Table 9. — Average stocking in the pine types compared with stock- 

 ing in the best 10 percent of stands {uncut condition)^ 



Survey unit and age class (years) 



Average volume per 

 acre— uncut condition 



Relation of 

 all pine 

 stands to 

 best 10 

 percent 



All pine 

 stands 



Best 10 

 percent of 



Southern Coastal Plain : 



21-30 



Cords 

 5 



IS 

 23 

 12 



Cords 



I 



19 



Percent 



41-50 



45 



61-70 



52 







Northern Coastal Plain: 



21-30 



37 



41-50 



16 36 

 20 : 42 



44 



61-70 



48 





6 

 14 



27 



13 

 28 

 31 





Piedmont: 

 21-30 



33 





SO 





52 



All ages 



9 ! 21 ! 43 











^ These figures are only approximate and give no conception of 

 the proportion of the total area in pine types (uncut condition) 

 that is reasonably well stocked and poorly stocked. 



It is unlikely that all the pine lands in South 

 Carolina can be raised to the density of the best 10 



percent without intensive management. Table 9 

 suggests, however, that stocking throughout the 

 State can be greatly improved by the general adop- 

 tion of cutting methods that will insure abundant 

 reproduction, thus producing not only greater yields 

 per acre but also better quality timber through the 

 development of long, clear boles. Cutting in strips 

 or groups, or clear cutting if provision for adequate 

 seed trees is made, will provide a satisfactory initial 

 crop of seedlings on most pine sites. But unless the 

 restocking areas are protected in their early stages 

 from uncontrolled fires, establishment of harvest- 

 able stands is greatly delayed. Even in young sap- 

 ling and pole stands of the less resistant pine species, 

 fires often reduce the number of stems far below de- 

 sired density. Unquestionably, failure to provide 

 for adequate reseeding and protection after logging 

 have been among the major causes of the present 

 understocked stands. 



No analysis has been made of stocking in hard- 

 woods types, but from observation in the field it ap- 

 pears that in these types, too, low average densities 

 prevail, and that there is a great opportunity through 

 management for increasing the density as well as the 

 proportion of the more desirable species. 



28 



