which continually destroy small trees by the million, must 

 be counted as one of the main causes. Another cause of 

 understocking — one that is gradually becoming more ser- 

 ious — is the frequent lack of pine seed trees on cut-over 

 lands. 



While under-sawlog size volume is light in this unit, one 

 favorable feature is the way the proportion of pine repro- 

 duction continues to maintain itself on forest lands that 

 are not of "old field" origin in the sample counties of the 

 South Coastal Plain. 



Piedmont temporarily gains in under-sawlog pine. The 

 Piedmont unit also shows an increase in under-sawlog 

 pine. This is a temporary condition. It is apparent that 

 pine is to be succeeded by hardwoods in this region. This 

 trend is written in the laws of nature, and no one can be 

 blamed for it, although it may be pointed out that the 

 trend is being hastened by heavy cutting of pine and light 

 cutting of hardwoods. Hardwoods grow up under pines 

 and eventually take over the ground. The climax type is 

 hardwoods; establishment of pine stands is due to hap- 

 penings which temporarily upset the natural scheme of 

 plant succession. An opening is created by an unnatural 

 disturbance. From scattered pines that have always been 

 present on dry ridges, if nowhere else, winged seeds invade 

 and stock the opening. 



If the land "belongs" to hardwoods, why does the Pied- 



mont now have more pine than hardwood in both sawlog 

 and undersawlog categories? The answer is: land clearing 

 and abandonment. At least half of the Piedmont forest has 

 been under the plow at one time or another during the last 

 150 years. High-yielding stands of pine grew up in the 

 fields that were constantly being abandoned. By the time 

 earlier old field stands have been cut one, two, or three 

 times, the oaks, hickories, and other hardwoods have taken 

 possession. A number of central Piedmont counties are 

 well along the road to the hardwood climax. Of those 

 sampled by the appraisal, Randolph is the best example. 

 It had only 1% cords of under-sawlog pine per average 

 acre. The bulk of this volume was concentrated in younger 

 old field pine stands. Stands of hardwood, almost devoid of 

 pine, occupy most of the land now. On the ground, under 

 many hardwood stands, are found rotted pine stumps, 

 stump holes, and old pine knots which have resisted decay 

 after fallen pine trees have moldered back to earth. Pine 

 stands once occupied this land. 



WAKE COUNTY— AN ABANDONED COTTON FIELD 



A glance at Table 9 shows more under-sawlog pine in 

 Wake County than any other Piedmont County — or any 

 other county in the state. Wake County represents sec- 

 tions of the Piedmont where cotton and corn growing have 

 been almost completely discontinued in recent decades. Old 



Table 9 



ESTIMATED VOLUME IN SOUND UNDER-SAWLOG-SIZE TREES 



FOR 21 SAMPLE COUNTIES 



County 



Commercial 

 Forest Acres 



Total Volume 

 M Cords 



Pine 



6"-8" 



Hardwood 

 6"-12" 



Pine 

 6"-8" 



Average Volume Per Acre 



Cords 



Hardwood 



6"-12" 



Total 



NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN 



Beaufort 363,779 



Bertie 306,916 



Currituck 80,022 



Halifax 239,357 



Tyrrell 213,481 



Bladen 424,795 



Harnett 238,134 



Jones 231,931 



Pender 465,111 



Richmond 191,411 



Wayne 175,824 



Caswell 152,842 



Gaston 85,233 



Randolph 303,483 



Wake 306,320 



Yadkin 94,122 



Ashe 90,138 



Buncombe 271,632 



Caldwell 220,551 



Graham 169,100 



Jackson 252,724 



520 



677 



1.43 



1.86 



3.29 



752 



1,228 



2.45 



4.00 



6.45 



69 



285 



.86 



3.56 



4.42 



395 



601 



1.65 



2.51 



4.16 



386 



557 



1.81 



2.61 



4.42 



SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN 









981 



603 



2.31 



1.42 



3.73 



317 



538 



1.33 



2.26 



3.59 



471 



220 



2.03 



.95 



2.98 



912 



721 



1.96 



1.55 



3.51 



362 



331 



1.89 



1.73 



3.62 



295 



229 



1.68 



1.30 



2.98 



PIEDMONT 











411 



449 



2.69 



2.94 



5.63 



162 



216 



1.90 



2.54 



4.44 



498 



1,417 



1.64 



4.67 



6.31 



1,608 



806 



5.25 



2.63 



7.88 



326 



390 



3.47 



4.14 



7.61 



MOUNTAINS 











7 



332 



.08 



3.68 



3.76 



242 



902 



.89 



3.32 



4.21 



311 



655 



1.41 



2.97 



4.38 



78 



680 



.46 



4.02 



4.48 



124 



801 



.49 



3.17 



3.66 



(16) 



