10. The total volume of all sound material in trees 5 

 inches d. b. h. (diameter breast high) and larger is 264 

 million cords, 45 percent pine and 55 percent hardwoods. 

 Loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, and black tupelo are the 

 most abundant species. 



11. In 1938 the lumber cut was 1.4 billion board feet, 

 placing North Carolina fourth among the States in lumber 

 production. Average annual production lor the past 35 

 years has been 1.2 billion feet. 



12. Seven-tenths of the lumber was cut by portable 

 mills with a rated capacity of less than 10 M board feet 

 per day and only 6 percent was cut by large mills, having 

 a capacity of 40 M feet or more per day. 



13. The consumption of wood tor veneer has increased 

 from 8 million board feet in 1905 to 110 million feet in 

 1938. North Carolina ranks after Washington and Florida 

 in the manufacture of veneer. 



14. Four pulp and paper companies operate in North 

 Carolina. In 1938, 406,000 cords of pulpwood were used. 

 Total plant capacity in 1941 was 1,055 tons of pulp in 24 

 hours. 



15. Ten plants made tanning extract in 1938, using 

 168,000 cords of chestnut wood and 17,500 cords of hem- 

 lock and chestnut oak bark. 



16. About 5% million cords of fuel wood was used in 



1938. 



17. Three-fourths of the annua! saw-timber net increment 



is yielded bv second-growth timber and under-sawlog-size 

 trees reaching merchantable dimensions. There is a dearth 

 of large maturing trees and a disproportionate volume ot 

 voung timber resulting trom excessive cutting of small 

 immature trees. Mortality from all causes was equal to 11 

 percent of gross growth. 



For softwoods, total net saw-timber increment for the 

 State in 1938 was 1.66 billion board feet and commodity 

 drain 1.69 billion. For hardwoods net increment was 637 

 million and commodity drain 530 million. These figures 

 can be misleading because for smaller areas such as the 

 Piedmont region softwood growth was 157 million board 

 feet less than drain, while in hardwoods, growth — mostly 

 in small sizes — exceeded drain only 49 million leet. The 

 growing-stock situation in the piedmont unit is therefore 

 much more unsatisfactory than for the entire State which 



points to the need for studying growth-drain relationships 

 by as small areas as practicable. It must be kept in mind 

 also that not all the growth is available for utilization be- 

 cause part of it occurs on scattered trees or is out of reach 

 lor other reasons. 



18. Further evidence of the depletion of the small soft- 

 wood timber is the commodity drain in terms of cubic feet 

 on all sound trees 5 inches d. b. h. and larger. This drain 

 was 7 million cubic feet in excess ot growth annually. For 

 hardwoods the growth exceeded drain by 82 million cubic 

 feet. But this gain is only 1 percent of the total stand and 

 a high proportion of the growth was on trees of small size, 

 poor form, or low-qualitv species. 



19. Forest stands generally are less than 50 percent 

 stocked. Special study of the loblolly pine type — one of 

 the best — shows only 30 percent ot the saw-timber area and 

 1 5 percent ot the under-sawlog-size area satisfactorily 

 stocked. Stands of the remainder are progressively poorer 

 down to treeless areas. Since quality is definitely tied in 

 with tree size and thrift, the kind of trees making up the 

 growing stock is pertinent. In North Carolina it is common 

 practice to cut the larger and better trees and where trees 

 are left they are usually small, and often ot poor form or 

 inferior species. Under present rate of drain and cutting 

 practices it is impossible to build up growing stock of the 

 desired quality and quantity. Even though growth ex- 

 ceeds drain in certain areas ot the State, stand quality de- 

 terioration may be occuring with a decided loss in timber 

 values. 



This situation calls for increasing the utility ot the forest 

 resource by improving the quantity and quality ot the 

 growing stock through better forest practice; intensifying 

 protection against fire, insects, and disease; expansion ot 

 public ownership; and increased forest research in timber- 

 land management, forest-products utilization, and market- 

 ing. 



20. A program to develop these opportunities requires 

 definite action by private landowners, forest industries, 

 county, State, and Federal Governments. It should include 

 public control ot cutting practices on private forest land, more 

 financial and technical assistance to private owners and 

 operators by the public, and wider adoption of timber- 

 management practices by forest-land owners. 



