cedar in the Coastal Plain, redcedar in the Piedmont, 
and white pine and hemlock in the mountains were 
also cut too heavily. An increase in loblolly pine in 
the Coastal Plain partially compensated for these 
losses, but the bulk of the deficit was made up by the 
substantial increase in Virginia pine saw timber in 
the Piedmont. 
Virginia pine is much lower quality saw timber than 
shortleaf pine. The effect has been to lower the aver- 
age quality of the softwood saw timber, particularly in 
the Piedmont, and to make no gain in the total amount 
This is far from a fair exchange as 
of saw timber. 
Hardwood saw timber appeared to increase marked- 
ly during the 6-year period, particularly in the Coastal 
Plain and Piedmont. The only indicated decrease was 
in the “oaks” in the mountains, where over one-half 
of the lumber is cut from these species. Here, a rather 
large sawmill population has difficulty finding suitable 
operable timber. Many observations of sawmill oper- 
ations, supplemented by monthly records of lumber 
production, indicate that yellow-poplar in the Pied- 
mont was also subject to heavy cutting during the war 
years. The magnitude of this cut cannot be obtained 
from table 23, but it is safe to say that the hardwood 
stands of the Piedmont now contain relatively less 
‘ 
good-quality yellow-poplar and more poor-quality gum 
and oak than before the war. 
Balance in Cords 
The growing stock of all sound trees 5.0 inches 
d. b. h. and larger, measured in cords, increased about 
11 percent during the 6-year period (table 24). More 
favorable growth-drain ratios in the under-sawlog-size 
softwoods resulted in a small increase in the total vol- 
ume of softwood. Loblolly and Virginia pines in- 
creased in the Coastal Plain, but shortleaf pine in the 
Piedmont suffered an indicated loss of nearly one mil- 
lion cords. The greatest apparent increase in the 
softwoods was in the Virginia pine of the Piedmont. 
The increase of hardwoods was nearly four times 
that of the softwoods, partly because of a larger volume 
of growing stock but also because of the limited amount 
of cutting in hardwoods of less than saw-timber size. 
The net increase was about 15 percent, with all three 
species groups showing an appreciable increase 
(fig. 64). 
Trends in Composition of Growing Stock 
During the war years the proportion of softwood in 
total commodity drain decreased from its peak in 1941. 
TaBLe 24.—WNet change in total growing stock,! Fan. 1, 1940, to Fan. 1, 1946 
Softwoods | Hardwoods 
Item 3 All species 
Virginia Other Other soft-| Total soft- iS Gums and Other |Total hard- 
a yellow cans ea kae Oaks yellow- heed ae Soa 
pine Pines wv poplar ardwoods woods 
Growing stock, Jan. 1, 1940: M cords M cords M cords M cords M cords M cords M cords M cords M cords 
(Coastal) ait mesa seen eae ee we en 2, 340 29, 846 823 33, 009 OFF153 12,012 5, 848 27, 013 60, 022 
7, 725 13, 209 577 21, 511 19, 631 9, 118 7, 196 35, 345 56, 856 
1, 030 2, 661 1,915 5, 606 14, 620 2, 397 6, 261 23, 278 28, 884 
Hot al esses cee tree SS S SE S 11, 095 45, 716 3, 315 60, 126 42, 804 23, 527 19, 305 85, 636 145, 762 
Growing stock, Jan. 1, 1946: 
(Coastalublainesoesnristn ee ena Poa Ce Ne 2, 506 31, 252 676 34, 434 10, 128 14, 423 6, 972 31, 523 65, 957 
(Pied mon tees sep ea esse ak oe AS eS 10, 105 12, 285 664 23, 054 20, 885 11, 463 9, 144 41, 492 64, 546 
Mountaineers hee tag, HT eee Nee oe 13, 2, 656 1, 932 5, 930 15, 257 2, 654 7, 694 25, 605 31, 535 
OG ay ee SS gee ee 13, 953 46, 193 3, 272 63, 418 46, 270 28, 540 23, 810 98, 620 162, 038 
Net change, Jan. 1, 1940, to Jan. 1, 1946: 
(Coastalgblainwe tec ee ea Cian EA ea ee +166 +1, 406 —147 +1, 425 +975 +2, 411 +1, 124 +4, 510 +5, 935 
Pred mon tae ee ees papa rn re a SE eS +2, 380 —924 +87 +1, 543 +1, 854 +2, 345 +1, 948 +6, 147 +7, 690 
Vo tari Cal seem ee i as eee ene: AEROS DEE IE +312 =5 +17 +324 +637 +257 +1, 433 +2, 327 +2, 651 
ehotal pen neemmen ree RD aS Ce NE Se a +2, 858 +477 —43 +3, 292 +3, 466 +5, 013 +4, 505 | +12, 984 +16, 276 
Percentage change, Jan. 1, 1940, to Jan. 1, 1946: Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent 
(C@oastale bla tris ee eee pth pW es SE SO +7.1 +4.7 —17.9 +4.3 +10.7 +20.1 +19.2 +16.7 +9.9 
Teed rio ri epee ete oarsmen ee Res SEs +30. 8 —=7...0 +15.1 +7.2 +9.7 +25.7 +27.1 +17.4 +13.5 
Momn taint pene ncmens ya kena eo nee eee tee +30. 3 —.2 +.9 +5.8 +4.4 +10.7 +22.9} -+410.0 +9.2 
oe re | | : 
PAIISproNinces tesa keen ote ia ean Vee SS +25.8 +1.0 ~ =1.3 +5.5 +8.1 “F21232);- 23.3 +15.2 +11. 2 
| | | 
1 All sound trees 5.0 inches d. b. h. and larger. 
49 
Virginia Forest Resources and Industries 
