veneer throughout the State, and with special war re- 

 quirements, in addition, the 1.5 billion board feet of this 

 species may not represent enough growing stock to assure 

 a sustained supply. Blight has made chestnut a dis- 

 appearing species. Within 10 years most of the 816 

 million board feet of dead chestnut saw timber will be 

 either utilized or lost through decay- 

 Nearly three-fourths of the saw-timber volume is in 

 second-growth sawlog-size stands which, in the pine 

 types, occupy about 5.5 million acres. More than 14 

 billion board feet of second-growth timber is located in 

 stands in which little, it any, cutting has taken place 

 and nearly 7 billion feet is in partly cut stands. Only 5 

 percent of the softwood volume is in scattered trees in 

 under-sawlog-size stands. 



Almost one-fourth of the softwood volume is in old- 

 growth stands, with approximately equal amounts on 

 uncut and partially cut areas. One-hall ol the total 

 old-growth volume is loblolly pine and nearly one-fifth 

 is shortleaf pine. About one-third ot the total board-foot 

 volume of longleaf pine and two-thirds of the total volume 

 of hemlock, spruce, and cypress is in these old-growth 

 stands. 



More than half of the hardwood saw timber is in old- 

 growth stands. This includes three-fourths of the volume 

 of black and water tupelos as its principal component. 

 When the cypress-tupelo swamps along the coast were 

 first logged only the cypress was readily merchantable 

 and large areas of black and water tupelo were left stand- 

 ing. In recent years improved methods of drying and 

 machining these species have aided in demonstrating 

 their suitability for various products. A considerable 

 quantity of black and water tupelo is now used for veneer 

 and furniture stock, but there is still enough tupelo to 

 justify increased consumption for pulp and other products. 

 Sawlog-size second-growth stands contain 43 percent 

 of the hardwood saw timber. Yellow poplar is rather 



Figure 27. — Distribution of board-foot volume by forest condition and 

 physiographic division, 1938. 



common in uncut stands, but the fact that it is generallv 

 in demand and is utilized more closely than the other 

 hardwood species has resulted in its heavy reduction. It 

 makes up 18 percent of the uncut-stand volume and 

 only 13 percent of the partly cut stand. Contrawise, 

 cutting has increased the proportion of sweetgum, because 

 much of it being low in quality is not worth removing 

 for saw timber. 



About 7 percent of the hardwood saw timber is in stands 

 classified as under sawlog size. This volume is in scat- 

 tered trees that were considered too poor to cut when 

 the stands were originally logged and in young thrifty 

 trees since grown into sawlog size. Since as a rule volume 

 is not sufficiently concentrated to justify logging, utiliza- 

 tion of most of it will be delayed until the young stands 

 grow to sawlog size. 



Distribution is not radically different in the three 

 geographical divisions of the State (fig. 27). The high 

 proportion of softwood volume in the second-growth 

 sawlog-size condition is especially pronounced in the 

 piedmont. Mature stands of cypress and white-cedar 

 increase the percent of old-growth softwood volume in 

 the Coastal Plain and hemlock has a similar effect in the 

 mountain division. 



In the Coastal Plain less intensive utilization accounts for 

 the 60 percent of the hardwood volume still in old-growth 

 stands, about two-fifths of it in black and water tupelos. 

 The piedmont and mountain divisions contain about equal 

 proportions of old-growth volume, but with quality differ- 

 ences. In the piedmont nearly three-fourths of the old- 

 growth volume is in stands from which the best trees have 

 been cut. Less severe partial cutting in the mountains has 

 left old-growth stands more nearly like virgin timber, 

 containing more of the better-qualitv hardwoods, such as 

 vellow poplar, basswood, northern red oak, white oak, 

 sugar maple, and ash. 



Volume by Diameter Class 



Efficient utilization must be based on a knowledge of 

 volume distribution by tree-diameter classes. Small trees 

 require more labor per thousand board feet in logging, and 

 logging and milling equipment cannot be operated at top 

 efficiency on small logs. The larger trees also yield a 

 greater proportion of upper grades and wider boards. On 

 small sawmill operations, however, the benefits to be 

 obtained from cutting onlv large trees are closelv restricted; 

 the cut per acre is necessarily reduced and mill-moving 

 costs or log-hauling costs may offset the saving. Moreover, 

 small mills are not equipped to handle large logs efficiently. 



Studies of pine roofer operations in eastern North Caro- 

 lina indicate that the most profitable balance is reached 



3° 



