108 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



2. — On Foothill Sites (moist) : 



6. Red oak. 



7. White oak. 



8. White ash. 



9. Tulip tree. 



10. White pine (toward the north and on northern exposures). 



There are many other companion species of the chestnut, but a 

 large number of them play a subordinate role in its replacement. Much 

 has already been written about the ten species named. Some of them 

 are looked upon with favor, while a few are regarded as inferior or 

 undesirable. Those species held in favor, such as white ash, red oak 

 and tulip tree, will probably be given conscious care and assistance in 

 extending themselves into the newly created vacancies, but it is even 

 more probable that the remaining species, which are regarded as 

 inferior and undesirable, will be looked upon with disfavor, and an 

 attempt may even be made to eliminate them from the forest structure. 

 Such an attempt, in my judgment, would be neither economically wise 

 nor silviculturally recommendable. The time is not yet at hand to 

 develop a program of forest production based solely upon a few select 

 super-species. 



I want to present some facts and figures setting forth the merits 

 of several species often classified as inferior or undesirable. For this 

 purpose I have selected chestnut oak, pitch pine, and black locust. 



The impression prevails that chestnut oak is a very slow grower and 

 consequently should not be favored in the forest stands. Foster and 

 Ashe^ state that "the rate of growth of chestnut oak is slower both in 

 height and diameter than that of any of the associated oaks, and that 

 on the account of its relatively slow growth and the comparatively low 

 value of its timber, the reproduction of chestnut oak should not be 

 favored in situations where others of greater value, like white oak, 

 reach large size and form high-grade timber. In such situations both 

 seed and sprout reproduction of chestnut oak should be discouraged." 

 Elliott^ writes that "at best chestnut oak is a rather slow grower." 



That the prevailing opinion about chestnut oak is not fully correct 

 is shown by recent growth studies of plantations and natural stands. 

 The following table shows what may be expected of chestnut oak on 

 a good gravelly soil on a well-drained mountain slope with a southern 

 exposure : 



° Foster. H. D., and Ashe, W. W. Chestnut Oak in the Southern Appa- 

 lachians. Forest Service Circular 135. 

 • Elliott, S. B. The Important Timber Trees of the United States, page 240. 



