FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 69 



tage to the forest and to tlie operator, tliougli there are two distinct 

 drawbacks. First, it occasionally happens that a defective tree is 

 needed for seed, either to prevent the occurrence of a blank or to favor 

 the reproduction of poplar, linn, or cucumber as against that of less 

 valuable trees. Secondly, the marketing of young immature trees, 

 which when larger will furnish valuable lumber, may not always be 

 the most profitable use to make of them. Young poplar trees under 

 12 inches in diameter are growing very rapidly, and it is a question 

 whether it would not pay better to allow them to grow than to cut them 

 at this stage for pulp. However, where a permanent market for this 

 class of material is assured, and adequate fire protection is afforded, a 

 short rotation of these quick growing soft wooded trees for pulp cau be 

 profitably practiced. 



Pine. — At present pine forms between 4 and 5 per cent of the pulp 

 wood used in Western I^orth Carolina. Up to a year or two ago its 

 use was only experimental, but it has passed beyond this stage. Al- 

 though all the species of pine common to the region have been used,, 

 the greater part of the cut in the past year or two has been white pine 

 and old field pine.* Pine is usually shipped with the bark on, because 

 it is hard to peel by hand. In this condition, it brings an average of 

 $3.50 a cord delivered at the railroad. It is usually treated by the 

 soda process, but makes a rather dark colored pulp even when bleached. 

 Little white pine is available for this purpose in the mountain coun- 

 ties, so that its use is not likely to be very much extended. The old 

 field pine or "jack pine," as the buyers often call it, is quite abundant 

 through the French Broad Yalley and in several other parts of the 

 mountains. The increase in the use of second growth pine for pulp 

 will probably mean a steady market for this material. This steady 

 market will be a great help to farmers in this part of the country, 

 because many old fields which are too poor or too subject to erosion 

 to grow corn are able to produce pine. A stand of pine 30 to 40 

 years old will probably be found the most profitable crop on such areas. 



TAN BARK. 



The tanbark industry, except for a few cords each year to supply the 

 small local tanneries, started about 20 years ago when several large 

 tanneries were established in the western Piedmont region, and began 

 to draw much of their supply from the mountains to the west. It was 

 not, however, until eight or ten years ago, when plants were established 

 within this region, that any general demand for bark arose. Since 



*01d field pine is the general name for second growth short leaf, pitch pine and scrub pine coming 

 up in old fields 



