THE SOUTHERN CYPBESS. 55 



for example, 18 to 24 inches on the stump, where present cutting 

 takes everything down as low as 12 to 14 inches. Natural conditions 

 favorable to a deferred second cut may be found (1) in stands of 

 mixed ages with good representation of younger groups of cypress; 



(2) where logging will be repeated in a decade or two in order to 

 remove good stands of hardwoods not at present merchantable; 



(3) where the fixed cost of logging is low, as in float logging; and (4) 

 in the present very low producing power of the land for any other 

 purpose than timber growing. 



There are several classes of cypress lands (see pp. 21-22) which are 

 not likely to be reclaimed and put under cultivation for many decades, 

 if ever. These situations are mostly subject to deep overflows and 

 thus permit float logging, which is the least expensive and the most 

 practical form of follow-up logging for second-growth cypress lands 

 in the future. The associated ''ridges/' or better drained portions 

 of the swamp, characterized usually by mixed hardwoods with scat- 

 tering mature cypress, in the orderly progression of swamp reclama- 

 tion will earlier come under drainage and farm management. This 

 distinction between the relative heights of different levels of the 

 swamp and their respective future uses, it is believed, is commonly 

 given too little consideration in connection both with plans for recla- 

 mation projects and with the conservative cutting and management 

 of cypress stands. 



In many swamps good stands of the more valuable hardwoods 

 have been left, such as oaks, ash, and gums, which will be removed 

 in the course of from 10 to 25 years. Many large operators intend 

 to go back later over the old cutting areas and log timber which was 

 unmerchantable at the time of the first cutting. Here the practice 

 of clean cutting of cypress down to include the young vigorous trees 

 would be, from a purely financial standpoint, unquestionably a mis- 

 take. These trees are rapidly increasing in size and should be left 

 for a later logging. Float logging, where the investment and cost 

 of logging are low, permits of conservative cutting and an approach 

 to a sustained yield of timber by selecting the trees on the basis of a 

 minimum diameter limit. 



in favor of clear rutting is the fact that there are a large number 

 of lumbering plants in the South which promise from 6 to 8 per cent 

 ft urn , on safe investments. In comparison with these opportunities, 

 the uncertainty of the lumber market 20 or 40 years hence discourages 

 delay in harvesting the available crop, espeeially if present owners 

 bear in mind the qualifications of Pacific coast lumber for competi- 

 tion with cypress and the extent to which its use will increase in the 

 tern market as a result of the opening of the Panama Canal and 

 other causes. The increasing use of various substitutes for wood is 

 another factor to be taken into consideration. 



