66 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



commercially valuable forest species. The planting of several species of native 

 pines and hardwoods on deforested and denuded tracts has been very successful 

 during the past 30 years on the Vanderbilt estate near Biltmore, North Carolina. 

 These trees have made vigorous growth and constitute the best proof of the 

 feasibility of forest planting in the South. White pine and short-leaf pine, hard 

 maple, red oak, cherry and other species have been planted either pure or in 

 mixture. The Biltmore estate has approximately 4,000 acres planted with conifers, 

 and 800 acres with hardwoods, a total of 4,800 acres. Planting has been very 

 successful in soil protection, but financial results are yet to be determined. 



Lands needing reforestation are not large in the aggregate. Planting is prac- 

 tical and being urged by the State Forester of North Carolina (Holmes) for: 



(1) Utilizing abandoned fields, particularly reclaiming eroded fields. 

 The latter is of considerable importance in the hilly uplands of central 

 western parts of the Carolinas. 



(3) Protection of watersheds supplying water for towns and cities. 



The results to be obtained by such planting are: 



1. Production of readily marketable timber, such as pulp wood, or even 

 small saw timber, and material necessary for domestic use, such as fence 



• posis and fire wood. 



2. Utilization of otherwise unproductive land. 



3. The improvement of land by the prevention of erosion and by the 

 addition of plant food as by planting locust. 



4. The protection of the headwaters of streams which are to be used 

 for city water supplies. 



There is really an incentive for private planting under these conditions. 

 Short-leaf pine is the one species to be recommended for this region. It is readily 

 handled by direct seed sowing, at a cost of about $4 per acre. 



Old field stands in North Carolina yield 10,000 board feet in 30 to 40 years, 

 and 30,000 feet in 45 to 55 years. On average quality sites a conservative calcula- 

 tion shows financial yields of 5 per cent gross, or 4 per cent net profit from 

 plantations. Secondly, the planting of black locust for fence posts on idle or 

 waste lands is practicable. 



Private planting will probably not be on an intensive scale as in New England 

 for at least 30 years or more. The State of North Carolina is furnishing advice 

 to private owners in planting, in reference to suitable species, plant material, 

 methods of planting and probable returns. 



CoASTAi. Plain 



A large per cent of the Coastal Plain is forested, although there is very little 

 virgin timber left and second growth mainly composes the forest cover. 



. Owing to the highly siliceous nature of the soil and lack of mineral plant 

 food, the greater part of the land in the Coastal Plain is more valuable for 

 timber production at the present time than for agricultural purposes. Natural 

 reproduction is prolific, and when fires are excluded for a few years, the young 

 trees reach a height out of danger of further fires. The region is characterized 



