* - . . 



6 ,. : :.: V .." * iKECEtJMissr ARY STUDY OF 



4. The forest land of the State is losing its capacity to produce 

 valuable timber on account of forest fires and short-sighted, waste- 

 ful methods of cutting. Surface fires, which are very common 

 throughout the State, in addition to burning the humus out of the 

 soil and destroying the leaf mulch, kill young growth and injure 

 larger trees at the butt, so that insects and rot can enter the wood 

 and impair its commercial value. The usual methods of cutting 

 are at fault in that too large a proportion of the tree is not utilized, 

 and at the same time no provision is made for securing future crops. 

 Both fire and repeated culling of the better trees result in the re- 

 placement of good timber by a comparatively worthless second 

 growth. 



5. Better methods of management should be instituted in order 

 to increase the productiveness of forest land and to afford a perma- 

 nent supply of raw material for the important wood-using indus- 

 tries of the State. By cutting old timber in such a way as to se- 

 cure the restocking of the land with valuable species, by stimulating 

 the growth of young timber by thinning out the inferior trees, and 

 by other common-sense measures, the annual growth can be greatly 

 increased and the possible lumber production of the future corre- 

 spondingly augmented. 



6. It is to the best interest of the State to promote the practice 

 of forestry by adopting a progressive forest policy, including the 

 employment of a State Forester, the establishment of a fire pro- 

 tective system, and the creation of State Forests. Such a policy 

 has been adopted in whole or in part by twenty States. 



7. The State Forester, in addition to administering the fire pro- 

 tective system and the State Forests, should engage in educational 

 and research work, and in every way possible should assist the citi- 

 zens of the State to make their woodlands more productive. He 

 could do this by publishing simple and instructive pamphlets on va- 

 rious phases of forest management, by public lectures, by demon- 

 stration work on State Forests, and by preparing and superintend- 

 ing the execution of working plans for private forest lands upon 

 request of the owners. It is impossible to overestimate the value 

 of such work in bringing about a general use of more profitable 

 methods of handling timber land. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS. 



The State of Tennessee presents a great variety of topographic 

 and soil conditions. The eastern portion is mountainous in char- 



