A GREAT HARDWOOD FOREST 



The Eight Principal Species of the Southern Appala- 

 chians Have Been Studied by the Bureau of Forestry 



""THE greatest area of hardwood for- 

 est and the largest supply of 

 hardwoods in the United States are in 

 the region comprising the Southern 

 Appalachian Mountains and the coun- 

 try lying between them and the Missis- 

 sippi River. For the last two or three 

 years the Bureau of Forestry has been 

 carefully studying this region, which 

 is rich in commercial species, especial- 

 ly yellow poplar, white, red, black, and 

 chestnut oak, chestnut, white pine, and 

 hemlock. A study was first made of 

 the proportion of each of these species 

 in the various types of forest, their 

 merchantable yield, and their rate of 

 growth. Last summer, eleven agents 

 of the bureau were assigned to an in- 

 vestigation of the market conditions 

 governing the logging and use of each 

 of these species, and twelve more to a 

 study of the important characteristics 

 of each tree and the possibilities of 

 each under management. The data 

 obtained in this and previous studies 

 are now being formulated for publica- 

 tion. Several bulletins will be issued, 

 one of a general character discussing 

 the conditions of the region as a whole, 

 the others dealing with the several 

 species particularly. 



The field study covered more than 

 400 counties, and included all of Ten- 

 nesee, Kentucky, and West Virginia, 

 the extreme western part of Maryland, 

 the western portions of Virginia and 

 the two Carolinas, and the northern 

 parts of Georgia and Alabama. The 

 bureau agents first visited the lumber 

 centers of each county to interview the 

 mill men and lumber dealers. Infor- 

 mation was sought especially on these 

 points : The remaining stands of tim- 

 ber and their quality; the annual cut 

 and the uses to which it is put; land 

 and stumpage values, the cost of log- 

 ging and milling, and the prices of the 

 finished product; the methods of log- 



ging employed, the specifications for 

 timber in common use, and how these 

 specifications are changing ; and the 

 principal markets for lumber. The 

 object of this preliminary work was to 

 gain a thorough understanding of the 

 market and business conditions pre- 

 vailing in the hardwood regions. Such 

 knowledge was necessary before the 

 men could go into the woods and work 

 out intelligently the best and most 

 practical methods of handling the for- 

 ests. 



The study of the general forest con- 

 ditions and the characteristics of each 

 of the important species followed. This 

 study included inquiry into the re- 

 quirements of each species as to light, 

 soil, and moisture, its seeding and re- 

 productive capacity, its form and de- 

 velopment in different types of forest, 

 and the ways in which the various 

 species affect each other in the compe- 

 tition for place and light; also the 

 present methods of cutting, waste in 

 logging, and the effects of logging 

 upon the forest. To determine the 

 chances of natural reproduction un- 

 der existing logging methods, second 

 growth and culled lands in all stages 

 were carefully studied. The effects of 

 fire and grazing upon the forest were 

 also considered. Until the voluminous 

 data thus obtained have been tabulated 

 and compared absolute figures and 

 conclusions cannot be announced, but 

 sufficient progress has been made to 

 warrant some general statements of 

 conclusions. 



For market value and amount of 

 standing timber yellow poplar and 

 white oak are the two most important 

 trees of the region. These species 

 were formerly found throughout al- 

 most the entire region in merchantable 

 quantities, but they have been cut so 

 extensively where there are transpor- 

 tation facilities that it is now usually 



