More and Better Pines on the Eastern Shore, Part II
Forest Heavily Cut In Recent Years
The light soils characteristic of the Eastern Shore are especially adapted to growing Loblolly pines (the common pine throughout that section). Hardwoods of various kinds will grow, but rarely make good timber except in swamps and where the fallen litter has been permitted to accumulate to a considerable depth. Furthermore pine needles are usually preferred to hardwood leaves for litter because they are so much easier to handle. It seems to be expedient, therefore, to leave the growing of hardwoods to people in the mountains and to concentrate on pines. In this we can have the cooperation of Mother Nature. Nowhere is it easier to get young pines established than in the pine forests of southeastern United States, and in very few places is it as easy. It is largely a question of understanding how various trees reproduce themselves, and then of making conditions favorable for those we wish to encourage.
Early clearing for agriculture on the Eastern Shore, influenced by transportation facilities, was confined to the better drained and more fertile soils near the water front, especially on the bay side. As a rule the fields were small and surrounded by tall forest trees so that wind erosion was a minor consideration. With the coming of the railroad in 1884, however, a change took place. The interior of the Peninsula, near the railroad, became the center of activities, general farming gave way to raising truck crops; the fields were enlarged until drifting of the light soil became a real menace; and the forests were called on for pine needles to take the place of straw formerly supplied by small grains. The value of pine timber as an adjunct to farming was established.
Under the stimulus of high prices, farms were gradually enlarged and timber pushed back. Tenants worked an increasing number of the farms, and having no permanent interest in the property, paid scant attention to the woods, except to rake them very heavily.
Then came a succession of bad years. Other sections of the country began to put potatoes on the market at the same time, and prices fell while the cost of production stayed up. The result was that many farm owners found themselves so hard pressed that they were forced to sell their timber in order to save the farm. And this in spite of the fact that they knew they were placing a severe handicap on the successful operation of the farm.
Unfortunately few owners took the trouble to inform themselves as to how the timber should be cut. It was sold by the boundary with few or no restriction, except those acceptable to, and possibly suggested by, the operator. The result is that many areas have reverted to almost worthless, hardwood sprout growth -- growth which must be gotten out of the way before there is any chance of pines becoming reestablished. This is particularly true on low lying areas where hardwoods, green briar, and innumerable forms of brush are quick to take control.
But before we can understand the "what" and "why" of the various steps in getting pines reestablished on these cut-over areas, we must know how the different trees reproduce their kind, and what conditions are most favorable for each. This subject will be discussed next week.