SOUTHERK APPALACHIAN REGION. 



67 



forest is commonl}' manifested in the Southern Appa- 

 lachians. 



In the selection of trees to be felled the small farmers, forest under 0*1! 

 who for a long time were the only lumbermen in the^^^'®"^' 

 Southern Appalachians, have been governed by the same 

 considerations that govern lumbermen elsewhere. They 

 have taken the best trees and left uncut those of doubtful 

 value rather than run the risk of loss in felling them. 

 Furthermore, the fact that they have lumbered generally 

 on a very small scale and have often had great difficulties 

 with which to contend in the transport of logs has led 

 them to ext]-emes in this respect. The result is that they 

 have reduced the general qualitj' of the forests in a meas- 

 ure entirely dispi'oportionate to the amount of timber 

 cut. As a rule, only prime trees have been taken, and 

 those showing even slight unsoundness have been left 

 uncut, except where the stand of first-class timber was 

 insufficient. Diseased and deteriorating trees remain to 

 offset the growth of the forest by their decay and to reduce 

 its productive capacity still further by suppressing the 

 younger trees beneath them, while in the blanks made by 

 the lumbering worthless species often contend with the 

 young growth of the valuable kinds. In other words, 

 the lumbering has closely followed the selection system, 

 but the principles governing the selection have usually 

 been at variance with the needs of the forest. 



CONSIDERATIONS THAT SHOULD GOVERN IN THE 

 MANAGEMENT OF THE PROPOSED FOREST RESERVE. 



In order to bring about successful reproduction of the 

 desirable species and to maintain the quality and density 

 of the stand, lumbering in the mountain forests of the 

 Southern Appalachians must be governed by the following 

 main considerations: 



(1) Remove all diseased, overripe, or otherwise faultr Removal of 



■ 1 1 • 11 .1 /v" faulty trees. 



trees of a merchantable size where there is alreadv suffi- 

 cient young growth upon the ground to protect the soil and 

 serve as a basis for a second crop of timber. (See PI. LIV. ) 

 In extreme cases, where the condition of the forest is 

 seriously impaired by the presence of a large number of 

 such trees or where the}' overshadow and seriously retard 

 promising young growth, their removal may be financially 

 advisable when the sale of product no more than pays the 

 cost of the logging. 



(2) So direct the cuttings that the reproduction of the '^J/o^^^ 

 timber trees may be encouraged in opposition to those of °?J'^^"^'''® ^p^' 



