52 



PRELIMINARY STUDY OF 



The sprouts measured upon the cove lands of the Holston Mountains were 

 growing under an old stand of unusual density, which accounts for their com- 

 paratively slow rate of growth. These figures can be compared directly with 

 those for the rate of growth of white oak seedlings, which were obtained from 

 exactly the same coves. By such comparison it is seen that under the same 

 conditions as to soil, moisture, and light, the sprouts of white oak grow about 

 three times as fast during the first ten years as the seedlings. 



The rate of growth of young white oak sprouts, while vigorous, is consider- 

 ably less rapid than that of chestnut and of black oak and red oak. Instances 

 are frequently found in the oak belt of Central and Western Tennessee and Ken- 

 tucky where white oak sprouts have been outstripped in growth and badly sup- 

 pressed by black and red oak sprouts of the same age. 



Table 2 shows the growth in diameter of virgin white oak up to 21 inches. 

 It is based on measurements of 509 trees taken in Jackson County, Ky., but rep- 

 resents the average rate of diameter growth of white oak throughout the South- 

 ern Appalachian region. 



TABLE 2. HEIGHT AND DIAMETER OF VIRGIN WHITE OAK AT DIFFERENT AGES. 



