could be taken. This would still leave a growing 

 stock of about 650 cubic feet per acre. Operating 

 in this manner, the present cut could be maintained 

 for 8 to 10 years. Going even part way in this direc- 

 tion by concentrating more of the cut on the larger 

 diameter classes and in the heavier stands would 

 aid materially in improving the condition of Ken- 

 tucky forests. 



Approximately one-fifth of the forest growing 

 space is now occupied by cull trees, and 85 percent 

 of the merchantable hardwood sawtimber volume 

 is in log grade 3. Starting on the better sites, good 

 forest management requires that cull trees and much 

 of this low-quality volume be removed. A continued 

 demand for forest products, and a desire on the part 

 of the landowner to improve his forest could lead 

 to cutting practices that will improve forest condi- 

 tions in Kentucky. 



Watershed Protection 



Because forests have such great influence on water 

 supply, streamflow, and flood conditions, high prior- 

 ity should be given to the development of forests 

 on watershed areas. Although dams and reservoirs 

 also help to regulate streamflow and control floods, 

 these devices cannot be entirely successful unless 

 upstream farm and forest lands are managed prop- 

 erly. In the long run, improving the watershed 

 conditions of an area will also improve that area 

 for recreation, hunting, fishing, and timber pro- 

 duction. 



Timber Production 



In the light of the forest situation in Kentucky 

 as developed thus far, a program to make the forest 

 resource contribute more would involve (1) im- 

 proved forest practices needed to produce more and 

 better quality timber and (2) improvements in 

 harvesting, processing, and marketing of forest 

 products. 



Adopt Better Cutting Practices 



The average forest stand in Kentucky has not 

 enough growing stock. About one-fifth of the grow- 

 ing space is occupied by cull trees. Furthermore, 

 the present quality of the sawtimber glowing stock 

 is low, and present cutting practices are further 

 deteriorating it. To grow more and better timber, 

 several courses of action can be taken. 



Starting on the better sites the cull trees can be 

 killed or cut to make room for young, potentially 

 valuable trees. In spite of the present demand for 

 most forest products, cull trees are ordinarily not 

 salable. However, if the landowner is interested in 

 continuous forest production, he may wish to in- 

 vest some current income in stand improvement 

 to increase future growth. 



More of these cull trees could be used for fuel. 

 About 45 million cubic feet of wood cut from grow- 

 ing-stock trees was burned as fuel in 1948. This 

 fuelwood could have come from the more than li/, 

 billion cubic feet of cull tree volume, and from mill 

 waste, woods waste, dead trees, and limbs. Because 

 of the higher cost of cutting fuelwood from such 

 material rather than from small, sound, growing- 

 stock trees, change in practice will no doubt be slow. 

 The increasing use of power saws may tend to stim- 

 ulate the cutting of cull trees for fuelwood and for 

 stand improvement. 



Forest income can be increased considerably by 

 saving more of the thrifty, well-formed young trees 

 until they grow into larger and hence more valu- 

 able trees. For example, past studies of trees manu- 

 factured into lumber show that the rate of increase 

 in value is much greater than the annual growth 

 rate. In Kentucky 12- and 14-inch trees are growing 

 in volume at the rate of 3 to 5 percent annually. 

 If these trees are kept until they become 16 inches 

 or larger, their annual rate of increase in value for 

 lumber, due to increase in quality and declining 

 costs per unit of wood harvested as the trees become 

 larger, will be substantially greater than the growth 

 rate. The rate of increase will be even greater when 

 the trees are suitable for such products as veneer 

 logs and tight stave bolts. 



Bringing in new industries that can use low- 

 qualitv timber, and developing less costly methods 

 of handling this material, will make it possible for 

 timber owners to follow better cutting practices. 

 Such industries include the manufacturers of wood 

 insulation, building board, roofing paper, corru- 

 gated board, and small dimension stock, including 

 flooring. As new equipment is de^■eloped to handle 

 wood products more cheaply, it may become more 

 economical to har\est, transport, and process this 

 low-cjualitv timber. Already new processes are mak- 

 ing possible the use of hardwoods for items for- 

 merly made from other species or other materials. 



Although the bulk of the timber volume in Ken- 



32 



Forest Resource Report No. 7, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



