A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 955 



the southern forests. Other stands must go through a period of 

 rebuilding the growing stock before they will give equal results. 

 There are large areas in condition to yield a smaller net return during 

 the rebuilding process. 



It is clear that in the South, now that cutting operations in old- 

 growth forests are approaching their end, owners of second-growth 

 stands are fully justified in applying conservative management 

 methods, particularly in observing cutting diameter limits not under 

 16 inches and building up the growing stock. Stumpage can be 



E reduced under these methods at a cost less than the accumulated 

 olding charges that have now piled up against virgin timber. To 

 build up the growing stock requires a reasonable degree of fire 

 protection. 



Costs of production have not been thoroughly studied in most 

 other regions, but from general information now available it is safe 

 to conclude that very few can equal the low costs shown in these 

 examples. 



The following quotation from a file report of the Southern Forest 

 Experiment Station describes effective methods of managing longleaf- 

 slash pine stands primarily for naval stores production (23): 



By far the most prevalent forest condition is that involving a group-selection 

 stand, that is to say, several ages and sizes of trees intermingled on every acre. 

 In some places large areas of second growth are found that are approximately 

 even aged and more or less of the same size. In the future these areas will 

 become more important. In general, the owner setting out to get full produc- 

 tion will assemble as nearly as possible approximately equal stocking of the 

 different age classes, and will constantly endeavor as operations proceed, by 

 planting, by purchases, and by management itself, to improve the normality 

 of his forest. His operations will involve (1) thinning his overstocked stands 

 of young growth, possibly in two operations, the first when the trees are about 

 2 inches in diameter breast high and the second after the part of the stand to 

 be removed has been turpentined; (2) turpentining the stand under conservative 

 methods as long as profitable; (3) cutting the worked-out trees and obtaining a 

 new stand, either naturally or by planting. The average rotation on the sites 

 that will be handled under full-production management will be from 45 to 60 

 years. 



Absolute control of fire is an essential to full production. This involves 

 complete protection of areas being restocked, and may or may not involve the 

 use of fire as a protective measure in stands that are established. Fire control 

 will be more expensive than for other types in the South, and complete immunity 

 from fire damage is not to be expected. 



In the following example the measures proposed and their sequence are set 

 out, together with the cost and returns per acre. 



The basic forest data were obtained from surveys made in Bradford County, 

 Fla. The stand table and rate of growth are both based upon the better classes 

 of forest land, such as would be chosen for intensive management. The forest 

 portrayed is an all-aged, group-selection stand of longleaf and slash pine in 

 which, at the beginning, 59 percent of the stems are longleaf and 41 percent 

 are slash pine. The ages run from 1 year to 50 years. The diameters at breast 

 height range from less than 1 inch to 16 inches. The stand per acre, at the 

 beginning of management, is 283 stems, distributed as follows: 



