G-i 



SOUTHEKN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



afforded them by their farm-;. These men are often hana- 

 pered by lack of capital, are generally wanting in the 

 knowledge I'equisite to good lunil)eriiig, and have had 

 always to contend with the difficult}' of obtaining expert 

 loggers to carry out the work. Nevertheless, the near- 

 ness of large bodies of merchantal)le timber, among which 

 are valuable kinds, such as Cherry, Black Walnut. Hickory, 

 and Yellow Poplar, has usually made a fair profit possi- 

 ble under even the most thriftless logging methods. This 

 desultor}' cutting has been going on for years, and although 

 the individual ef}'orts have been small, they have removed 

 the merchantable timber from the larger portion of the 

 accessible forests. 



RECENT LUMBERING METHODS MORE PROFITABLE, 

 BUT ALSO DESTRUCTIVE. 



AYhen the waning supplies of timber in the North and 

 East some fifteen years ago forced the loggers of those 

 regions to the South, the application of skillful and 

 systematic methods of lumbering began in the Southern 

 Appalachians. The newcomers, through the investment 

 of commensurate capital in logging outfits, the thorough 

 repair and extension of logging roads, and the generally 

 businesslike mode of attack characteristic of the trained 

 lumberman, have reaped a profit from their operations 

 entirely impossible under the slipshod, desultory lumbering 

 methods of the settler. 

 Nature of the The harm done to the forest in both cases is verv ffreat 



images. ... ' 



in proportion to the quantitj' of lumber cut. This is due 

 largely to the size of the trees and the fact that little care 

 is taken in the fellings. The damage to young growth is 

 increased by the absence of snow and by the fact that trees 

 are often cut when the}^ are in full leaf. 



The breaking down and w" ounding of seedlings and young 

 trees by the snaking of logs to the roadside or the river is 

 in some degree unavoidable; but the damage is often much 

 in excess of what is necessaiy. (See PI. LIII.) There are 

 often, however, many more snakewa3"s, or skidways, than 

 are necessary, and the application of a little system in laying 

 them out would save time and young growth on a lumber 

 job. On the higher and steeper slopes it is often the habit — 

 and one which can not be criticized too strongly, except 

 in those rare cases where it is absolutel}' necessary on 

 account of the gradient — to roll the logs from top to 



