14 * FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



THE FOREST. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS. 



The forests of this region are largely confined to absolute forest land, 

 that is, land potentially more valuable for forest growth than for any- 

 thing else. The forest may best serve for the production of timber, or 

 it may be required mainly to prevent erosion or to protect and regulate 

 a water supply. In the main, the mountains are so steep and the soil 

 is so shallow that the removal of the forest cover and the cultivation of 

 the land are followed in a comparatively few years by the washing away 

 of the fine surface soil and the abandonment of the land for agricultural 

 purposes. 'Not only have practically all of the areas suitable for agri- 

 culture been cleared — including the bottoms along the streams, gently 

 rolling plateau land and hilltops, the lower gradual slopes, and the 

 mountain cover — but much absolute forest land has also been cleared. 

 It used to be that farmers cleared a "new ground" each year, and 

 abandoned to "old fields" an equivalent of "worn out" land. This prac- 

 tice is now giving place to improved methods by which the cleared land 

 is kept in good condition. Though much land has been cleared for agri- 

 culture, some of which is now reverting to forest, 76 per cent of this 

 region is forested, or a little more than three million acres in the 16 

 counties. present stand. 



The greater part of the forest has been reduced to cull stands of com- 

 paratively small and second class timber. Only two or three counties 

 have virgin forests of any considerable extent, and these are mostly con- 

 trolled by large lumber firms. Table 1 shows the relative amount of 

 forest in each county, by areas and by species. About eleven billion feet 

 of timber in trees 10 inches and over in diameter breasthigh remains; 

 this is equivalent to an average stand of a little more than 3,000 board 

 feet for every acre of forest land. The larger part of the forested area, 

 however, has less than this, as shown on the accompanying forest map. 



ANNUAL OUTPUT. 



The lumber cut for the entire State, which had been gradually rising, 

 amounted to more than 1,622 million feet in 1907, but because of busi- 

 ness depression declined 30 per cent in 1908. In 1909 North Carolina 

 jumped to fourth place, from thirteenth in 1908, with a cut of 2,177,- 

 715,000 board feet. The figures for 1909 given in the following tables 

 should form a very fair and conservative estimate of the average annual 

 output from the region. Tables 3 to 8 show the estimated output of tim- 

 ber by certain industries for 1909. These estimates were made by a 

 careful mill canvass. The figures for the lumber cut for 1909, however, 

 are those of the United States Census Bureau. 



