timber. volume per acre of the several types, and some 
of the most valuable species. In the Piedmont, it is 
confined to the river bottoms and, in general, is not 
important. 
The cove hardwood type (fig. 21) is distinctly a 
mountain type, although 27 percent of the total type 
area is reported by the Forest Survey as in the Pied- 
mont, owing to the inclusion in the Piedmont survey 
unit of the whole east slope of the Blue Ridge Moun- 
tains. Yellow-poplar is the most prevalent species, 
making up over one-half the volume in this type in the 
Piedmont and nearly one-fourth of the volume in the 
mountains. Principal associates are northern red, 
scarlet, black, and white oaks, sugar maple, and bass- 
wood. The cove hardwood is the most valuable moun- 
tain type, having the second highest saw-timber vol- 
ume per acre and the highest-priced species. As its 
name implies, it is confined to the north- and west- 
facing coves of the mountains and to the lower slopes, 
on deep, moist soils. 
The white pine type (fig. 22) is also confined to the 
White pine and hemlock make up over 
half the total type volume. White, scarlet, black, and 
northern red oaks, basswood, and yellow-poplar are the 
This type also includes 
mountains. 
principal hardwood associates. 
the very limited amount of red spruce found in the 
State. 
slope of the Blue Ridge in southern Virginia and in the 
The white pine type occurs chiefly on the west 
Shenandoah Mountains in the west-central part of the 
State, but smaller areas are well scattered throughout 
the whole Mountain province. 
The type map at the back of this report delineates 
the broad areas of the State within which the indicated 
forest type predominates. No attempt has been made 
to delineate minor types or to show agricultural land. 
Forest Condition 
Forest condition © is classified, on the basis of the 
size of dominant trees, eee stand volume, and 
cutting history, into three classes: Saw timber, cord- 
° For definitions of condition classes and tree-size classes, 
see Appendix, p. 57. 
wood, and reproduction stands. Saw timber may be 
either old growth or second growth. 
nearly twice that in cordwood (table 4, fig. 23) , in the 
Piedmont the proportion was nearly equal, while in 
the mountains there was considerably more cordwood 
than saw-timber acreage. 
Nearly three-fifths of all 
In the Coastal Plain the area in saw timber was | 
the reproduction stands were in the Piedmont. i 
FOREST 
CONDITION 
SAW TIMBER ry 
CORDWOOD 
REPRODUCTION 
ALL CONDITIONS 
20 40 
PERCENT 
Ficure 23.—Distribution of forest area by forest condition | 
and physiographic province, 1940. 
In the State as a whole, nearly one-half the forest 
area was in the saw-timber condition. Almost as 
large an area was in cordwood stands, while the re- 
maining 5 percent was classed as reproduction. 
Only 18,600 acres was classified as not restocking (fig. 
7D) 5 
duction. 
Of the State’s saw-timber area of 7,155,000 acres, 45 
percent was in softwood types, 55 percent in hardwood 
types.. Broken down by individual forest types, 42 
percent was upland hardwoods, 
loblolly and 
the remaining one-fourth mainly Virginia pine and 
bottom-land hardwoods (table 25, Appendix). That 
so large an area of forest land could still be classed 
but 
it must be remembered that the minimum yvolume- 
As- 
suming minimum diameters and heights, only 15 to 20 
and this area is included hereafter with repro- 
19 percent was 
pine, 14 percent was shortleaf pine, 
as saw timber is in some respect reassuring, 
per-acre requirements for saw timber are low. 
trees per acre are needed to classify a stand as operable 
saw timber. 
Of the 6,553,000 acres in the cordwood condition, 
only 39 percent was in softwood types, 61 percent in 
Taste 4.—Dzrstribution of forest area by physiographie province and forest condition, 1940 
Physiographic province Saw timber Cordwood Reproduction All conditions 
| 
E | Acres | Percent Acres Percent Acres | Percent Acres Percent 
Spastal blaine iets anaes e ee | 2, 477, 100 | 63.2 1, 276, 300 | 32.6 165, 800 4.2 3, 919, 200 100.0 
Predmiont tare a pian laos ie teen Na aa SN tN 2, 710, 700 | 46.5 2, 708, 000 | 46.5 409, 200 7.0 5, 827, 900 100.0 
Moparain= certian het | 1,967,000} 42.2] 2, 569, 000 55.1] 128,900 2.7) — 4,664, 900 100.0 
| 
ager cack Coes hs pn Asan See GN aS | 7, 154, 800 | 49.6 6, 553, 300 | 45.5 1703, 900 4.9 14, 412, 000 | 100.0 
| | | | | 
1 Includes 18,600 acres (0.1 percent of total forest area) in nonrestocking condition. 
18 
Miscellaneous Publication 681, U.S. Department of Agriculture 
