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FORESTRY ON LARGE OWNERSHIPS IN THE SOUTH 



J. HERBERT STONE, CHARLES F. EVANS, W. R. HINE 



In few places and in few times has 

 interest in growing trees as a commer- 

 cial crop been greater than it is now 

 among the owners of large private for- 

 ests in the South. 



The reasons for this upsurge are 

 many. So are the evidences of it. Pulp 

 companies, sawmill owners, investment 

 corporations, and the larger woodland 

 owners are aware that trees have great 

 market value. Prices obtained are high 

 and supplies are limited. Public forests 

 have demonstrated over and over that 

 timber is a crop that grows. Many for- 

 est industries are placing their holdings 

 under good forest management; in- 

 stead of trying to sell cut-over land, 

 they are buying additional areas of 

 forest land; they are teaching forest 

 management to their employees and to 

 small owners from whom they buy for- 

 est products. Businessmen in the other 

 fields, educators, legislators, and lead- 

 ers in thought and action generally are 

 taking an interest in the movement; 

 they also have learned that timber is 

 one of the South's great resources. 



Between the Potomac and the Gulf 

 of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the 

 prairies of Texas and Oklahoma are 

 183 million acres of forest and potential 

 forest land 40 percent of the com- 

 mercial forest land of the country. Soil 

 and climate, except in limited areas, 

 are favorable for tree growth. 



FOUR MAJOR TOPOGRAPHIC REGIONS 



are recognized: The mountains, the 

 Piedmont, the Coastal Plains, and the 

 Delta. 



In the mountains, the forests are 

 made up principally of hardwood 

 trees, oaks, yellow-poplar, cherry, and 

 others. The white pine and hemlock 

 occur, mixed with the better hard- 

 woods in the moist coves. Spruce grows 

 on some of the higher, colder ridges. 

 Shortleaf pine and some other pines 

 mix with the hardwood species on the 



lower mountain slopes. Rainfall ranges 

 from 60 to 100 inches a year. The 

 rough and steep topography makes for 

 difficult and expensive logging. 



A substantial part of the mountain 

 forest area is in public ownership, ac- 

 quired for the purpose of controlling 

 the rain and snow that fall on the head- 

 waters of the navigable streams. Some 

 large areas remain in private owner- 

 ship. The rest is in small ownerships, 

 strips of forest land running from the 

 crop and pasture land in the valley up 

 the slope to the ridge. Relatively slow 

 growth and higher costs of logging 

 make the mountain region a little less 

 attractive to private forest enterprise 

 than the other regions. 



The Piedmont forests are a mixture 

 of southern pines and upland hard- 

 woods. The more prolific light-seeded 

 pines have reclaimed large areas aban- 

 doned by agriculture. At one time or 

 another, 90 percent of the Piedmont 

 has been under cultivation. Hard- 

 woods, however, come in under the 

 pines, and often with or without the 

 help of man, reclaim the area. Therein 

 lies one of the most difficult problems. 



Rainfall in the Piedmont averages 

 about 60 inches annually. The topog- 

 raphy is rolling; logging is relatively 

 easy and inexpensive. The heavy rain- 

 fall, frequently in severe downpours, 

 and an credible soil, require especial 

 care in locating log and skid roads and 

 drainage to avoid soil depletion and 

 damage to the water resource. Forest 

 holdings in the Piedmont are mostly 

 small and held as part of the farm. 



On the Coastal Plains, forests are 

 predominantly pine, including the long- 

 leaf, slash, loblolly, and shortleaf. Also 

 included are the bottom-land hard- 

 woods along the many rivers and the 

 cypress and tupelo in the swamps. 



Rainfall is heavy usually averag- 

 ing about 60 inches along the Gulf 

 coast but dropping off gradually from 



