it would probably produce $80 worth of semi-finished pulp. 

 A thousand board feet of long poles would be worth con- 

 siderably more after treatment in a wood preserving plant 

 than if cut up for lumber. 



Since half the trees cut are manufactured into lumber, 

 which rates rather low on the income scale, it would be 

 a good trend to have more trees go into veneer and poles, 

 and to re-manufacture as much lumber as possible in local 

 plants making furniture, flooring, small-wood products, 

 and so on. 



As the pulp mills do not have to use good lumber trees, 

 stumpage prices are usually lower for pulpwood. It is de- 

 sirable to utilize as many of these non-lumber trees as 

 possible for the production of pulp. Fuelwood require- 

 ments could be met very largely from non-lumber trees. 

 However, about half of the fuelwood cut in North Caro- 

 lina is said to be cut from portions of sound trees that 

 would produce lumber, or even poles and veneer. Agricul- 

 tural educators should strive to improve this practice. 



With such a large lumber cut, North Carolina can make 

 progress through development of more plants to re-manu- 

 facture lumber. At present there are pleasing situations in 

 many spots. For example, Randolph County has dozens of 

 small manufacturing plants that use oak, poplar and pine. 

 The grades of hardwood in the county are not high, but 

 these shops enable the county to extract a high income 

 from its timber crop. Average grade timber sells very 

 profitably and utilization is close. One 300-acre tract, most- 

 ly oak, sold for $27,000 recently. 



The shops make all kinds of furniture, and novelties. 

 One farmer has installed a shop in his barn, and makes 

 lawn furniture in his spare time. In Yadkin County there 

 is a "Little Red Wagon" factory, which makes children's 

 wagons in normal times. Haywood County is noted for its 

 Hillbilly Industries which makes all kinds of fancy novel- 

 ties and employ many people. 



This is the type of enterprise found in Northern New 

 England. The people there can take a few thousand feet 

 of logs, lumber, or even cordwood, and make excellent 

 yearly profits from manufacture of spools, handles, clothes 

 pins, games, and other items. North Carolina is already 

 far ahead of other Southern states in skilled wood manu- 

 facturing. Of course, lumber will always be needed, and 

 the price may stay high. To get the most from the timber 

 crop, as much wood as possible should be carried beyond 

 the lumber stage. To saw trees into lumber for export is 

 not the way to grow prosperous. 



MINIMUM SIZE OF TREES CUT 



Over most of the state, the minimum diameter to which 

 sawlog trees are cut does not appear to have changed ma- 

 terially. Measurements of stumps on 112 plots, where cut- 

 ting had occurred, showed average minimum stump diame- 

 ters for pine sawtimber (outside bark) of 13 inches in the 

 North Coastal Plain, 11 inches in the South Coastal Plain, 

 10 in the Piedmont, and 11 in the Mountains. For hard- 

 wood, sawtimber minimum size stumps averaged 15 % 

 inches in the North Coastal Plain; (data too scanty in 

 South Coastal Plain) ; 13 inches in the Piedmont; and 13 

 inches in the Mountains. The average of minimum stump 

 diameters for pulpwood was 6 % inches. These figures do 

 not imply that all trees of the above stump diameters were 

 cut. Usually, just the smoother ones, where convenient to 

 log, were taken. 



Availability of Stumpage. Many lumbermen were ques- 

 tioned about available stumpage. About half of them fig- 

 ured they would have to curtail operations; others said 

 the timber was there, but stumpage prices were too high. 

 Several commented that with education of timber owners, 

 and fire protection on their lands, sufficient timber could 

 be grown to supply the mills. 



The Southern Box and Lumber Co., Wilmington, said, 

 "We are planning to operate forever." They own land, pro- 

 tect it, and cut under a plan. 



Another company said, "We have bought land with the 

 idea of trying to have 1000 acres of reproducing pine lands 

 for each 1000 feet sawed per day. Other sawmill operators 

 are becoming like-minded." Then if each acre could grow 

 one board foot per day, the company would have a per- 

 petual supply of their own. Under intensive forestry, pine 

 stands can do it. 



The companies owning or buying land are the most op- 

 timistic, and they will lead in good timber farming. All 

 pulp companies are acquiring lands so they will always 

 have a supply of raw material. If stumpage becomes scarce 

 they can raise stumpage prices, or start using more hard- 

 woods, also slabs, tops, and culls. 



Observations made on cut-over areas showed that the 

 stump diameters were just as small on cuttings made be- 

 fore the war as those made during the war period. 



Top utilization was closest in the Piedmont. Of all state 

 cuttings, 7 per cent represented wasteful top utilization, 

 25 per cent fair, and 67 per cent good. This rating includes 

 pulpwood and fuelwood cut from tops, when utilized. 



Percentages of original sawlog volume removed in saw- 

 log cutting were estimated. They are about the same in 

 the South Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Mountains, being 

 slightly over 80 per cent. In the North Coastal Plain, cut- 

 ting has been less heavy. The sawlog trees not cut were of- 

 ten hardwoods. Hickory is still mostly left in the woods. 

 New power chain saws make it possible to utilize more 

 low-grade logs. 



LUMBER PRODUCTION 



If one lacks faith in the ability of North Carolina's for- 

 ests to grow timber, let him consider the remarkable rec- 

 ord of sustained lumber output for 50 years. 



Year Production Year 



1889 670,000 M bd. ft. 1925 



1899 1,287,000 M bd. ft. 1930 



1905 1,081,000 M bd.ft. 1935 



1910 1,825,000 M bd. ft. 1940 



1915 1,537,000 M bd. ft. 1942 



1920 1,450,000 M bd. ft. 1944 



Production 



1,708,000 M bd. ft. 



815,000 M bd. ft. 



685,000 M bd. ft. 

 1,377,000 M bd. ft. 

 1,692,000 M bd. ft. 

 1,634,000 M bd. ft. 



The great bulk of the lumber is cut by portable mills, 

 now numbering over 3,000. They operate all over the state, 

 but (Figure 3) are more concentrated in the Piedmont. 

 Larger mills with production over 5 million feet yearly 

 saw 1/7 of the lumber and are located mostly in the Coast- 

 al Plain. 



In recent years, the Census has reported production by 

 counties, the Census in 1942 being more intensive than 

 those made in other years. The figures in Table 15 show 

 lumber sawed by mills in each county for the year 1942. 

 These figures differ, in many cases, from the amount of 

 timber logged in each county as some mills draw logs from 

 several counties. 



No lumber production figures were collected by the ap- 



(21) 



