Forest Conditions 



Determination of forest conditions is based upon 

 the volulne of timber per acre, the age of dominant 

 trees, past cutting history, and degree of stocking. 

 Its purpose is to indicate the quality and availability 

 of the timber, and in a general way, the productivity 

 of the forest in the immediate future. 



Two broad condition classes were recognized by 

 the survey: (1) sawlog-size, and (2) under-sawlog- 

 size. The areas in each are shown in table 7. 



Sawlog-size Condition 



Areas with at least 600 board feet per acre, as- 

 signed by the survey to the sawlog-size condition 

 class, aggregated 6,203,100 acres, or 58 percent of 

 the South Carolina forest (61 percent on the Coastal 

 Plain and 52 percent on the piedmont). Old growth 

 and second growth occupied, respectively, 26 and 74 

 percent of the sawlog-size timber area. 



In South Carolina as a whole the larger part of the 

 old growth is in hardwoods. On the northern 

 Coastal Plain, old-growth hardwoods cover more 

 than twice as much land as old-growth pine, but on 

 the southern Coastal Plain and the piedmont the 

 latter is somewhat more abundant. 



Of the old-growth pine, more than half is in lob- 

 lolly pine type, the remainder about equally divided 

 between shortleaf and longleaf pine types. Old- 

 growth pine is found in small scattered tracts 

 throughout the State and in a i^^ff relatively large 

 blocks owned by estates, game clubs, and lumber 

 companies on the lower Coastal Plain. Of the old- 

 growth hardwood area, more than 80 percent is in 

 bottom-land hardwoods of the Coastal Plain, the re- 

 mainder chiefly in the mountains. The high propor- 

 tion of the bottom-land hardwood type is due to the 

 predominance of gums which, until rather recently, 

 had little market value. 



Old-growth stands are classed as uncut and partly 

 cut. Uncut old growth (fig. 24) contains, as a rule, 

 more and better material than second growth. 

 Partly-cut old growth, which, as shown in table 7, 

 occupies more than half the old-growth area of 

 South Carolina, has suffered reduction in quality 

 from the removal of selected trees of the more valu- 

 able species, as, for example, in cypress logging by 

 early operators. Many old-growth stands are over- 

 mature and defective, and others are of inferior qual- 

 ity because of poor site conditions. 



Figure 24. — Uncut old-growth 

 loblolly pine on the Coastal 

 Plain. 



23 



r-rr 



