




FIGURE 49.— Improved fire protection has helped to reduce timber losses in South Carolina. 
fuel-wood drain in this tobacco-growing section. As 
with domestic fuel wood, however, there is a tendency 
to substitute oil for wood when tobacco prices are 
high. In all probability the total amount of fuel wood 
produced will not drop much below the 1946 level, 
but it should be possible to reduce gradually the drain 
on sound trees and obtain a larger part from cull trees 
and mill waste. 
State-wide improvement in fire protection (fig. 49), 
Timber Supply Outlook in South Carolina 
the virtual cessation of turpentining, and the removal 
of most of the overmature timber have helped to reduce 
mortality losses. In 1946, saw-timber mortality from 
fire, insects, littleleaf, and other natural causes was 230 
million board feet less than in 1936. Intensification of 
fire protection activities and increased efforts to salvage 
diseased timber will reduce mortality to some extent, 
but at its present low level further substantial reductions 
cannot be expected. 
39 
