Forestry on Large Ownerships in the South 



285 



Again, hogs or sheep destroy all re- 

 production over large areas of longleaf 

 pine lands. The problem has now 

 been solved on some areas, with satis- 

 factory returns to the owner, through 

 fencing and planting. 



Some areas have been so severely cut 

 over as to preclude restocking from the 

 remaining trees. Artificial reforestation 

 with machines now does a satisfactory 

 job at a reasonable cost. Several large 

 owners, as well as many smaller ones, 

 who planted 15 and 20 years ago have 

 already harvested thinnings enough to 

 repay all costs to date and have excel- 

 lent stands for future growth. 



Perhaps the most universal problem 

 is to increase the stocking of high-qual- 

 ity trees. The timber stands today are 

 second-growth. They have sprung up 

 untended. They are a mixture of trees 

 of good form and trees of poor form; 

 crowded trees and trees with too much 

 space for proper development ; diseased 

 or scarred trees and healthy, uninjured 

 trees. The greatest single task is to im- 

 prove those stands systematically. It 

 will take several cuts over the years. 



More skilled forest managers are 

 needed. They can help landowners to 

 increase average rates of about 150 

 board feet an acre a year to 400 board 

 feet an acre on good land. Skilled man- 

 agement can be expected to increase 

 the quality also. 



While the prospect for improved 

 forest management on large private 

 ownerships is bright, there is no basis 

 for complacency. No large segment of 

 the forest industry owns enough land to 

 supply its own needs for forest prod- 

 ucts. Currently, the South is cutting 25 

 percent more timber of sawlog size 

 than is being grown. The sawmill in- 

 dustry, with less than 10 percent of the 

 forest land, cannot hope to produce 

 more than a fraction of its timber re- 

 quirements, even if all its holdings 

 were under intensive management. 

 While individual mills or companies 

 may be able to grow their own needs, 

 the forest industry as a whole is de- 

 pendent on the 122 million acres in 

 small private holdings. 



If the present trend of overcutting 

 and deterioration continues, we may 

 expect a pinching off of the industries 

 using sawlog-size trees. It is possible 

 that the same trend continued may cur- 

 tail operations even for the industries 

 using the smaller-sized trees. Certainly 

 there will be much keener competition. 

 Shortage of timber supplies and un- 

 reasonably high prices for forest prod- 

 ucts will lead to the use of substitutes. 

 Both tend to reduce and curtail the 

 forest industry and its services to the 

 South and the Nation. 



Large ownerships can serve their 

 own interests and the interests of the 

 areas from which they draw forest 

 products by placing their own holdings 

 under high-order protection and man- 

 agement. Through their work, they 

 can lead others to an appreciation of 

 good forest practices. Second, and per- 

 haps of more significance, they should 

 follow good forestry practices when 

 cutting forest products from the lands 

 of others. Finally, in the interest of as- 

 suring ample supplies of wood as a 

 basic raw material, large-forest owners 

 should support programs of education 

 and service that are designed to help 

 the 1,500,000 owners of the small- 

 woodland tracts on which the industry 

 depends for 75 percent of its raw forest 

 products. 



J. HERBERT STONE is regional for- 

 ester in charge of Forest Service activ- 

 ities, except research, in the Southern 

 Region. He is a native of Connecticut 

 and holds degrees in forestry from Yale 

 University. 



CHARLES F. EVANS, a native of Wis- 

 consin, is assistant regional forester in 

 charge of cooperative forestry work in 

 the Southern Region of the Forest 

 Service. Mr. Evans holds degrees from 

 the University of Wisconsin and Yale 

 University. 



W. R. HINE is in charge of the Divi- 

 sion of Information and Education of 

 the Southern Region of the Forest 

 Service. He is a native of New York 

 and holds a degree in forestry from 

 Cornell University. 



