FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION FOR THE SOUTH 



BY E. H. FROTHINGHAM, ACTING DIRECTOR 

 APPALACHIAN FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION 



[Read before the Southern Forestry Congress at Atlanta, July 22, 12I.] 



LESS than six months ago the Appalachian Experiment 

 Station, Hke its twin sister in the South, was in the 

 category of things hoped for but not confidently ex- 

 pected. Today they are a fact. The "neatness and dis- 

 patch" which characterizes this achievement are apparent 

 rather than real. There is a hidden background of hard 

 and persistent effort by public-spirited and determined 

 advocates to whom the friends of forestry in this region 

 must ever be grateful ; for the final establishment of these 

 long-cherished stations must be highly gratifying to those 

 who have at heart the broad economic development of 

 the South, and particularly to those who know something 

 of the difficulties with which the management of the for- 

 ests has contended in the lack of precise knowledge of 

 the requirements and response to treatment of the many 

 different tree species and forest types. 



No forest region in North America, it may be confi- 

 dently stated, presents so great a variety of forest prob- 

 lems or, as a result of their solution, such large promise 

 of real benefit in money returns, as the Southern Appa- 

 lachian region. Its forests, in which northern and south- 

 ern species mingle and in which many of the finest trees 

 of the East are abundantly represented, are the most 

 complex, botanically and silviculturally, in the United 

 States. With a copious rainfall, moderate temperatures, 

 long growing season, and deep soils, it is admirably 

 fitted for tree growth. Its rugged topography and high 

 relief result in a profusion of forest sites and types un- 

 equalled elsewhere in the East. Potentially this region is 

 a vast self-replenishing storehouse capable, if properly 

 handled, of yielding a perpetual supply of diverse forest 

 products for consumption by the great population which 

 surrounds it. 



This is, briefly, the subject matter with which the Appa- 

 lachian Experiment Station will have to deal. The sta- 

 tion comes into the region at a time when the virgin 

 forests that once covered it have been reduced by lum- 

 bering to a small fraction of their former extent. Re- 

 current fires have crippled much of the second-growth on 

 logged-over lands, have reduced the reproductive vigor 

 of the virgin forest, and have left some large areas in a 

 badly depleted or wholly wrecked condition. The chest- 

 nut blight threatens the entire destruction of one of the 

 most valuable and abundant species. It will be the func- 

 tion of the station to discover, by intensive study and 

 experiment, the ways and means of restoring tone to the 

 forest, of reclothing the coves, slopes, and ridges with 

 the most valuable and rapid-growing species, and of 

 striking the delicate balance between the various uses of 

 the forest which will yield the highest aggregate benefit 

 to the entire region. 



This is obviously a set of ideals that cannot be attained 

 in a short time or without large effort. The methods of 

 scientific research will be used. Research supplants con- 

 jecture by fact. It does so by means of experiment, 

 which may be called concentrated experience. The old 

 negro who said that "good jedgement am de results from 

 experience, and experience am most ginerally always de 

 results from po' jedgement" did not have the experimental 

 method in mind. We are going after a basis for "good 

 jedgement" in a different way. Forest research, in and 

 out of experiment stations, has already advanced far 

 enough to show how a great many of the problems in for- 

 estry may be attacked with good promise of success. 

 Some of the methods of approach are round about and 

 highly technical. Others are just ordinary common sense 

 and close observation. We are fortunate in being able to 

 begin our work by drawing upon an already existing ex- 

 perience in methods of forest research and the principles 

 derived from them. With this as a starting point we 

 hope to build up a knowledge of the forest requirements 

 and the factors governing tree reproduction and growth 

 in the Southern Appalachians that can be applied directly 

 towards perpetuating the stands and improving them in 

 quantity, quality and variety of wood products. 



We are going to co-operate to the fullest extent pos- 

 sible with the private timber owners in the region. It 

 happens, however, that this region contains large areas 

 of national forest lands, which afford a splendid labora- 

 tory for field studies. It is too early in the history of 

 the station to outline any definite program of investi- 

 gations. This will involve a very thorough consideration 

 of the needs of the region. So far as the national for- 

 ests are concerned, these needs are already objects of 

 administration, and can be stated under three general 

 heads: (1) the development and upkeep of a continuous 

 supply of lumber and other wood products, with refer- 

 ence also to their improvement in quality ; (2) the restora- 

 tion and maintenance of protection forests on the water- 

 sheds of streams rising in this region; (3) the develop- 

 ment of incidental uses of the forests, such as grazing and 

 recreation. It will fall to the experiment station to de- 

 termine for different parts of the region and for different 

 forest types how these results can best be accomplished. 

 In general, therefore, the subjects we are going to study 

 will probably be found mostly in the following classes : 

 the characteristics and requirements of the different 

 tree species, with a view to the encouragement of the 

 better at the expense of the poorer; the classification of 

 forest types and sites as a step toward the better manage- 

 ment of each; the methods of cutting best adapted to 

 securing the natural reproduction of desirable species; 

 forest fires, introducing a wide range of questions in- 



