In the bottom lands there are large quantities of maple, 

 sweetbay, water tupelo, and other soft-textured hardwood 

 timber, much of which is not of a quality suitable for lum- 

 ber, veneer, or other timber products. Utilization of this 

 material has been slow to develop because of lack of market. 

 The establishment of pulp mills that could use these low- 

 value species and poor-quality trees as a source of raw 

 material would be a boon to timberland owners. 



Studies made by the Southern Forest Experiment Sta- 

 tion indicate that in certain forest types good returns may 

 reasonably be expected under such a plan of selective cut- 



tine and integrated use. Growth studies show :,-; rhe 

 annual increment per acre of second-growth star - on 

 large tracts in the upper Coastal Plain (composed mainly 

 of shortleaf and loblolly pines) is as high as 201 board feet, 

 of which 186 board feet is pine and 15 board feet hard- 

 woods. A 10-year period of return may be adopted, since 

 volumes as low as 500 board feet per acre can be removed 

 with trucks at only slightly higher logging costs per M 

 board feet than volumes of 2 to 4 M board feet per acre. I n 

 this way, the nonearnine and low-earning timber mav be 

 removed whenever it can be sold profitably tor such uses 



Kli.i KK -.-. Sunium^r lortii iit,iujtrtej in Lotiimru, /'^J'. 



27 



