some may already have reached sawlog size; by cut- 

 ting cull trees and thinning young stands to provide 

 more space for better trees or for reproduction; by 

 preventing fires; and by planting tree seedlings where 

 natural reproduction is lacking. 



Individual stands vary greatly in species composi- 

 tion, site, age, condition, and density; and forest 

 properties differ as to the markets for products im- 

 mediately available, or that can be made available, 

 under management, for future utilization. We have 

 seen that the average volume per acre of pine stands 

 in South Carolina is considerably below the volume 

 of the best stocked stands (table 9). Few stands are 

 overstocked, and even the best do not generally re- 

 present the optimum stocking obtainable under in- 

 tensive management with growth conditions as 

 favorable as they are in South Carolina. Under 

 such management the growing stock can be materi- 

 ally increased and stands developed which will yield 

 several crops of pulpwood and small sawlogs while 

 selected trees are maturing into high grade saw or 

 veneer logs, poles, or piles (fig. 45). 



The measures suggested for perpetuating and in- 

 creasing the timber supply naturally introduce some 

 additional costs in logging methods. These should 

 be regarded not as financial sacrifices but as invest- 

 ments in deferred returns. There are, of course, 

 practical obstacles to the application of even the 

 most urgent measures of forest management. Some 

 owners may have financial or manufacturing obliga- 



tions that make it impossible to incur the expense of 

 improvements. Also, accentuated demands, like 

 those imposed by war needs, and unanticipated 

 losses from fire, insects, or disease, may reduce the 

 volume of growing stock. The danger of such de- 

 pletion, however, with its consequent injury to in- 

 dustrial output and employment may be lessened by 

 public assistance in advancing credits to operators, 

 increasing public cooperation in fire prevention and 

 control, and related benefits. In return, the public 

 may require timberland owners to adhere to reason- 

 able cutting practices, protect young trees from log- 

 ging damage, and take other constructive steps to 

 build up the forest growing stock so that volume and 

 quality will be increased. 



Better Utilization of Forest Products 



Better utilization of raw materials will increase 

 the yield from the forest and thus will reduce the 

 drain on the growing stock to meet a given demand. 

 For example, waste may be curtailed by various im- 

 provements in manufacture, and better utilization 

 of forest materials may be attained by a closer inte- 

 gration of all the wood-using industries as well as by 

 more efiicient use of the portable sawmill. 



Expanding the Production of Small Commodities 



Many small finished products like handles, brush 

 backs, toys, woodenware, dowels, and novelties can 

 be manufactured from cuttings of specified shapes 



Figure 45. — Selective cutting 

 in a 36-year-old loblolly pine 

 stand. This stand originally 

 had 36 cords per acre, includ- 

 ing sawlog trees containing 

 3,200 board feet. Half the 

 board-foot volume was cut; 

 the remainder, in carefully 

 selected trees, was left for 

 future growth. 



55 



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