A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 549 



improved pastures and supplemental feeds with introduced cultivated 

 forage plants has greatly improved feed conditions on farms. All of 

 these have aided in a more systematic and profitable livestock-raising 

 program. And yet a poor grade of livestock and a care-free type of 

 management still prevails on much of the forest range in the South. 

 The wide extent of forest lands and the large amount of herbage 

 produced offer great possibilities for livestock grazing in conjunction 

 with the growing of timber crops. 



FEED PRODUCED ON FOREST LANDS 



The principal forest-range types in point of area are the longleaf- 

 slash pine, extending along the lower Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and 

 the shortleaf -loblolly pine -hardwoods type, which forms a wide 

 belt through the heart of the region from east to west. The less 

 extensive oak-pine and oak-chestnut yellow poplar types along the 

 northern edge of the region are grazed but little. Grazing is also 

 light in the river bottom hardwoods cypress type along the Mississippi 

 and other rivers. But the oak-hickory forests, west of the shortleaf 

 loblolly pine-hardwoods type in Texas and Oklahoma, are extensively 

 grazed. 



The longleaf-slash pine type is one of the most important stock- 

 grazing areas of the South. Observations by State and Federal 

 agricultural workers indicate that the so-called "wire grasses", includ- 

 ing certain andropogons, needlegrasses, muhlenbergias, and dropseeds 

 and broomsedge are among the most important native grasses. 

 Introduced grasses, such as Bermuda grass, carpet grass, Dallis grass, 

 and crabgrass, are well established on limited areas, usually in clear- 

 ings. They are eaten readily by livestock and often are of great 

 importance as forage. Lespedezas, tick- trefoils, ground nuts, clovers, 

 and other legumes are also common in this region. 



The shortleaf and loblolly pine-hardwoods type is rich in botanical 

 species, the most imporatnt from a grazing standpoint including 

 broomsedges and needlegrasses among the grasses, deervetch and 

 tick-trefoils among the legumes, and cottonwood, sassafras, black 

 willow, oaks, and in the eastern portion, yellow poplar, among the 

 species browsed. Tree growth is often so dense in the more southern 

 of the Mississippi River Valley bottomlands as to limit grazing. The 

 canebrakes, however, furnish excellent cattle grazing unless over- 

 grazed or impaired by fire. 



The chief timber types in the southern Appalachians are the oak- 

 chestnut-yellow poplar, and, at lower elevations, the oak-pine type. 

 Forest Service and other studies indicate that besides the reproduc- 

 tion and accessible portions of such hardwoods as oak, hickory, chest- 

 nut, yellow poplar, and maples, numerous shrubs are browsed. Here 

 also occur a great variety of native woodland grasses, many of which 

 are valuable for domestic livestock. This is the region of greatest 

 development and abundance in this country for rhododendrons, 

 azaleas, and kalmia (mountain-laurel), all of which are highly poison- 

 ous to livestock but usually ungrazed. The grassy "balds" or 

 treeless areas of the southern Appalachian Mountains furnish natural 

 feeding places of high grazing capacity for cattle and sheep. The 

 cover of such balds is largely red top, Kentucky and woods bluegrasses, 

 with a number of palatable sedges. 



