Author Topic: Pine Plantations? (Read 736 times)

pintaildrake · « **on:** January 02, 2006, 03:04:13 PM »

my bro and i are wanting to start a pine plantation just as soon as we can buy the land. has anyone here undertook such a feat? we are planning on planting Red Pine (Pinus resinosa), Scotch Pine(Pinus sylvestris), Loblolly Pine (Pinus tadea), Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), and Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana) for pulpwood and lumber.
we just dont know how to start. of course we know how to test soil pH, liming requirements, fertilizer requirements, etc. but if any yall could give us some information it would be very much appreciated.
thank you
pintail and mallard

slide-flipper · « **Reply #1 on:** March 04, 2006, 07:55:10 PM »

HIRE A FORESTER! Not too expensive. It's the right way to get professional advice on the types of trees for the soil and environment. A local forester will give advice on density and structured harvesting so you get a better crop at the end of your 20-25 years. You take junk trees and stuff out at about 7 year cycles to keep the forest floor clean and to provide a better growing environment for your crop trees. The forestry company should also provide a comprehensive site management plane that covers runoff management and road and trail management. If you can't find a local forester. Look up the Society of American Foresters. They should be able to provide a contact for your area. The county extension office should also have contacts.

slide-flipper

victorcharlie · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2006, 03:50:54 AM »

Bowater seems to be selling a lot of it's property around here......you could probably buy one already started in one of several states they do business in.

Mikey · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2006, 02:42:08 AM »

pintaledrake - your State Department of Conservation (er whatever it is called in Illinois) can provide Foresters and should provide them at no cost. They will tell you what you can plant for your intended purposes and may have some good suggestions for you in that regard. Foresters I have worked with here in NYS are pretty good at that sort of thing.

As far as planting and the like is concerned, almost a piece of cake. Once you get Conservation's approval or whatever is required, you can purchase or possibly rent a tree-planter that hooks to the back end of a tractor. It has a bin to hold the seedlings - which you have to purchase, a blade that cuts through the soil and a pair of wheels that close it up after you have dropped the seedling in. It also has a seat to ride on (that helps). I think I probably planted somewhere around 10k seedlings of different Pine varieties about 30 years ago while my Dad was content with going back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth all over those dang fields until all those seedlings were planted. I could hazard the guess that I know every dang square foot of those fields (lol). HTH. Mikey.

Dusty Miller · « **Reply #4 on:** March 15, 2006, 10:25:03 PM »

I'm having a bit of a problem understanding what this has to do with shooting and hunting.

Graybeard · « **Reply #5 on:** March 16, 2006, 04:02:59 AM »

Quote

I'm having a bit of a problem understanding what this has to do with shooting and hunting.

Obviously you've never hunted in a pine thicket that's less than 10 years old? Back when I was hunting WMAs that's where I concentrated my efforts. Once the pines get up 3' or more tall until they get over about ten years old that's some of the best hunting land around. Plenty of sunlight still getting in to grow all sorts of vines, briars and stuff the deer like to eat and enough cover for them to feel safe moving even in day time. Find a big older tree close enough to look down into it and you have the best seat on the place.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #6 on:** March 16, 2006, 05:26:40 AM »

That's just exactly what I hunted this past deer season. The trees were up a bit higher at about 20 feet and the thick undergrowth was starting to die out in places. It's full of deer, but 20 yards or so is about all I can see unless I hunt the edges which is what I did for the most part. Tried to catch them moving in and out to feed on acorns.......

No need for a long range cartridge in this stuff, rather a cartridge that drops them quick so they don't run is what's needed......

Dusty Miller · « **Reply #7 on:** March 16, 2006, 10:31:48 PM »

Oh. :grin:

rockbilly · « **Reply #8 on:** March 22, 2006, 01:08:40 PM »

I recently sold a piece of land on the Ms-Al border. Shortly before we bought it, it was clear cut (everything taken out), that left stumps all over. I paid to have all the stumps pushed and burned, the land was leveled as best it could be, and the FFA from the local school took on re-seeding as a class project, all I had to do was buy the trees. The seedlings were of a varity of hybred that comes out of Fl, they were about 5-6 inched tall when planted. After 18 years they were about 4-5 inched in diameter and about 20 ft, we had to thin them, that was done by a pulp wood buyer, When I sold the land it was ready to be thined again, the trees ranged in diameter about 7-8 inches and about thirty feet tall.

Seeding and growing timber of any type is a slow process, if you have the land, and want to improve it, then it is a wonderful idea and can be looked upon as a long time investment. You won't get rich with a small amount of land. Had it not been six hundred miles away I would have kept it, but when you live that far away it is hard to keep up with the progress of the trees and keep people out. One thing that really chapped my cheeks was Ms charged me a non-resident fee for hunting on my own land. Conssidering I paid the taxes to the state of Mississippi, I thought that sucked.

AS GB said, the deer and turkey hunting was great after the seedlings got up to about six feet, but in that area you couldn't take a step without stepping on a fire ant hill. One of the folks that lived near by told me lots of cattle and game were lost as a result of the young being killed by the ants.