and other factors is reflected in the quality ot the site. Site 

 quality is measured in several ways — most commonly for 

 southern pine in the height of average dominant trees at 

 50 years of age. This criterion differs for different species. 

 In table 9 the area of each of the pine types except pond 

 pine has been classified as to site quality on the basis ot the 

 following minimum heights of average dominant trees: 



Loblolly and eastern white pine: Feet 



Good 80 



Fair 



Poor 



Shortleaf, longieaf, and Virginia pine: 



Good 



Fair 



Poor 



60 



50 



70 



60 



50 



The area supporting hardwood types was classified as good, 

 tair, or poor, using soil and moisture conditions, topo- 

 graphic aspect, and merchantable height and form ot trees 

 as indicators of site quality. 



Table 9. — Proportion of forest-type areas in 3 site classes, 1938 ' 



Forest type 



Loblolly pine 



Shortleaf pine 



Loneleaf pine 



Virginia pine 



Eastern white pine 



Cove hardwoods 



Bottom-land hardwoods. 

 Upland hardwoods 



Good 



Fair 



Poor 



Percent 



Percent 



Percent 



24 



75 



1 



14 



62 



24 



4 



67 



29 



7 



57 



36 



25 



72 



3 



52 



47 



1 



32 



61 



7 



5 



82 



13 



1 The area in the pond pine type was not classified, but a large part of it is 

 of poor site quality. 



The implications ot this classification can be briefly 

 summarized. Practically all ot the land stocked with 



loblolly or white pine will grow stands of tall, well-formed, 

 commercial timber. About one-fourth of the land in the 

 shortleaf and longleat pine types is of poor site quality and 

 the trees grown on this land will be short-boled and of slow 

 growth. Site quality is still poorer in the Virginia pine 

 type and about one-third ot the land will produce only trees 

 of doubtful saw-timber value. Most of the hardwoods 

 grow on fair to good sites and only a small proportion of the 

 land produces mature trees averaging less than two mer- 

 chantable logs. All together, about 2 million acres of 

 forest land, exclusive of the pond pine type, are of poor site 

 quality. In general, timber production on this acreage 

 will yield low returns. 



Stocking 



An exhaustive study of the degree of stocking on the 18 

 million acres of forest land in North Carolina was impos- 

 sible with available personnel and funds. As an alternative, 

 an intensive study was made of stocking in the loblolly pine 

 type, which occupies 4.6 million acres. The stocking 

 classification was based on the uncut and unburned forest 

 plots tallied in the loblolly pine type. Using total basal 

 area of all trees over 1 inch d. b. h. and the average tree 

 diameter as criteria, a stocking class was assigned to each 

 plot. The next step was to classify the burned-over and 

 partially cut plots also; thus a total of 3,550 forest plots in 

 all condition and age classes ot the loblolly pine type were 

 classified. The total type area was then divided into 

 stocking classes on the basis ot plot distribution. In gen- 

 eral, class I represents full stocking, classes II and III are 

 satisfactory, and classes IV, V, and VI are progressively 

 unsatisfactory. 



Table 10. — Stocking classification of forest land in the loblolly pine type 



Stocking class ' 



Forest condition 















All classes 



I 



11 



III 



IV 



V 



VI 



Sawlog size: 



Old growth - _ _ 



Acres 

 23, 400 

 201, 300 



Acres 

 19,400 

 228. 900 



Acres 

 56,900 

 435, 900 



Acres 

 79, 700 

 506, 800 



Acres 

 52, 400 

 609, 200 



Acres 

 73, 900 

 926, 600 



Acres 

 305. 700 



Second growth _ . 



2, 908. 700 







Total 



224, 700 



248, 300 



492, 800 



586, 500 



661, 600 



1, 000, 500 



3, 214, 400 







Under sawlog size: 



Second growth .. _ _ _ 



90, 300 



59,400 



63, 000 



144, 800 

 6,800 



242, 800 

 12,400 



616, 600 

 155, 100 

 44,800 



1, 216, 9(H) 



Reproduction _ .. 



174, 300 



Clear-cut- 









44,800 

















Total 



90, 300 



59,400 



63, 000 



151, 600 



255,200 



816, 500 



1, 436, 000 



All conditions- _ . . 



315, 000 



Percent 



6.8 



307, 700 



Percent 



6.6 



555, 800 



Percent 



11.9 



738, 100 



Percent 

 15.9 



916, 800 



Percent 

 19.7 



1,817,000 



Percent 

 39.1 



4, 650. 400 





100.0 



i Classes I, II, and III represent, in general, satisfactory stocking; the others, less than satisfactory. 



25 



