land of the survey unit. As the supply becomes 

 locally less abundant, stumps from the more difficult 

 situations will, no doubt, become merchantable. 



Because of the prevalent use of explosives in 

 removing stumps, the estimates of stump volume 

 are given here on a blasting basis (table 10). 

 Since blasting leaves a larger proportion of the 

 stumps in the ground, only 60 percent as much 

 volume is obtained by this method as may be 

 obtained with the use of pullers. Of the 12 million 

 tons of well-seasoned merchantable stumps that 

 could be blasted, about 85 percent is obtainable at 

 the rate of 14 or more stumps per acre. Almost 

 25 percent of the stump lands are clear-cut, and 

 half of these lands bear 26 or more stumps per 

 acre. Of the stump-land area nearly half is in 

 sapling stands of second growth, the density of 

 which is increasing each year. 



Table 10. — Volume of merchantable stumps (blasting basis), 



classified according to abundance of stumps and 



topographic situation 



Stumps per acre 

 (number) 



Flat- 

 woods 



Rolling 

 uplands 



Swamps, 

 bays, etc. 



All situations 





M tons 



125 



984 



2,135 



5,901 



M tons 



79 



629 



895 



1,118 



M Ions 



5 



17 



32 



71 



M tons 



209 



1,630 



3,062 



7,090 



Percent 

 ] 7 



6 to 13__ 



13 6 



14 to 25 



25 5 



26 and over 



59.2 





( 9. 1 I.", 



2,721 



125 



11,991 





Total stump-land 

 area . 



Percent 

 [ 76.3 



Percent 

 22.7 



Percent 

 1.0 





100.0 









An additional 3 million tons of stumps that might 

 be removed with the use of explosives would come 

 in part from the many advanced second-growth 

 stands, where stumps cannot be pulled without 

 damage to surrounding trees or because of high 

 cost. Also, freshly cut old-growth stumps, which 

 must season 8 to 10 years after cutting before 

 becoming suitable for use, form another source of 

 supply. A considerable volume of stump wood will 

 also be available from the stumps of old-growth 

 timber now standing — at a conservative estimate of 

 3 tons per acre. This would add another million 

 tons, making the total additional supply 4 million 

 tons. 



With a present and future supply of nearly 17 

 million tons of merchantable stumps, northeastern 

 Florida has obviously a much greater tonnage than 

 is needed to meet the annual requirements of its 

 two plants that now use 50,000 to 75,000 tons per 

 annum. There are thus enough stumps to allow a 

 very considerable expansion in the production of 

 wood naval stores. It is probable that the use of 

 stumps for naval stores production should be con- 

 sidered from a mining rather than a renewable- 

 crop standpoint, for present processes use only old- 

 growth stumps, and only 12 percent of the turpen- 

 tine pine stands are still old growth. If the utiliza- 

 tion of the present and future stump supply were 

 extended over the next 25 years, the annual yield 

 would be about 700,000 tons or enough to support 

 a number of large steam-solvent plants. It is inter- 

 esting to contemplate that with a yield from the 

 steam-solvent process of 6.6 gallons of turpentine, 

 7.5 gallons of pine oils, and 348 pounds of rosin per 

 ton of stumps, a full exploitation of the stump-wood 

 resource during the next 25 years would produce 

 80,000 barrels of turpentine and 650,000 barrels 

 (500 pounds gross) of rosin per year. This may be 

 compared with the production of the gum naval 

 stores industry in this survey unit in 1933-34, which 

 was about 82,000 barrels of turpentine and 270,000 

 barrels of rosin. It is also of interest to note the 

 possibility of a large production of pulping material 

 from the spent-chip residue of the steam-solvent 

 process. 



Regardless of the adequacy of the supply of 

 stump wood, any considerable expansion of the 

 wood naval stores industry in northeastern Florida 

 must, in all likelihood, await a marked increase in 

 the demand for turpentine and rosin. The gum 

 naval stores situation in the naval stores belt as a 

 whole indicates no probability of a prolonged re- 

 duction of output due to scarcity of timber supply. 

 Unless there is a marked increase in consumption, 

 a full utilization of available and future supplies of 

 both stump wood and turpentine timber would un- 

 doubtedly bring about a chronic condition of over- 

 production with its attendant demoralization of 

 both the gum and wood naval stores industries. 



25 



