this period was marked by high production, culminat- 
ing in 1909 in a cut of 2.1 billion feet. The second 
and third decades were characterized by a gradual 
decline to the low of 450 million feet in 1932. Since 
then the trend has been generally upward, fluctuating 
during the war years between 1.0 and 1.2 billion feet 
(fig. 35). The total lumber cut in the 41-year period, 
1905-45, was 42.7 billion board feet, or 16 billion feet 
more than the total stand of saw timber in the State 
in 1940. 
Logging 
Cutting practices vary widely among the lumbering 
operations over the State, as is to be expected with 
such a variety of forest types, conditions, and terrain. 
Except on the larger operations in the Coastal Plain, 
and on most of the operations in the Mountain prov- 
ince, it is common practice to harvest most of the 
trees 10 inches and larger in diameter. In the moun- 
tains, over four-fifths of the softwood is cut from trees 
over 13 inches d. b. h., and over one-half of the hard- 
wood from trees over 19 inches d. b. h. The three 
large mills in the Coastal Plain, cutting chiefly loblolly 
pine, cypress, tupelo, and white-cedar, also obtain most 
of their logs from pine trees above 13 inches d. b. h. and 
from cypress and tupelos above 16 inches d. b. h. 
White-cedar is commonly cut to a lower diameter limit. 
Logging practice also varies, of course, with terrain, 
stand per acre, and size of mill. In all provinces, the 
small mills depend heavily on animals (fig. 36) for 
bunching logs in the woods and for skidding to the 
mill. Where the mill is too far from the timber for 
direct skidding, logs are often hauled by horses or 
mules, with the aid of “high wheels” or wagons, or by 
motortruck. The medium-sized mills, many of which 
are semipermanent, use animals for bunching in most 
F—44;794 
Ficure 36.—Horses or mules are commonly used throughout 
the State to bunch logs. 
cases, but depend more on trucks to haul logs to the 
mill. The few mills cutting over 5 million feet per 
year depend on more mechanical aids in logging, in- 
cluding steam skidders in the Dismal Swamp, and 
tractors (fig. 37) on drier ground. Mules or horses 
are also used for bunching in some locations. Truck 
(fig. 38) or railroad haul is the usual method of getting 
logs to the mill. 
e F-441796 
Ficure 37.—Tractors are used by larger mills to skid logs to 
road or railroad. 
The source of sawlogs varies considerably among the 
provinces and by size of mill. In 1940, for the State 
as a whole, 54 percent of the logs were from purchased 
stumpage, and 17 percent were cut under contract at 
a fixed rate per thousand board feet. Only 15 percent 
came from mill-owned land, 9 percent were purchased 
on a “delivered-at-mill” basis, while the remaining 
5 percent were custom-sawn (table 13). These ratios 
are believed to be approximately the same now. 
Only in the mountains is custom sawing an important 
source of logs, while contract sawing is most important 
in the Piedmont. In all units, purchased stumpage 
F—441805 
Ficure 38.—Trucks are being used increasingly to get logs to 
the mill. Note metal airfiled landing mats on roadway. 
30 Miscellaneous Publication 681, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
