FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



79 



of his farm. The orchardist plants apples or pecans, and spends money 

 and time for several years without receiving any immediate returns. 

 The forester looks forward in the same way, though through a longer 

 span of years, for his returns. The timberland owner should harvest 

 his timber crop in such a way that the capital invested in the land itself 

 will not be lost, but will bring increased future returns. 



The management of a forest falls naturally under two main heads : 

 (1) The removal of the timber and reproduction of the new stand; 

 and (2) The care of the stand. Under (1) the following topics will be 

 treated: (a) Waste in logging; (b) Injury to young growth; and (c) 

 Methods of cutting to secure reproduction and to benefit the trees left. 

 The methods of cutting will be given for each of the forest types which 

 have been treated under Forest Description. Under (2) the following 

 topics will be treated: (a) Thinnings (cuttings in young stands to in- 

 crease the rate of growth and favor the more valuable trees, but which 

 should also yield at least a small money return) ; and (b) Protection, 

 chiefly against fire and grazing. 



Also under forest management are generally included the sale of 

 timber, and forest extension, which is artificial reproduction of patches 

 where the forest has failed to reproduce naturally, or of land which, 

 though now bare, is best suited to forest growth. These two subjects 

 are, however, so new and so little understood by forest owners through- 

 out the United States that it will be clearer to treat them independently 

 of forest management. 



REMOVAL OF THE TIMBER AND REPRODUCTION OF THE NEW STAND. 

 WASTE IN LOGGING. 



There is great waste in the manufacture of timber, from the forest 

 to the consumer. Much of this waste, however, is unavoidable under 

 present conditions. Fifteen to twenty years ago thousands of the finest 

 poplar trees in the mountains were cut down and only two or three of 

 the best logs taken from each tree. The rest was left in the woods to 

 rot. Much more recently millions of feet of hemlock timber were cut 

 and left lying in the woods, only the bark being used for tanning. Such 

 wholesale waste has to a large extent ceased on account of the big rise 

 in the value of timber. There is, however, still much room for more 

 economical methods. 



Waste in logging is of two kinds: (1) The incomplete utilization of 

 the trees that are cut; and (2) the failure to cut merchantable trees 

 which will probably decay or blow down before there will be another 

 opportunity to log the area. 



