25-35 ft 



Lengths 



40 ft. or over 





M. Pieces 



798 



215 



763 



1,007 



13 



90 



100 



207 



160 



183 



prices paid for these products, but also because they 

 would produce the better grades of lumber if cut for that 

 purpose. A count of trees suitable for poles or piling, 25 

 feet in length or longer, was made. Results are shown in 

 Table 8. This table indicates that many of the pine trees 

 in our present stands are straight and clean, and the pro- 

 portion appears to be as high as in other years. 



Many of the trees suitable for poles and piling are so 

 widely scattered that it would be impractical for buyers 

 to collect them. Lack of markets or knowledge will, in 

 other cases, cause a large share of these well-formed trees 

 to be used for lumber or pulpwood. 



Table 8 

 ESTIMATED NUMBER OF POLES AND PILING FOR 

 SAMPLE COUNTIES AND FOR REGIONS— PINE 



County & Region 



Beaufort 



Bertie 



Currituck 



Halifax 



Tyrrell 



Total For 23 Counties of 



N. Coastal Plain 6,386 



Bladen 424 



Harnett 240 



Jones 239 



Pender 451 



Richmond 273 



Wayne 1,097 



Total for 21 Counties of 



S. Coastal Plain 8,837 



Caswell 169 



Gaston 134 



Randolph 232 



Wake 898 



Yadkin 221 



Total For 35 Counties of 



Piedmont 8,771 



Buncombe 162 



Caldwell 153 



Total for 21 Counties of 



Mountains 1,162 



State Total— 100 counties 25,156 



* None tallied in sample. 



5,790 



80 



85 



41 



170 



946 



4,253 



* 

 12 

 18 



373 

 13 



2,268 



* 

 12,311 



THE SUPPLY OF TIMBER BELOW 

 SAWTIMBER SIZE 



The great majority of trees are not of sawlog size. All 

 sound and reasonably straight trees, 6"-8" d.b.h. for soft- 

 woods, and 6"-12" d.b.h. for hardwoods, are classed as 

 ■"sound under-sawlog-size." 



This material was considered potential sawtimber, if the 

 individual stem was properly spaced of desirable species 

 and of good enough promise to grow into a sawlog tree. A 

 maple, a scrubby oak, or bay tree, even though sufficiently 



sound and straight to meet specifications, was not count- 

 ed if it were judged to be on a too dry or too poor site to 

 grow into sawtimber. Dogwood and other understory trees 

 were not counted. For this reason, Appraisal estimates of 

 hardwood under-sawlog size volume are believed to be con- 

 servative, particularly in the Coastal Plain where the 

 small hardwoods often present varied and puzzling condi- 

 tions that increase the burden on an appraiser's judgment. 



The quantity of under-sawlog size material indicates the 

 extent to which present sawtimber volumes will be aug- 

 mented in the next 10 to 20 years. For example, Bertie, 

 Wake, Yadkin, and Randolph show an increase in the vol- 

 ume of this class. This means more timber to support cut- 

 ting in future years. 



Table 11 compares Appraisal findings with those from 

 the inventory made by the U. S. Forest Survey in 1937. 

 Appraisal cruising and aerial photo-reading were designed 

 primarily to estimate sawtimber. Estimates of under-saw- 

 log may not be as accurate, but a wide difference when 

 compared with the earlier survey probably denotes a 

 trend — except in one case. The Appraisal shows a lower 

 hardwood volume for the Coastal Plain units. It appears 

 that the Appraisal specifications for the hardwoods were 

 slightly different and tended to exclude some minor types 

 that were counted by the Forest Survey, thus tending to 

 make the Appraisal figures more conservative. No reason 

 can be seen for a decline in under sawlog-size hardwood 

 volume in the Coastal Plain as cutting in this class has not 

 increased and fires are no worse than in former years. 



The comparison does indicate a slight increase in hard- 

 wood volumes in the Piedmont and Mountain regions. This 

 is believed to reflect a definite trend. Differences between 

 the two inventories indicate an increase in small pine tim- 

 ber in the Southeastern Coastal Plain and the Piedmont. 



A gain in under-sawlog pine volumes in the Southern 

 Coastal Plain can probably be ascribed to the fact that this 

 unit had been rather thoroughly cut-over at the time of the 

 1937 inventory. It still is, of course, but cut-over stands 

 have a tendency to grow back. By 1945 added numbers of 

 trees on the great stretches of cut-over land were big 

 enough to be counted. 



It should be pointed out that the under-sawlog size 

 volume of this unit is still the lightest of any unit. The 

 sawtimber volume is also light. Considering its rich po- 

 tentialities for growing big crops of pine timber, the 

 Southern Coastal Plain unit is in worse shape than the 

 other three regions. Not only does it have less timber of 

 all sizes, but later figures will show it has more forest 

 fires. Cutting is close; fires are bad. 



Most counties in this unit have another condition that 

 complicates the timber growing problem: they have big 

 areas of poor sand ridges where oaks and other hard- 

 woods prove miserable failures for commercial timber. 

 The Sandhills come to mind; however, Bladen, Wayne, 

 and other counties in this region also have poor sand 

 stretches. That is one reason the volumes of under-sawlog 

 hardwoods for the unit are only half as good as other units. 

 Hardwoods on these poor sites are sparse, scrubby, and 

 largely unpromising as timber trees. In other words, these 

 areas must grow pine or go unproductive. 



The pine under-sawlog stand is also light, considering 

 the fact that woods cut over years ago should eventually 

 show re-establishment of the small trees. Forest fires 



(15) 



