TABLE 9.—Volume of timber in cords by species and class of material, 33), while in the Piedmont, the hardwood volume ine 
ego cnunucd this class was 69 percent of the total (table 29). In 
sc RS 
ine 
We 
Ren the mountains, of course, it was almost entirely hard- | 
aw-timber trees Under- ¢ 
Soe } sawlog- | Cull All ma- wood. af 
pecies | U size trees terial 5 . = A 
Sawlogs| UPP&F | trees Two courses of action, neither mutually exclusive, 
x : . 3 Se oneen n 
geen iS  N e | | appear to face pine-timber operators in Virginia. One — 
Hardwoods—Continued — | M cords | M cords | M cords| M cords| M cords is to adopt at once conscious steps of forest manage- — 
Other white oaks_______ | 337.3] 174.4] 1,232.9] 447.9] 2,192.5 sees : ; 
Birch te cakes aan eer | 100.6 59.5 218.6 291.1 669.8 ment to favor pine in the succession on their own 
Beech ese wee ene 761.7) 461.8] 614.2) 565.3) 2,403.0 lands; as a supplement to this, operators will need 
Hickory= o's ene 1,962.6] 1,069.4} 3,687.7] 981.2] 7,700.9 : : ‘| 
Gees: Bee pa 129-51. 66.2|. 177.01" 83.11. 455.8 to undertake the difficult and not always feasible task | 
Sugar maple_--________ 259.2) 158.5] 159.5} 315.2} 892.4 of favoring similar succession on the lands of others 
Ash.--_-----------..-_| 461-2] 247.6] 1,065.0] 633.0) 2,406.8 
Dogwood__-._-2-_-__-- cst ledeee ee 1,160.0| 288.6) - 1,448.6 
Bla ckslOocus tiecttee tees mesa pekinese | oie aa 1,096.0 185.0} 1,281.0 
Other merchantable 
hardwoods___ =-_____- 1,873.6] 1,059.2) 2,701.4) 2,330.4) 7,964.6 
SGHUDshand woods = sss: val ewan | Sees ian ee eee eS 1,355.8) 1,355.8 
SEF (Ss | 
otaleeeeae = lcs ane 32,998. 8/18, 363 .5/53,558.0:26,394.4/131, 314.7 
All live species_______ 64 281 .6|26,013 .8|75,167.7/29,434.3|194,897.4 
Dead chestnut_____________- 2,552.5] 1,083.0] 2,891.0] 3,086.3] 9,612.8 
All species-___-______| 66,834. 1|27,096.8|78,058.7/32,520.6]204,510.2 
Volume of Class of Material 
More than two-thirds of the total live volume in 
cords was in hardwoods (table 9), a total of 131.3 
million cords out of 194.9 million cords. An additional 
9.6 million cords was in dead chestnut. The sawlog 
equivalent of the board-foot volume (66.8 million 
cords) comprised one-third of the total volume, and 
upper stems of these same trees contributed another 
13 percent. Under-sawlog-size trees made up 38 per- 
cent, and sound wood in cull trees the remaining 16 
percent. Of the live volume in cull trees, 90 percent 
was in hardwoods—an indication of the damage to 
hardwoods caused by fire, ice, and other factors, and 
of the effect of poor site on tree form. Softwoods 
Z at AOS, : 2 Maer 
and hardwoods contributed about equal proportions Fo4a1765 
of the sawlog volume, but in under-sawlog trees there Ficure 33.—Hardwoods predominate in the understory, even 
in the pine forests of the Coastal Plain, and compete 
was about 2.5 times as much volume in hardwoods seen 2 : 
strongly with pine seedlings for space and nutrients. 
as in softwoods. This apparent excess is due in part 
to the higher diameter limit set for under-sawlog-size 
Soins hardwoods, 12.9 inches d. b. h. in contrast to 8.9 
for softwoods. However, a comparison of the cord 
volume in all sound trees up to 12.9 inches d. b. h. 
showed that the hardwood volume exceeded the soft- 
wood by nearly 25 percent. 
from whom they get their timber. The second course 
is for operators to recognize that their product in 
the next or succeeding rotations will be cut increas- 
ingly from hardwood species and to adapt their opera- 
tions to the use of more hardwood. Both courses— 
increase of softwood supplies and utilization of hard- 
That so large a proportion of the cord volume, espe- 
woods—will presumably be followed, depending on 
cially in the smaller trees, was in hardwoods is cause 
circumstances in individual cases. Needless to say, 
there will still be a lot of softwoods produced in Vir- 
ginia in future years, but the present ratio between 
the two species groups will probably be materially 
sawlog-size trees was in hardwood species in 1940 (fig. altered. i 
for thought. These young trees are the forest of to- 
morrow. Even in the Coastal Plain, which is forested 
largely with pine, 64 percent of the volume in under- 
26 Miscellaneous Publication 681, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
