The 922,000 acres of bottom-land hardwood include 



7 percent of the commercial forest. Eight-tenths of 

 this acreage is in west Tennessee, on the fertile alluvial 

 lands of the Mississippi Delta and in broad belts along 

 the tributary waterways, particularly the Hatchie, 

 Wolf, Obion, and Forked Deer. In the Tennessee 

 Valley, construction of a network of reservoirs has con- 

 siderably reduced the type acreage. The principal 

 species include sweetgum, black and tupelo gums, 

 w T ater oaks, cypress, elm, ash, and willow. 



The southern yellow pine type is confined almost 

 entirely to the Plateau and east regions. It occupies 

 over 2 million acres, 17 percent of the commercial 

 forest area. Of the net cubic volume in the type, 35 

 percent is shortleaf pine, 22 percent Virginia pine, 



8 percent other softwoods, and 35 percent hardwoods. 

 Shortleaf pine occurs most frequently in association 

 with various upland oaks and hickory. On old fields 

 or burned-over areas, Virginia pine reproduces aggres- 

 sively and generally forms pure stands. 



Seven percent of the commercial forest, 894,000 

 acres, is in the cedar type. Although this type occurs 

 in all regions, its greatest concentration is in the basin 

 lands of central Tennessee where it occupies 28 per- 

 cent of the forest area. Here it frequently forms pure 

 stands. In mixed stands, hickory, elm, hackberry, 

 and red oaks are common associates. 



Other softwood types — white pine and hemlock — 

 are confined to the higher elevations of east Tennessee 

 and the northern part of the Plateau region. These 

 types cover only 108 thousand acres, 1 percent of the 

 commercial forest area. White pine and hemlock 

 make up three-fifths of the volume in this type. 

 Hickory, yellow-poplar, and black, scarlet, and white 

 oaks are the prevalent hardw^ood associates. 



Growing Stock 



The total volume of growing stock is 5.7 billion 

 cubic feet or 464 cubic feet (about 7 cords) per acre of 

 commercial forest. This includes the net volume of 

 both sawtimber and poletimber trees from stump to 

 a 4.0-inch minimum top diameter of the main stem, 

 inside the bark. Poletimber includes sound, well- 

 formed trees from 5.0 to 9.0 inches d. b. h. in soft- 

 woods; 5.0 to 11.0 in hardwoods. Sawtimber trees 

 are larger than these sizes. 



The concentration of growing stock is heaviest in 

 east and west Tennessee, where the commercial forest 

 averages about 8 cords per acre. In the interior 

 regions volume per acre averages 6 cords. Hardwood 



volume considerably exceeds softwood in all sections, 

 though softwoods, chiefly southern pines, reach an 

 appreciable volume in the east and Plateau regions 

 (fig- H). 



MILLION 

 CU. FT 



1,600 



EAST 



1,200 



800 



400 



WEST 



mm 



SOFTWOOD 



Figure 14. — Growing stock by Survey region, 7948-50. 



Sawtimber trees account for 3.4 billion cubic feet 

 of the growing stock; poletimber trees for 2.3 billion 

 cubic feet (fig. 15). This proportionally large volume 

 (40 percent) in poletimber trees emphasizes the young, 

 immature character of the forest. Although require- 

 ments for pulpwood and similar small-tree products 

 can be supplied by pole-size trees, much of the pole- 

 timber volume should be reserved for future produc- 

 tion of the sawlog-size material that constitutes the 

 chief requirement of the State's wood-using indus cries. 



Not included in the estimate of growing stock is an 

 additional 2.3 billion cubic feet of sound wood volume 

 that is largely unmerchantable. Of this, 28 percent 

 is in hardwood limbs, 69 percent is in cull trees — both 

 softwood and hardwood — and 3 percent is in salvable 



ALL TREES 



SAWTIMBER TREES 



POLETIMBER TREES 



:■:•:• .'■.■'.'.■.•.'.vi/ 



2 4 



BILLION CUBIC FEET 



HARDWOOD 



SOFTWOOD 



Figure 15. — Growing slock volume in poletimber and sawtimber treesl 

 1948-50. 



16 



Forest Resource Report No. 9, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



