Excelsior 
More than a third of all the excelsior plants in the 
United States are located in Virginia, all but one in 
the Coastal Plain, with 14 of the 17 operating plants 
in Caroline and Hanover Counties. In 1945, these 
17 plants (fig. 51) used 30,000 cords of wood, al- 
F-441748 
| Ficure 51.—Excelsior plants are concentrated in Hanover and 
Caroline Counties. This plant uses a maximum of 10 cords 
of wood a day. 
most entirely loblolly pine. Wood is purchased in 
180-cubic-foot units of peeled wood 5.25 feet long. 
The bolts are required to be straight-grained and rea- 
sonably clear; pieces 4 to 6 inches in diameter from 
fast-growing trees are preferred. 
Tanning Extract 
Nine plants in Virginia manufacture tanning extract 
from chestnut wood and chestnut oak bark (fig. 42). 
Five of these plants use oak bark only (fig. 52) , two use 
chestnut wood only, and two use both raw materials. 
In 1945 they purchased 64,600 cords of wood and bark, 
of which 5,700 cords (9 percent) was oak bark and the 
rest chestnut wood. None of this use, of course, con- 
stitutes a drain on the growing stock. Total produc- 
tion of extract wood in Virginia was 51,850 cords, the 
balance being brought in from surrounding States. 
Wood is purchased in 160-cubic-foot units, while bark 
is usually purchased by weight. 
chestnut are entirely dependent on dead trees, since 
the chestnut blight has killed all but a few scattered 
small trees. 
However, a considerable volume of usable dead 
chestnut remains. A special survey made in 1942 in 
the whole southern Appalachian region showed that 
about 2.7 million units of accessible dead chestnut were 
available to plants in Virginia, equivalent to 15 years’ 
The plants using 
Virginia Forest Resources and Industries 
supply at full capacity. By 1960 it is probable these 
plants will have ceased operations, leaving oak bark 
as the chief local source of tannin. The industry is 
confined to the Mountain province, where the two 
species are most common. 
= Feait 870 
Ficure 52.—Chestnut oak bark is one of the sources of 
material for the tanning-extract industry. 
Poles and Piles 
In 1945 pole and pile production amounted to about 
157,000 pieces, of which 144,000 were pine, chiefly 
loblolly. Two thousand pieces of oak, 7,000 of yellow- 
poplar and gum, and 4,000 of other species comprised 
the remainder. The Coastal Plain supplied 83 per- 
cent of all poles and piles and the Piedmont the rest. 
In 1940 it was estimated that Virginia had about 40 
million trees (half of them in the Coastal Plain) that 
would meet specifications of the American Standards 
Association for poles and piles. Although the Norfolk 
area and the Eastern Shore are noted for their produc- 
tion of long poles and piling, only 9 percent of the trees 
in this area would make sticks over 35 feet long. 
Even at prewar prices the net return from the sale 
of one pole greatly exceeds that from the same volume 
of pulpwood. The landowner in the Coastal Plain 
and southern Piedmont generally would be ahead by 
disposing of his tall, straight, and cylindrical trees for 
poles or piles rather than for pulpwood or even sawlogs. 
37 
