Figure 35. — Chestnut, killed 

 by blight about 1920, is 

 still in demand for tannin 

 extract. Kentucky has about 

 134 million cubic feet of 

 dead chestnut, mostly in the 

 Eastern Highlands region. 



percent of the piilpwood cut (fig. 35). Mixed hard- 

 woods accounted for 45 percent of the pulpwood 

 and the remaining 4 percent was pine. Most of the 

 mixed hardwoods production was cottonwood, yel- 

 low-poplar, willow, soft maple, and sweetgvuTi. Only 

 43 percent of the wood cut was from growing stock, 

 mostly from poles. Most of the remaining 6 percent 

 was from limbs of sawtimber trees. 



More pine will be available in Kentucky for pulp- 

 wood in the future. In the Eastern Highlands region 

 alone there are nearly 100 million cubic feet of pine, 

 in 6- and 8-inch trees. These trees are growing at 

 the rate of about 8 million cubic feet per year, or 

 about 100,000 cords. Many of these young stands 

 need thinning. Furthermore, limby or otherwise 

 defective pines should be cut to promote the growth 

 of higher-value trees. In addition to the natural 

 pine stands, many pine plantations will need thin- 

 ning soon. Kentucky has also a large volimie of soft 

 hardwoods that are suitable for pulping. 



The total value of the wood produced for pulp 

 and tannin extract was about $534,000 delivered 

 at a loading point. This amounts to 16 cents per 

 cubic foot— a much lower price than is brought by 

 some other products cut from trees of similar 

 quality. 



About 47,000 man-days of labor were required to 

 produce the pulpwood and extract wood in 1948. 

 This is the equivalent of full-time employment for 

 about 188 men. 



Handle Bolts 



Tool-handle plants used 51/9 million board feet 

 of high-C[uality timber from Kentucky in 1948. Of 

 this 95 percent was hickory and 5 percent was ash; 

 all of it came from live sawtimber-size trees. In 

 general, timber owners make no provision to save 

 potentially high-quality timber for this use. 



This wood was worth about |273,000 delivered 

 at plants or loading points. The value per cubic 

 foot was 36 cents. 



About 13,000 man-days of woods labor were re- 

 tjuired to produce and transport this stock. Local 

 handle factories used about one-fifth of the material; 

 the rest was shipped out of the State for manu- 

 facture. 



Heuni Ties 



When the price for railroad ties is high and other 

 \\ork is slack, woods workers often hew a few ties 

 (fig. 36). However, most railroad crossties are now 

 sawed by portable sawmills. Both the "tie hack," and 

 the mill operator who saws ties prefer to work in 

 stands of small, well-formed, oak sawtimber. This of 

 course removes much potentially high-cjuality wood. 

 The tie hack boxes the heart of the log by hewing 

 off the outer slabs, which ordinarily cannot be used. 

 If the log is large enough in diameter, the sawmill 

 operator usually cuts high-quality lumber from the 

 slab material. 



Kentucky's Forest Resources and Industries 



29 



