Photograph of a pine nursery. Bill Campbell, nursery manager, preparing to plow up trees. Tractor loosens trees with bar, leaving trees loose for hand pulling. Trees are sorted and packed in bundles of 50 trees each. Little River Soil Conservation District crews pick up the trees at the nursery she dfor farm delivery. Three large industrial forest firms give small landowners trees on a tree-for-tree-matched basis. These trees are given to small land owners to encourage them to increase their timber stands. OK-412-1

Photograph of a saw mill. Head-saw in operation running out hardwood logs. This mill also has a gang saw for pine lumber. This country mill has a pay roll of $150.00 per day which adds to the forest economy of the district. Lee Swarts, shown here, marks all of his pine timber to be harvested on D-46 spacing, as recommended by the Soil Conservation Service, according to his agreement with the Little River Soil Conservation District. He manages 8000 acres of his own timber land. OK-412-7.

Photograph of a pine tree plantation. Pine trees planted in the winter of 1948 - 1949 on old cultivated land which was farmed until 1944. First trees planted were dug from woods and transplanted by millhands on the off days at the mill. Later, as nursery stock became available, the tract was planted with seedlings. Earl Hayes, SCS; Lee Swarts, owner; and C.P. Burke, SCS, examine trees to determine when the first cut should be made. The trees were planted as proper land use and a soil conservation measure as well as a cash crop. OK-412-10.

Photograph of timber stand improvement. Pre-commercial thinning of trees to improve composition and quality of pine stand. Lee Swarts, a small mill operator, works the mill hands on off winter days on odd timber jobs to forest timber ideas and to provide steady work for regular employees. Mr. Swarts has over 8000 acres of pine land under agreement with the Little River Soil Conservation District with cutting compartments and cutting cycles. OK-412-5.

Photograph of a pine nursery. Approximately 1,500,000 Loblolly and short leaf pine trees are to be planted during the 1956 – 1957 planting season. Dry weather and the shortage of irrigation water has cut the output of this nursery by approximately 50%. These trees will be used to establish pine stands on old worn crops such as cotton and corn. The trees will conserve the land from further erosion. OK-412-2.