FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 



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387 



BINDING POPLAR BOARDS FOR EXPORT, SWAIN COUNTY. 



culture, some of which is now reverting 

 to forest, 76 per cent of this region is 

 forested, or a little more than three 

 million acres in the 16 counties. 



PRESENT STAND 



The greater part of the forest has 

 been reduced to cull stands of compara- 

 tively small and second class timber. 

 Only two or three counties have virgin 

 forests of any considerable extent, and 

 these are mostly controlled by large 

 lumber firms. Table 1 shows the rela- 

 tive amount of forest in each county, 

 by areas and by species. About eleven 

 billion feet of timber in trees 10 inches 

 and over in diameter breasthigh re- 

 mains ; this is equivalent to an average 

 stand of a little more than 3,000 board 

 feet for every acre of forest land. The 

 larger part of the forested area, how- 

 ever, has less than this, as shown on the 

 accompanying forest map. 



ANNUAL OUTPUT 



The lumber cut for the entire State, 

 which had been gradually rising, 

 amounted to more than 1,622 million 

 feet in 1907, but because of business de- 



pression declined 30 per cent in 1908. 

 In 1909 North Carolina jumped to 

 fourth place, from thirteenth in 1908, 

 with a cut of 2,177,715,000 board feet. 

 It is estimated that uncared-for hard- 

 wood forests, such as those in Western 

 North Carolina, are growing at the rate 

 of from 12 to 15 cubic feet per acre 

 per year. Assuming even that the 

 greater figure represents the annual 

 growth in this region, then the timber 

 is being cut much faster than it is 

 growing. This can not last indefinitely. 

 Either the annual cut must be reduced 

 to coincide with the growth, or else the 

 growth must be made to keep pace with 

 the demands upon it. The latter is cer- 

 tainly the most economical and busi- 

 nesslike way of dealing with the prob- 

 lem. By protecting these forests from 

 fire, and by encouraging the more rap- 

 id-growing and more valuable species, 

 the annual yield of timber per acre can 

 be largely increased in a comparatively 

 short time. The large furniture and 

 related industries in Piedmont, North 

 Carolina, which now draw the greater 

 part of their timber supplies from the 

 region in which they are situated, will 



