Only 3 percent of the forest area, or slightly- 

 over 200,000 acres, is clear-cut. Practically all 

 of this is found in areas originally stocked with 

 longleaf pine. Extensive acreages occur north- 

 west of Jasper in the rolling uplands bordering 

 the Neches and Angelina Rivers, while smaller 

 tracts (fig. 2) are scattered through Jasper, Newton, 

 Hardin, and Tyler Counties. 



Figure 3, contrasting the relative proportion of 

 forest conditions in each type group, brings out 

 important differences in the forest cover. The 

 greater portion of the clear-cut area is in the long- 

 leaf pine group, while the hardwood group has 

 the largest proportion of old growth. The short- 

 leaf-loblolly-hardwood association has 93 percent 

 of its area in second growth; and this is gradually 

 taking over areas that once were longleaf pine. 



Stocking 



Uncut old-growth pine stands generally are 

 stocked with 20 to 50 mature trees per acre, con- 

 taining 4,000 to 15,000 board feet. Undergrowth 

 is seldom present. Where these stands have been 

 partly cut, wide variations exist in the degree of 

 stocking, and second-growth trees may occupy the 

 larger openings. 



Second-growth longleaf pine stands are not 

 uniformly stocked; dense clumps alternate with 

 open or sparsely stocked stands. Widely scattered 

 residual trees from the original old growth may 

 be present to create a two-storied appearance. 

 The second-growth shortleaf-loblolly-hardwood 

 areas, however, are stocked more uniformly with 

 many trees of all ages. The heaviest stocking 

 occurs on old abandoned fields; stands observed 

 in San Jacinto County supported 130 merchantable 

 trees per acre, with a volume of 15,000 board feet, 

 in addition to the saplings. 



With the exception of the scrub-hardwood stands, 

 the hardwood types are well stocked. Young trees 

 of varying sizes and ages are intermingled with the 

 older merchantable trees, and when the latter are 

 logged, necessarily by a rough selection system, 

 there is always sufficient advance growth remaining 

 to provide for the continuance of well-stocked 

 stands. Openings provided by removal of the 

 mature trees are soon restocked with seedlings. 

 Since, however, the common practice is to remove 

 the best trees and especially the more valuable 



species, the hardwood types must eventually 

 deteriorate in commercial value, unless improved 

 cutting methods are followed that will insure the 

 perpetuation of the more valuable material. 



In figure 4 the number of trees in the 2-inch class 

 seems out of proportion to the number in the other 





Ik 



to^, 



10 12 14 16 18 20* 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 

 TREE DIAMETER CLASSES (INCHES) 



HAR8W00DS 



Figure 4. — Total number of trees in the various diameter classes. 



Pines total 903 million, or 45.9 percent, and hardwoods 1,065 



million, or 54. 1 percent 



diameter classes. According to table 4, 80.5 

 percent of the forest area is in second-growth 

 stands. Such stands are generally all-aged and 

 have sufficient seed trees so that young seedlings 

 rapidly fill in the openings, forming a complete 

 understory beneath the larger trees. With the 

 intensification of fire control during the past few 

 years, the loss of seedlings by fire has been greatly 

 reduced, with the result that the number of trees 

 as shown in the 2-inch class may represent the 

 natural restocking of the forest when the fire hazard 

 is at least partly controlled. It is not to be ex- 

 pected that all of these 2-inch trees will grow to 

 useful size, as natural mortality is ever present; 

 but if fire control accomplishes its purpose, each 

 succeeding 2-inch diameter class should have 

 more trees, until maximum density is reached. 



96709° — 39- 



I 1 



