78 FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



secure better results. In some cases tlie old method lias been given 

 up before the new one has been found to be effective. In some counties 

 tbe road improvement work has been placed in the bands of the town- 

 ships. This has worked well in a few instances, but in others has failed. 

 On the whole, it does not seem to be the wisest policy. For good roads 

 are a matter of the utmost importance to the whole county, and even 

 to the State, and it would therefore seem logical for the State and 

 county (in cooperation) to construct and maintain at least the most 

 important highways. The construction and maintenance of macadam- 

 ized roads is also so expensive an undertaking that it would seem unfair 

 to ask the townships to undertake it, even though they realize that the 

 cost of good roads is far more than repaid by the reduction in the cost 

 of transportation. 



Convicts are employed on the public roads in four counties, and the 

 benefit here is marked. Every county could use at least its short term 

 prisoners in charge of a man who understands road making. This 

 force could be used for permanent work, and for jobs too large and too 

 heavy for the average road-hand, such as blasting rocks, changing 

 grades, and making causeways and culverts. Much good would follow 

 at comparatively little cost. A convict chain gang need not take the 

 place of the old method of working the road, but could be used as an 

 auxiliary. 



A few miles of macadam road have been constructed in Cherokee, 

 Haywood, and Henderson counties, and sixty miles or more in Bun- 

 combe County, where, however, there is some loss in effectiveness from 

 lack of proper maintenance. It seems to be the general belief that after 

 a good road is constructed there is no need to repair it; yet improved 

 roads wear out just as any others. The Appalachian Good Roads As- 

 sociation, organized in Asheville in the fall of 1909, gives good prom- 

 ise, and a practical interest in road improvement has resulted in several 

 of these counties. 



FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



Forest management is the practical application of the principles of 

 forestry to the handling of forest lands. Its object is to make such 

 lands continuously produce at the least cost the largest amount of the 

 most valuable forest product (sawtimber, pulpwood, poles, etc.) which 

 they are capable of producing. To do this it is necessary to secure a 

 full stand of the most valuable species best suited to a particular area, 

 and to keep them growing as rapidly as possible. 



The farmer looks beyond the present crop and keeps up the fertility 



