the property-tax base, and the proportion can be increased 

 by building up forest productivity. Timber is also a valu- 

 able farm crop. The farmers of North Carolina received 

 in cash nearly $9,000,000 through the sale of forest products 

 in 1937, and in addition used home-grown wood worth 

 ?15,000,000. 



The forest resources of North Carolina are also signifi- 

 cant from a regional and national standpoint. Within the 

 States' boundaries is 9 percent of the commercial forest 

 land and 12 percent of the sound wood volume in the South 

 (fig. 1). Although North Carolina boasts only 4 percent 

 of the Nation's forest land and 3 percent of its wood, its 

 forests are so favored by climate and soil that they produce 

 over 7 percent of the total annual growth of saw timber. 

 In 1938 North Carolina had more operating sawmills than 

 any other State, and ranked first in the South and fourth 

 in the Nation in lumber production. 



Forest Description 



As already indicated, the forest cover of North Carolina 

 is predominantly second-growth timber. It is composed 

 of a great variety of tree species, the range ot several ex- 

 tending from tidewater to the mountain slopes. Each 

 physiographic region has a definite pattern of forest cover, 

 each differing distinctly and characteristically with respect 

 to age, volume per acre, and cutting history. 



Species 



In the Coastal Plain, loblolly pine is the most prevalent 

 species (fig. 14), growing both in pure stands and with 

 ether pines and hardwoods. Black and water tupelo are 

 second in abundance, occuring in swamps and bottom lands 

 throughout the region, particularly in Bertie, Martin, Wash- 

 ington, and Tyrrell Counties southwest of Albemarle Sound. 

 Sweetgum grows best in the bottom lands and is most com- 

 mon north of the Neuse River. Pond pine is localized in 

 the Coastal Plain. It is abundant in the large swamps of 

 Columbus, Brunswick, Bladen, and Pender Counties sur- 

 rounding Wilmington, as well as in Tyrrell, Dare, and 

 Hyde Counties in the northeast. Longleaf pine is of rela- 

 tively minor importance, occuring in scattered stands near 

 Wilmington and in a fairly large area of second growth in 

 the sandhills of Richmond, Moore, and Hoke Counties in 





Figure 13. — The stumpage value of saw timber in North Carolina, 1938. 



■ gftr' 



Figure 14. — Loblolly pine occupies 26 percent of the forest land and ac- 

 counts for 37 percent of the board-foot volume. 



the south. The best stands cf "cypress" and Atlantic 

 white-cedar are in Tyrrell County. Red and white oaks 

 are common, growing in mixture with the pines and with 

 other hardwoods throughout the coastal plain. 



In the piedmont, the original forest was of mixed hard- 

 woods, chiefly oak and hickory, and some shortleaf pine. 

 After the coming of white men the hardwood forests gave 

 way to cultivated fields, which in turn were frequently 

 abandoned for new clearings and virgin soil. Because the 

 abandoned fields usually restocked to pine, the hardwoods 

 have been replaced by old-field pine throughout much of 

 the piedmont. Shortleaf pine appears throughout the 

 area but is most prevalent in that part of the piedmont 

 lying southwest of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Dur- 

 ham. Loblolly pine, which extends into the piedmont 

 from the Coastal Plain, is second in importance and is com- 



i7 



