SHORTLEAF PINE : IMPORTANCE AND MANAGEMENT. 



17 



chemical methods is making rapid progress, particularly in the resin- 

 ous woods. Stumps and knots of shortleaf often become highly- 

 impregnated with resin, though in general its low resin content makes 

 it less valuable than longleaf for use in resinous-wood distillation. 



GRADES. 



The tall, clean bole of shortleaf pine and relatively low suscepti- 

 bility to injurious fungi, permit a high percentage of the upper 

 grades of lumber. In the region of heavy production of virgin 

 pine the rough lumber from the saw is commonly thrown into the 

 five grades of clear, and Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 common. The lowest 

 qualities come from the small portable sawmills in the farming dis- 

 tricts, where the cut is mostly from second growth or culled land. 

 The great bulk of the cut of shortleaf in Mississippi, Alabama, and 

 Georgia as well as Arkansas and Louisiana is probably well repre- 

 sented by the third distribution given in the following table : 



Table 10. — Average mill cut by grades of shortleaf pine west of Mississippi 



River. 1 



[Percentage of total cut.] 



Locality. 



Grades of rough lumber. 



Clear 

 stock "B 

 and bet- 

 ter." 



No.l 

 common. 



No. 2 

 common. 



Nos. 3 



and 4 



common. 



Total. 



Best timber in most favorable region (Clark County, 

 Ark.) 



Good timber along Iron Mountain R. R. (Arkansas). 



Good timber in hilly shortleaf region. Average for 

 7} months, March 1 to October 15, 1912 (Pike 

 County, Ark. ) 



Small portable mills in farming districts (western 

 Arkansas) 



Per cent. 

 36.9 

 35 



Per cent. 

 45.9 

 40 



39.9 



Per cent. 

 11.0 

 19 



17.3 

 29 



Per cent. 

 6.2 

 6 



Per cent. 

 100 

 100 



100 

 100 



i Based upon information furnished by lumber companies in the region covered. 



In general shortleaf cuts from 30 to 35 per cent of clear stock 

 ("B and better"), 40 to 50 per cent of No. 1 common, 15 to 30 per 

 cent of No. 2 common, and 5 to 10 per cent of the two lower grades of 

 common lumber. On account of defects which develop later some- 

 what less is actually marketed. 



In cutting the second-growth stands in the Piedmont region, 

 little attention is given to grading by the small operators. Larger 

 operators, however, find it profitable to grade the stock from the 

 saw. Often two grades, sap and heart pine, are roughly made by the 

 small mills with an assigned difference of $5 to $6 per thousand feet 

 in price. 



In tli^ Mississippi Valley the product is graded by the rules of 

 the Southern Pine Association, whose specifications refer closely^ 



6497°— Bull. 308—15 3 



