EFFECT OF CHANGED COXDITIOXS UPON FORESTRY 661 



be handled in this manner. With the eHmination of the logging rail- 

 road, the fire hazard is greatly reduced. If truck roads are adapted by 

 location and construction to local conditions they become nearly per- 

 manent, except for bridges, but there are two very different types of 

 conditions which must be considered in road construction in this region. 

 The great valley which separates the chestnut from the oak province 

 likewise defines two types of conditions afifecting road construction and 

 maintenance. To the eastward are largely easily eroded micaceous soils 

 with poor surfacing stone and a rainfall which is heavy, particularly to 

 the southeast ; to the west are more porous shales and sandstones for 

 road foundation, and better road-surfacing material wuth less concen- 

 trated rainfall. In most of western North and South Carolina even 

 well-graded roads not constantly dragged are ruined in a few seasons 

 unless surfaced and provided with artificial means of caring for surface 

 water. Xot being ice-bound during the winter, they are subject to 

 year-round deterioration. Roads through the shales which form a large 

 portion of the country rock w^est of the great valley, even when steep, 

 remain for years in very serviceable condition. The heaviest and most 

 valuable stands of National Forest timber are to the southeast, and 

 systems of roads should be designed looking toward the development of 

 timber values and the ultimate betterment of these Forests. These 

 stands are situated in the most remote and roughest sections and in the 

 poorest communities and those less able to contribute to the cost of road 

 construction. If the vicious principle obtains that only "to him that 

 hath shall be given," then these sections ofifering the widest field of 

 silvicultural promise must wait, with the possibility of piecemeal de- 

 velopment in the same general manner which has already resulted in 

 the lessening of the earning value of so large a proportion of the cut- 

 over forest lands of this section. Every dollar invested in roads in this 

 region will be more than returned in stumpage appreciation, besides 

 affording the opportunity of forest betterment, the possibilities of 

 which seem almost unlimited. 



Stumpage values which have been given will not apply to the less 

 accessible timber located on the upper slopes and ridges, especially 

 where the stand is lighter; but, from the point of view either of exploit- 

 ability or silviculture, this is not of moment. The greater portions of 

 the value and volume are concentrated on about one-half of the area, 

 and price conditions are now such that all classes of timber can be 

 removed within this area. The desideratum of the zA.merican forester 

 is rapidly being attained: Commercial reasons no longer need abso- 



