reproduction, for example, is seldom found in the 

 cypress-tupelo type. Areas bearing stands of Cot- 

 tonwood or willow, which are generally even aged, 

 usually have less than the average quantity of re- 

 production in sawlog-size stands and more than the 

 average in stands below sawlog size . The pine-hard- 

 wood and mixed oak-mixed hardwood types have 

 less than average in stands of all sizes. These 

 two types are common in the farming country 

 on the terrace, where grazing, repeated cutting, 

 and fire damage have reduced the stocking of 

 reproduction. 



From the point of view of forest management, it is 

 necessary to know not only whether reproduction 

 can be obtained naturally, but also what species can 

 be expected in the new crop. The oaks, particu- 

 larly the water oaks, are important components of 

 the incoming stand. Ash reproduces abundantly. 

 Red gum, although it is scattered individually or in 

 small groups throughout a number of forest types, 

 seldom appears, except on old fields, as a major 

 part of the reproduction stand. Although heavy 

 stands of cypress were found on small areas scat- 

 tered throughout the original bottom land-hard- 

 wood forest, this species is not conspicuous in the 

 present reproduction. Under certain conditions it 

 reproduces well; but since the installation of mod- 

 ern drainage improvements and levee systems, con- 

 ditions favorable to natural reproduction of cypress 

 no longer prevail in the Mississippi River bottom 

 lands. Among the less important species commer- 

 cially, persimmon and honeylocust reproduce plen- 

 tifully on wet clay flats, in open grazed woods, and 

 on sodded pastures. 



Too much emphasis must not be placed on the 

 relative abundance of given species in the reproduc- 

 tion stage. Some of the species which are more 

 persistent against competition, such as red gum and 

 the elms, are not conspicuous in this stage, but per- 

 sist in the stand and increase in relative abundance. 

 The ashes, in contrast, on account of their relative 

 inability to endure shade, drop gradually from the 

 stand and normally occur only as scattered individ- 

 uals or groups in the mature forest. The net effect 

 of these changes in species composition will prob- 

 ably result in a forest that in general will be essen- 

 tially similar to the original one except as deliberate 

 management practices and artificial drainage may 

 locally alter the composition. 



Fire Damage 



Despite the widespread belief that the fire prob- 

 lem is not important in the delta hardwoods, 80 

 percent of the forest area shows evidence of having 

 been burned over, and on more than 52 percent 

 fire damage was apparent at the date of survey (sum- 

 mary of area damaged, by types, table 24). The 

 actual damaging effect of fire is certainly greater 

 than these figures indicate, because nearly all of the 

 field observations were made 1 or more years after 

 the last fire. In the meantime, evidence of damage 

 to reproduction and small trees could have been 

 partially or wholly erased and the seriousness of the 

 damage to larger trees partially obscured. Fire 

 damage is more severe on partly cut than on uncut 

 forest areas because logging slash adds to the fuel 

 supply and therefore tends to increase the number 

 and severity of fires. The relative importance of 

 the fire damage on these areas, however, is usually 

 exaggerated because the trees already most dam- 

 aged by fire are nearly always left standing at the 

 time of logging. 



The total board-foot volume lost annually on 

 account of fire can never be determined accurately 

 because it is impossible to ascertain definitely how 

 much of the total cull volume in a given stand is 

 due solely to fire damage. Board-foot volume lost 

 by fire, as determined by the Forest Survey, has 

 three component parts: (1) Rot or other defects 

 traceable to fire and normally taken in logs to the 

 sawmill or other wood-using plants; (2) fire cull 

 left in the woods in the form of "long butts" or cull 

 logs; and (3) trees that have become cull as a 

 result of fire. The total board-foot volume of fire- 

 cull material standing in the present forest is esti- 

 mated to be 840 million board feet. Of this, 190 

 million board feet is of such a kind that it will 

 probably be taken in logs to the wood-using plants 

 and there classed as mill cull. An additional 120 

 million board feet will probably be left in the woods 

 as culled sections of used trees. The remaining 530 

 million board feet is the estimated volume of living 

 trees that have become rotten-cull material as the 

 result of fire. 



The volume of fire cull in the present stand, 

 aggregating approximately 9 percent of the total 

 net board-foot volume of good trees, constitutes a 

 direct loss to the timber-land owner. The forest 



1.8 



