed about one-quarter inch
deeper that it was in the nursery. There
are a number of methods and various
tools that may be used in planting. A
planting bar is very useful for making
slits in light soils. This is a long slender,
wedge-shaped tool. A mattock is better
for making holes in some of the heavier
clay soils.
Regardless of tool or method used, the
hole must always be made deep enough
so that the roots will not be bent. Care
must be taken to pack the soil firmly
around the roots. The final hole is closed
up to prevent the soil from drying out
around the roots.
Southern Fusiform Rust
Southern fusiform rust is a disease
of pines. It appears as long, cankerous
swellings on limbs and stems of the trees.
These swellings are usually covered with
an orange powder during early spring.
The disease damages or kills many trees,
and small affected trees may be unfit for
use. The cankers lower the grade of the
products for which the trees are intended.
Stem cankers weaken the trees so that
wind blows them over. During the past
15 years, the rust has become much more
common. Today, it must be considered
as a hazard in growing slash and loblolly
pine.
In the Piedmont study, no important
difference was found between the amount
of rust infection on slash pines and on
loblolly pines. From the standpoint of
this disease, neither tree can be recom-
mended over the other for planting in
this region.
Fire and Grazing
Fire and grazing together were found
to be responsible for more planting fail-
ures than all other causes combined. It
is practically useless to plant trees on
areas that are pastured regularly. Fire
is extremely destructive in a young plan-
tation. However, as trees grow older and
reach sapling size, they become more
resistant to fire and grazing.
Fire and grazing do not always destroy
plantations. They often decrease the
number of trees to the extent that no
early cash returns from posts or pulp-
wood can be realized. The remaining
trees may be so scattered that they will
be large, limby wolf-trees of little value.
Plantations should be completely pro-
tected from both fire and grazing.
TREE SPACING
Future Use of Trees Determines Spac-
ing. Future use of products from the
plantation determines the spacing to
be used between seedlings. The land-
owner must decide what uses he expects
to make of his trees. Can he use or sell
profitably such products as fuelwood
and fence posts from early thinnings?
Spacings of 5 by 5, 6 by 6, 7 by 7
feet are recommended to landowners who
are interested in products from early
thinnings. For those interested mainly
in sawlogs, spacings of 8 by 8 or 9 by 9
feet are recommended.
The number of seedlings required per
acre at the various spacings is as follows:
Spacing Number of trees
per acre
5 by 5 feet 1,742
6 by 6 feet 1,210
7 by 7 feet 889
8 by 8 feet 681
9 by 9 feet 538
Trees planted at the closer spacings
yield higher quality final products than
do trees planted at the wide spacings.
This is due to earlier natural pruning in
the closely spaced stands. For this reason,
those interested in the production of high
quality poles and sawlogs should consider
the closer spacings. On many farms there
is a great need for fuelwood, fence posts,
and stack poles. The close spacing of
5 by 5 feet will yield much more of these
products than 7 by 7-foot or wider spac-
ings.
Reforesting Cut-over Areas. Row spac-
ings can easily be made in open areas,
such as old fields and pastures. However,
reforesting cut-over forest areas presents
different problems. Such cut-over areas
are usually partly covered by small pine
trees and numerous brushy hardwoods.
Slash and loblolly pine seedlings should
not be planted under trees and brush.
For this reason, the seedlings cannot be
planted in even rows. The planting is
done in the open areas, using the spacing
chosen.
As in the case of open areas, the spac-
ing is selected according to future use.
The seedlings are planted in the open
spaces between existing trees. Particular
care must be taken to see that the seed-
lings are distributed evenly over the area,
even though the trees are not planted in
rows.
If the area has large cull hardwoods, it
will be necessary to kill them by poison-
ing or girdling. Seedlings may then be
planted under them. If the area has
thick hardwood brush with no openings,
it will be necessary to clean a small area
for each seedling.
Severely Eroded Sites. There are many
old fields where all of the topsoil and
many times part of the subsoil have been
lost by erosion. These sites are severely
eroded. They are poor sites for tree
growth; naturally, rapid growth cannot
be expected.
If the erosion is continuing, these sites
are special problems and must be treated
as such. The main problem is the es-
tablishment of a ground cover to reduce
erosion. An extra effort to control ero-
sion is often justified. On eroded sites,
spacings must be much closer than on
better sites. An average spacing of
4 by 4 feet will be satisfactory on most
of these sites. No even-row spacing
should be used. It is better to scatter the
trees around in such a way that erosion
will be reduced as quickly as possible.
Mulching is advisable on small areas
where erosion is extremely bad and the
gullies are not too wide and deep. This
is done by covering the ground with pine
straw, pine boughs, and brush.
SUMMARY OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. On sites with more than 3 inches
of topsoil, slash pine grows slightly slow-
er than loblolly pine during the first few
years. If a mixed plantation is wanted,
three to five rows of slash pine may be
planted alternately with three to five
rows of loblolly pine.
2. Since slash pine survival usually is
lower than that of loblolly pine, slash
pine should be planted closer in the rows
than the final desired spacing.
3. Seedlings should be planted as early
in the winter as possible to offset the
damaging effect of dry weather that may
follow in the spring.
4. Seedlings must be properly handled
after they are received and must be
planted correctly and carefully. The
roots of the seedlings should not be al-
lowed to become dry.
5. Protection should be given the
plantation from fire and grazing.
6. If early thinnings are desired, spac-
ings of 5 by 5, 6 by 6, or 7 by 7 feet
are recommended. Spacings of 8 by 8 or
9 by 9 feet are recommended when trees
are planted mainly for sawlogs.
7. On severely eroded areas, a spacing
of approximately 4 by 4 feet is recom-
mended. Badly eroded areas should be
mulched.