FOREST TYPE GROUP 

 a CONDITION CLASS 



AVERAGE VOLUME PER ACRE 



PINE TYPES 



OLO-GROWTH UNCUT 



OLD-GROWTH 



PARTLY CUT 



SECOND-GROWTH 

 SAWLOG SIZE 



SECOND-GROWTH 



UNDER-SAWLOG-SIZE 

 HARDWOOD TYPES 

 OLD-GROWTH UNCUT 



OLO-GROWTH 



PARTLY CUT 



SECOND-GROWTH 

 SAWLOG SIZE 



SECOND-GROWTH 



UNDER-SAWLOG-SIZE 



f 



p 



r 



■1 



■ 



m 





^^^^^^ 



^M 



1 







^^^^^^^ 









! 



Z 4 6 8 10 I2| 

 THOUSAND BOARD FEET 



Figure 31. — Average net board-foot volume. International }/i-inch 

 rule, by condition classes. 



13 M board feet on the Coastal Plain, and about 7 M 

 board feet on the piedmont, compared with 8 to 11 

 M board feet for hardwoods on the Coastal Plain 

 and less than 6 M board feet on the piedmont. 



Data obtained by the survey make it possible to 

 classify the saw-timber stands of South Carolina ac- 

 cording to the proportion occupied by density classes 

 (volume per acre) and the total area in each class. 

 The results are shown in figure 32 and table 32 (Ap- 

 pendix). 



There is a wide difference in accessibility and ease 

 of logging operations between the coastal swamps or 

 rugged mountain regions of South Carolina and the 

 flat or gently rolling terrain of the piedmont and 

 Coastal Plain. In the swamps, logging may be un- 

 profitable even in stands bearing 10 M board feet per 

 acre, but in dry level areas where trucks can often 

 be driven to individual scattered trees, pine stands 



of a few hundred board feet per acre can often be 

 logged profitably. 



Since most timber areas in the State are readily 

 accessible, density figures offer a rough index of 

 availability. As a rule, 2 M board feet per acre — 

 less in some instances — may be considered the mini- 

 mum operable stand, though persons familiar with 

 western forests may find it difficult to believe that 

 this relatively low density can justify logging. From 

 the standpoint of working toward continuous forest 

 production in unmanaged stands, such areas should 

 not be logged, even though operations yield an im- 

 mediate profit. Continuous cuttings on low-density 

 stands tend to reduce the forest to its lowest pro- 

 ductive level by removing seed trees and also trees 

 which have reached the minimum sawlog diameter 

 but have not attained full seed-bearing age. 



For South Carolina as a whole, almost 27 percent 

 of the saw-timber area is stocked with less than 2 M 

 board feet per acre, and these stands contain about 

 8 percent of the sawlog-size volume in the State. 

 This density class is more prevalent, for pine and 

 hardwoods alike, in the piedmont than on the north- 

 ern or southern Coastal Plain. 



Forty-eight percent of the saw-timber area of 

 South Carolina bears ^2 to 6 M board feet per acre, 

 and these stands contain nearly 36 percent of the 

 sawlog-size volume. Stands of 2 to 6 M board feet 

 per acre are most prevalent in the piedmont and 

 somewhat less prevalent on the Coastal Plain (fig. 

 32). 



Almost 15 percent of South Carolina's saw-timber 

 area is stocked 6 to 10 M board feet per acre, but 

 these stands comprise almost 24 percent of the saw- 

 log-size volume. This density class is more common 

 on the Coastal Plain than in the piedmont. 



Table 13. — Average net board-foot volume -per acre. International y^-inch rule, by condition class, pine and hardwood types, 1936 



±--artly 

 cut old 

 growth 



State: Board feet 



Pines 11.210 



Hardwoods 9,410 



Southern Coastal Plain: 



Pines 13,060 



Hardwoods 7,990 



Northern Coastal Plain: 



Pines 11,260 



Hard woods 10,940 



Piedmont: 



Pines 7.210 



Hardwoods 5. 760 



oard Jeet 

 5.200 

 5.040 



4.920 

 4,780 



4,060 

 4,660 



3.070 

 2.630 



Board Jeet 

 260 

 220 



290 

 240 



oard feet 

 2,590 

 3,480 



3,060 

 3.370 



2.890 

 4.120 



1.830 

 2.040 



33 



