Table 7. — Distribution of forest area 



by forest condition and type, 193S l 









Forest condition 



Loblolly 

 pine 



Shortleaf 

 pine 



Pond 

 pine 



Longleaf 

 pine 



Virginia 

 pine 



White 

 pine 2 



Upland 

 hardwoods 



Bottom- 

 land hard- 



u 1- 



All types 



Sawlog size: 

 Old growth: 



Acres 

 92, 200 

 213,500 



1, 472, 600 

 1, 436, 100 



Acres 

 49,600 

 132,600 



939, 300 

 596, 900 



Acres 

 98,600 

 57, 000 



401, 400 

 93,700 



Acres 

 6,500 

 65,800 



94,300 

 45,800 



Acres 

 2,500 

 7,500 



225, 100 

 91, 800 



Acres 

 31,000 

 19,500 



90,500 

 58,700 



Acres 

 144,300 

 405, 300 



624, 900 

 498, 100 



Acres 



.".id. mil) 

 495, 800 



561, 900 

 300, 700 



^4crcs 



714, 700 

 1, 397, 000 



4, 410, 000 

 3,121,800 



Percent 

 4.0 





7.7 



Second growth: 



24 4 





17. 2 







Total - 



3, 214, 400 



1, 718, 400 



650, 700 



212, 400 



326,900 



199, 700 



1, 672, 600 



1, 648, 400 



9, 643, 500 



53.3 



Under sawlog size: 



1,216,900 

 174, 300 

 44, 800 



1, 266, 100 



113, 200 



800 



760, 100 

 388, 300 

 157, 800 



485, 600 

 118, 800 

 46, 300 



397, 500 



71,100 



800 



67,700 

 3,200 

 3,300 



2, 110, 800 

 94, 000 

 22,200 



719,500 



176, 300 



18,800 



7, 024, 200 



1,139,200 



294,800 



38.8 



Reproduction . . 



6.3 

 1.6 







Total... 



1, 436, 000 



1, 380, 100 



1, 306, 200 



650, 700 



469, 400 



74,200 



2, 227, 000 



914,600 



8, 458, 200 



46.7 





4, 650, 400 



3, 098, 500 



1, 956, 900 



863, 100 



796, 300 



273, 900 



3, 899, 600 



2, 563, 000 



18, 101, 700 













1 These tabulated areas, derived from plot data, do not correspond exactly to the broad areas delineated on the forest type map at the end of this publication, 

 since they allow for local variations in forest cover and interspersed agricultural land not shown on the map. 

 1 Includes white pine, spruce-fir, and hemlock types. 3 Includes 351,200 acres of cove hardwoods type. 



The 7.5 million acres of sawlog-size second growth con- 

 stitutes the main immediate source of saw timber for the 

 wood-using industries. Fifty-five percent of this acreage 

 is located in the Coastal Plain, 28 percent in the piedmont, 

 and 17 percent in the mountains. Almost two-fifths ot the 

 merchantable second growth is loblolly pine. Light cut- 

 ting has removed part of the volume on about 40 percent of 

 the total area, but in the loblolly pine type, which is 

 utilized more intensively, half of the area has been partly 

 cut. Each year a considerable area of under-sawlog-size 

 trees comes into the sawlog class, but since half a million 

 acres of sawlog timber is cut annually, the ratio between 

 the two areas is not likely to favor the sawlog class at any 

 time. 



Young second growth, over 1 inch in diameter but less 

 than sawlog size, occupies almost 40 percent of the forest 

 land. This class of timber occupies a high proportion of 

 the area in shortleaf pine, longleat pine, Virginia pine, 

 and upland hardwood types. 



Of the 1.1 million acres bearing seedlings, about one- 

 third is in the pond pine type. In general, the trees are apt 

 to be poorly spaced and ot undersirable species. More than 

 half of the area classified as clear-cut and not restocking 

 (tig. 22) is in the pond pine pocosins. 



Age of Stands 



The pine stands of old-field origin are usually even-aged. 

 Forest-grown stands commonly contain several age classes, 

 save where an even-aged stand may have come in after a 

 heavy cutting. Whereas most old-growth pine is 80 years 

 and more, most of the second-growth sawlog pine (9 inches 

 d. b. h.) is 30 to 60 years and the under-sawlog size pine 



less than 35 years old (table 8). Dominant trees on good 

 sites will grow much faster. 



Stands of hardwood normally contain reproduction, 

 saplings, and merchantable trees, the relative proportion 

 ot each varying with the torest condition. The occasional 

 even-aged hardwood forest consists usually of second 

 growth established after a heavy cutting, sweetgum or 

 yellow poplar growing on abandoned fields, second-growth 

 black and water tupelo in the coastal swamps, or virgin 

 timber without an understory of young growth. As a rule, 

 the hardwoods grow more slowly than pine and most 

 species do not attain sawlog size (13 inches d. b. h.) under 

 60 years (table 8). The old-growth stands range from 100 

 to 350 years. 



Table 8. — Age of average trees of selected species on average site, by diameter 

 class 





Diameter at breast height (inches) 



Species 



4 



6 



8 



10 



12 



Loblollv pine 



Years 

 19 

 20 

 22 

 24 

 24 

 19 

 29 

 29 

 31 

 31 

 34 

 36 

 31 

 33 



Years 

 26 

 27 

 27 

 31 

 31 

 28 

 37 

 38 

 39 

 40 

 43 

 47 

 40 

 45 



Years 

 33 

 33 

 33 

 38 

 39 

 39 

 47 

 49 

 50 

 51 

 54 

 60 

 53 

 58 



Years 

 39 

 39 

 39 

 45 

 50 

 51 

 58 

 61 

 62 

 64 

 67 

 73 

 69 

 72 



Years 

 44 





44 



Yellow poplar... . 

 Shortleaf pine 



46 

 52 





61 





64 





' 71 





74 



Black oak . . 



78 





78 



Northern red oak ... 



85 





86 



Chestnut oak .. 



87 



White oak 



87 







23 



