134 LOBLOLLY OK NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 



INCREASE IN UTILIZATION. 



Table 68 shows (e) the per cent of increase in the utilization of the 

 tree during the past twenty years. There is still some additional utiliza- 

 tion possible, but largely at the expense of further reduction in grade. 

 Small trees are used very closely in the tops. The heavy limbed top 

 log of large trees is seldom used, however, on account of the numerous 

 and very large knots more than 2 inches in diameter and the high cost 

 of cutting off the large limbs. The use of clear slabs at the mills for 

 laths is general. There is the possibility of using knotty slabs by resaw- 

 ing on a horizontal band saw and cutting out between the knots for 

 heading or crate stock and such uses. There is also the possibility of 

 using very knotty tops and limbs for chemical wood pulp, but this can 

 be effected only at large, expensive and centrally located plants. Since 

 1906, when Mr. George W. Eoper called the attention of the North 

 Carolina Pine Association to the waste in cutting all lumber in even 

 lengths 12 feet or over, there has been a beneficial change in this respect, 

 even lengths of 8 feet or more now being cut. It will be necessary, how- 

 ever, both to take odd lengths and to use pieces shorter than 8 feet in 

 order to secure complete woods' utilization of the stem and to further 

 reduce the mill waste. 



MANAGEMENT. 



So long as there was an unlimited supply of virgin forests, the pro- 

 tection of young or old timber and close utilization of forest were not 

 essential. At present, when approximately three-fourths of the annual 

 cut of loblolly pine is obtained from cut-over land and is either the 

 product of young growth or of small trees which were left at the pre- 

 vious cutting, there is need for a change in the methods of handling the 

 forest. 



In its present condition a great portion of the timberland is producing 

 less than one-half of the amount of timber that it should, and much less 

 than one-half of the net income of which it is capable. The stands 

 are not fully stocked. Much of the timber, moreover, is short-bodied 

 and knotty, and yields inferior grades of logs. With a lower yield 

 per acre, the cost of logging is increased. If railroad construction 

 amounts to 50 cents per thousand board feet with a stand of 3,000 feet 

 per acre, its cost will be only 25 cents per thousand by doubling the cut 

 per acre, while the costs of milling, felling, and loading decrease progres- 

 sively as the contents of the logs increase. 



Well stocked loblolly pine stands are capable of producing annually 

 more than 300 board feet per acre. On the best soils the production on 

 large tracts should be 500 board feet per acre a year, and on the poorest 

 soils, not less than 150 feet. The maintenance costs, taxes, and interest 

 are practically as high on half-stocked woodland as on fully stocked, 

 while the net earning capacity is more than twice as great in the 



