Timber Growing and Logging Practice in the Southern Appalachian Region

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TECHNICAL BULLETIN No. 250 AUGusT. 1931
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

WASHINGTON. D. C.

TIMBER GROWING AND LOGGING

PRACTICE IN THE SOUTHERN

APPALACHIAN REGION

By E. H. J,'nOTlliNGHA M, /Hrccto/' A/Jllltl/lcM{I/~ Porcst E.I.!/lerimont- StatiDl",

Forc.~t .':iQ1JjcC

Introduction by R. Y. 8TU,\RT, Ji'(Jrcstcr, Forcst Service
CONTENTS
rug!' Page
I ntrodnction __________ 0 _____________ '_0 ___•• Measures necesSIIry to keep forest lands pro­
'I'ho thnber·snpilly prohlem in the southern ductive-Continued.
Ap(lalachiuns_.__ .... _.__ ._ ... _ .• _._ 5 Logging practice-Continued.

Distrihution and condition oCtimberlllnd 6

'J'imber growiJlg for industrial nCt'(js~.___ 7 In!l;;~;~e~~~~t__~~_~~_~~~~~~_:~~I~i~ 66
DC\'olo[lmontoCtho lumber industry _ 8 Selection of seed trees________________ 69
NUotioldiw Ctoiuftn'o onClisnmu8o1u1 st ipmrobdelHr •-•t.io _n._. . ____ .._• 1140 Mrarnoapgse_m_ ..e _n_ .t _o. f_ f_o_r_e_s_t_s_ _to_ _p__ro__d_u_c_e_ _f_u_l_l .t_i_m__ b_o_r iO
'['iumscboe.r g_r.o..w in_g._ a_ mi ..t h_e._ p .r.o _b.l.e _m_ _o_f_ I.n.n.d. 17 j,'UIJ-t-TtrOaPc tms abuelaogwe mtheen ts llCruort 1ll azrognee _t_i_m__b_e_r i1
FnlidoConro.sm _ t_pl m.o. st_i_ ta iloTne eot f.c to_hne.t i _nC_uoro_eus .ts_• l..i.m ___• h_. e_•_r_ __1__1__r_o___d _U_•C_•- 2~(1) IMWmeeptehrdooinvdges m _o_fe_ nc_u_t t_ct_iun_gt_t__i__n__g__ __a__n__d___ _g___ir_ d__l_ i__n__g___________ 777-31l
Mountllin COl'ests _____ . __ •••. ____ ._ 21 Thinning____________________________ 75
Plato1lullnd valloy Corcsts_____ ...__ • 22 Slnsh disPosaL _________ .____________ 75
'Hfhcie,.y"!i,tehl·oc tv oaClutoh eo fC tohrees st.r !cci_e_s ~._~ __. .._ _ _"_._ __._ ~ •_•~ 3250 SMparnuclleg-efomreesntt moCl lCnRurgme mwoeondt sf_o_r_ f_u_l_l _c_r_o_p_s____ 7i85
Ylolll DC the old·~rQwth Corest.___ .__ 30 Old-growth stands___________________ 79
Yiohl oC repcatedly cnlled Core8t .. ___ 31 Second-growth stands_______________ 80
FornY~ti-elllllr eoCd t5l0r(n:aogned_ _g__r o. w__ t.h. ._ ___ •_ ._ .._ ._ __ ____ _• 33~7 SCpoenctireosl tooC bgera zfainvgo_r_ed__________________ ______________ 8810
Essttlalhnldissi_ll_n .e.n.t. a_m_ •i _e_n r._ly. _d_e_ \•'_e_l •o.p m__e .. n__t _o •C 40 Cooperative marketing______________ 81
On unhurned cut·over londs _____ .___ ·10 Sufmoremsta rlyan odfs _r_e_c_o_m__m__e_m__l_l_lt_i_o_n :s _ _C_o_r _h_n__u_d l.i_n__g 82
fAioCetderl iInIgre sa nodn sepur to'Oll\t' erre pluronddus_c ti. o_n___ ._ __._ _ 44:11 To kFeierpe Cproerevset nltainodns _ _p_r_o_o_u_c__ti_v_e_________ .__________ 8822
~'oreEsItT-iencstoecCtcdnolmllpacgteil_io__n_ i n• _y__o_u_n_ g._ st.n.n _d__s 4·I7ii ILnosgegcitn cgo nptrroaLct_i_c_e_ _____ .__________________________________ 8B3-j
'I'heIIcnnhsseeecsctttsns anuIltTT heeclcittgiinnhggL fl _lov_r_ien_s_gt .tp r_r_oo .eds.u_.c__.ts .._ .__ ___ ._______ 414790 'ro pSLrpoarrdguuect 1etl i fmfourbcli.e< trLi _mtr_ab_c_ets_r__ _c__r_o__p__s________________ ____________________ 888555
Economy In resorving small trees Cor Farm woods___ ._____ . ________ .______ 85
growth ___ •• ___ •__ . __ .• _. ____ •___ .__ M
MdeUasSu!ri\e'os .n. e_c__e_s s.l_II. "~ -_.t•o _ _k_e_e_p_ _C__o_re_s_t_ _la_n__d_s_ _p_r_o •­ 57 PuoCh ltiimc bnecrtliaonnd s_n_e_e_d_e_d_ _f_o_r _b_e__tt_e_r_ _d_e_v_e_l_o_p_m__e_n_t 86
..F IreNC paeruecsdve esCn olorl rOc HolLorep.s _e__r__a _•t _~i _o___n .". _ .w._~._. _ ___ __. _.* .._. ___ ._~. ____________ __.. ______ [55,778 AppSeonCudorirc xpe_sr_ i_vo_af_ t_et_e f.c_oh r_ne_si_ct_ nm_l_ n_an_d_a_vg_ei_cm_e_e _na_tn___d___ __s__e__r_v__i__c__e 8877
Oenerulmeosnres_.___________ .______ 59 Common and scientific names of trees
Speciul measures_ ___________________ 63 reCerred to in text______________________ 87
I.ogging practice_._______________________ 66 Literntul'('; «-d_ ____ ________________________ 89
INTRODUCTION
ForcstJ·y in the United States. is no longeI- merely a theory or a
~:iHbjl'l't for disclISl:iion; It has got clown to concrete things in the
wooels. Nor is the f,'Towing of timbelo cQnfined to public lands; it
G:!8111'-:!1--1 1
?, TEOliNIOAL BULLETIN 250, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRIClTLTURE
is slowly IIlllking headway on hmd in private ownership. It is
becoming a f01'111 of lund ll111nagement, developed through praetical
meaHUI'eH for protecting forest growth from fire Ilnd other destrllctive
ngeneil~8, fO!' logging WOOdlttnllH so as to carryover or reproduce a
('rop of timber, and for planting forest trees on cut-over areilS. The
vallie of timbeL', with other economic considerations, is causing land­
owners 1l1?I'C lind more widely to study the possibility of profitable
reforestatIOn, These developments ha\'e created a general demand
for information Oil the timbcr-growing methotls adapted to the
\'I1riollS tyPt'S of forest growth in the Unitell State::; and what these
llIethods will GOfit,
Timber euiture, like thc growing of farm crops, is necessal'ily
~o\'Cl'ned in allY country by the soil and climate, by thc requirement:;
of nati \'C fOl'Pfit trees, lind by loeul eeonomil: ci rClllll!:>tallee::;, LessonH
1lI1l)' be <l1'aWll from thl' t;xperipnce of other cOlintries, as the United
Statl'S liaS tlmwn upon the 10reHtry of Europe, But profitable
mnthods of growing ti muer, part,ieularly under the will<~ rangc of
10L'Pst typPH and economic conditions in the United States, can be
worlwd Ollt only fl'OIll 0111' o\\'n experience and investigation, region
by region, lIenee, to llll'et the Ill'ed lor information on practical ways
aiHi lileanH of ~ro\\'ing timber profitably in the variollH parts or the
(TnitC'l1 States, it is illllhntallt. that the results 01 Ollr own experiences
and ill\'eHtigatioll to date be brought togethel~ tmd set 10rth in the
dl'al'l'st possiblC' way, .
'rhis the ]i'm'pst St'I'\'i('(~ has nth'lIIph'd to do in II series of publica­
tions dealing with 12 of the principal fOl'est regions of till' United
Statl'H, Tht' information PI'cst'lltecl has been gathered from many
different SOUI't'l'S, illeluding the experience of lanclownprs who have
l'ngagecl in refol'estation, An eflol't has beell made to bring to­
gether the gist of. what has thus far been learned about the growing
of timber in th'~ Fnited States; and the results ha\'e been 'verified
as far as possible by consultation with the forest industries, State
foresters, ami forest sehool!>, This bulletin thus undertakes to set
forth what HI'E' beliHed to be ~he soundest methods of I'cforestation
ns y~t dE'\'e!opecl in om common experience and study in the Appa­
iaehlan regIon,
N(,(·essarily. no finality is ('laimed for the menfiures proposed, Tilll­
bl'I' growing in e\'(,I'Y eOllntry has come about· through a gradual
l'\'olution in industrial methods and the use of land, All too little
is yt't known of till' upst methods of growing timber in the Appa­
laehian rt'gion, Afi tilllc goes on, resl'arch and pmctical. experiencc
will add greatly to the succefiS and certuinty of the practice in our
woods, just as, through expel'jence and study, Alllcrican agriculture
has sh'adily bpcollle more highly de\-eloped and manufacturing proc­
PS~l'S luwe bet'll pedected, But pnough is now known nbout growing
tilllber in till' Appalaehian region to go right ahead, BelieVing that
the forest-land owners of this region are ready to engage in timber
growing, the Forest Sen,iec has endeavored to plaec bE'fore them in
('()ll('ise term::; the best sugge::;tions and guides which itH experiencc
to <latl' afl'ol'cis,
In this bulletin the measures propoHed ha\'e bE'ell arrnnged in two
genpl'al groups, The fil'st inelndes the first steps. or ·the least that
I11UHt be clone uncleI' the local physical conditions, to prevent timber­
3
TIMBER GROWING IN THl!~ SOUTE:E}'{N APl:'ALAOIlIANS
bearing laud from becoming uuprocludive. These measures, in
which the prevention of fire is of outstanding importance, represent
broadly the lowest cost that must be incurred to keep forest lands
l'easonnbly pL·oduetive. They have been worked out primarily from
the standpoint of the landowner who may not be ready to engage in
real timber culture but who wishes to prevent cut-over tracts unsuit­
able for any purpose except timber growing from becomin~ a liabil­
ity on his hands. '1'he Forest Service believes that these nrst steps,
01' mininlll1n measures, should be speedily appiied to all of the forest
lands in the Appalachian region and that public policy should en­
courage their universal application in such ways as protection from
fire and the adjustment of fcn·est taxntion to the business of timber
growing.
'rhe second group of mensures, proposed as a system of mana~e­
lllent to produce full timber crops, constitutes "'hat may be called
uesi ruble forestry pmctice as far as OUI' knowledge· and experience
to date ennble liS to determine it. These measures are designed to
grow reasonnbly complete crops of the more valuabl'e timber trees,
making full use of the productive capacity of the land. Such recom­
mpllllations are addressed primarily to the landowner who wishes
to use his property IIp to its full earning power for timber culture.
It is impossible to frall\e any general set of mensures of this charactet'
that arc atiaptell to the individual neells of particular holdings or
industrial establishments. This is true particularly of forest regions
like the southem Appalachians, which include It great variety of local
situations, both in types of forest growth and in economic cirCUlll­
stances, Hence, in presenting this group of suggested measures, the
FOI'est Service has attempted only to outline the more general and
fun(lamental things, with illustrative methods of for\~st practice.
'rhe detn ils of intensh'e fore!itry, like the details of intensive agri­
culture OL' engineering, call' for an expert survey to wm.'k out the
plans llI1l1 methods best adapted to a particular tract of land or a
particular business. One of the most important features of plan­
ning for the manngement of a forcst property or a supply of ra,,'
material for a forest inclustry is to devise not simply logging methods
that will l'l'l)l'(xlu('e crops of timber but a scheme of operation that
will affo I'll a l'ontilluou~ yield of the products l1esired. Thus only
lllay sustained eaL'l~ings be realized or a sustained supply o~€ raw
material made It,'ailable.
It is not always practicable to draw a hard and fast line between
the fil'st steps that will maintain some degree of proc1uctivenesB on
forest lund and the llIore intensive measures that will bring the
quantity and quality of wood produced up more nearly to an ideal
mallagement. The nuthOL' has not attempted, therefore, to deal with
the two genel'al types of forest practice as separate and distinct but
has !'atIH'" endeavol'l'tl to present a common-sense and practical re­
Slll1H.\ of the YIHious steps in timber growing in the form that wiN
be most helpful to men to whom timber growing is a concrete busi­
ness and logging problem. At the same time it is hoped that the
bulletill '.viII ha,'e ynlue for the everyday reader who is interested in
forestry as un il1lpOl'tant phase of lunel use in the United States and
in the puotic policies deHignec1 to bring forestry about. , .
It is illl possible for It publication necef;sarily dealing in broad
terms with the conditions existiug O,'CI' a. large region to attempt any
4 TECHNICAl, BTJLLETIN 250, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRlCUL'rlIRE
brass-tack conclusions 011 the cost and returns of timber growing.
The approximate cost of the measures advocated is indicated as far
as practicable, with the extent to which they may be of benefit to
logging operations, but with no attempt to segregate the items charge­
able to harvesting onc crop of timber from those which shouid be re­
garded as invested in a following crop. Conservative estimates of
the futme yields of timber that may be expected under the practices
recommended are given where facts appear to warrant them; but
110 forecasts of the profits to be derived from commercial reforesta­
tion are attempted. The financial aspects of forestry can not be
dealt with in genel'al terms. Here again expert advice must deal
with the land and business problems of the individual forest owner
01' manufacturer.
As a broad conclusion, the Forest Service has tremendous faith in
the commercial Vl'omise of timber growing to American landowners.
The law of sup'ply and demand is working steadily to create timber
values which will pay fair returns on forestry as a·business. The
economic history of other countries which have passed through a
cycle of virgin-forest depletion similar to that ...vhich the United
Atates is now traversing points to the same conclusion. The time is
fast, approaching when forestry, and forestry alone, will supply the
enormous quantities of wood dema.nded by American markets. The
fundamental laws of business tend in the nature of things to enable
the markets for forest products to be supplied at a profit to the
grower of timber. The returns already being obtained from this
form of land employment at many points in the eastern United States
show plainly enough that this relationship between the valne of tim­
lwr anel the cost of producing it is already coming into being.
To the men who own forest-producing land in the United States
or who are engaged in industries which require timber as raw mate­
rial, forestry now offers It commercial opportunity. Satisfactory
returns from forestry can not be promised in sweeping terms any
more than retm'ns from the llllUlufacture of lumber 01' paper. But
the opportunity for a profitable employment of capital and business
talent in the growing of;;imber merits the same considera.tion and
the same expert guidance industrial opportunities in the conver­
l <;
sion of timber. This applie,,> with special force to commercial insti­
tutions which have made large capital investments in 1111lnufncturing
plants and distributing organizations, clependent for their mainte­
nance upon a future snppiy :,f forest-grown material. It applies
also to owners of land, in large tracts or farm woodlands, the earning
capacity of which lies mainly :n the ~rowing of trees, and which,
withont tl-ee growth, will become either [\, doubtful asset or an out~
right liability.
The, Forest Service earnestly asks the {orest-lancl owners of the
.Appalachian region to determine, for themselves, with the same care
with which they WOl)ld approach any other busines:> problem,
'\vhether timbet' growing does not offer a commercial opportunity
which should be grasped. It commends this bulletin to them, not
as a complete, or authoritative scheme that can :forthwith be followed
with profit in their own woods, but as a starting point :in utilizing
the opportunities that forestry may offer. '
R. Y. STUAUT,
5
'.tIMBER GROWING IN ~I:HE SOUTHERN APPAIJACHIANS
'fHE TIMBER-SUPPLY PROBLEM IN THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIANS.
'rhe southern Appalachiun regioll (fig. 1) consists of two long
and rugged mountain systems surrounded und penetrutcel by well­
populated plnteaus anel valleys. The western system of mountains
compl'isps the Alleghenies and the Cumberlands; the enstern--or
the southern Appnlachians proper-takes in the Blne Ridge and
Smoky Runges and cross ranges. The mountains are mostly forest
land (pIs. 1 and 2) llnd al'e adapted by clim:lte und soil for the
{
mrn
PLAT~AUS
III!8Il8 MOUNTAINS
~APPALACtjlAN VALLEY
_ NATIONAL FORESTS
growth of eomnwl'C'ial forest products in variety unequaled outside
of the Tropics. Hpuvy forests OIlCP covered these slopes, and these
while they rpmained mnde til(' soutlwl'll Appalachians It timber­
producing l'enter which grew in importance as indlli';trial delllands
for wood pl'oclucts increased in tIll' slllTOlmcling region. From the
mountains there are many outlets by mil and motor road to near-by
Illdllstrinl centers in the gl'eat Appalachian Vulley, which st'pnmtes
the two main ranges, :ll1c\ to those on the Allegheny, Cumberland,
alld pied mont platellus, wh ieh ski l't the ll1ollnt,ains 011 the west, south,
and east. Railroads lead in uU directions thrOllg-h the region to
6 TEtlITN'1CATJ BtrLU~TIN ::lilO, U. S. DB'PT. OF AGHI(!ULTUHl';
large mnrkets and shipping points outsi(k Thl' plateaus amI val­
leys themse/v(>s nrc dotted with farm woods, isolated, 01.' contiguous
tn stri.ps or blocks, which 111'0 even more aceessible to mltl'kpts I han
III.(' lllollntain timi)('danclH.
Aftel' 1II111ly years of logging the original timuer supply of this
region is nt'aring its end. Its replucl'llll'nt hus been hindered by
repeatp(l cullings whieh remon,a lllO,.;t of the usable timbl'r lind ldt
the poorest. Forest firl's, insects, nnd the eil.estllut blight hnve also
eontl'ibllted to l'edueing the growth rate on otherwise productive
i'or('st soils. Thus, while there remaiu in the mountains a number
of timbt't" tracts lalW~ enough to sllpply double-band sawmills for
one or two decades, as well as mllny smalier sl'cond-gl'owth stands
()I~ II1I1('h promise, the greater purt of the fOl'ests huye not ouly lost
in Iletual vnlllo of standing timbel' but have suffel'l'd lIIore ()I" lCSH
seV<'I'ply in their capacity to pl'oducc valuablc new growth. To main­
tain the lnrge HuppticS of lumuct' nnd other fOl'est products which
11n\'p hithcrto been ILvniluble withill the region for its in(lustl'inl
Ileeds, th(\ pl'odudivl' value of the timberlands must be preserved
where it still cxists alld shollid be l'estorl'<1 on the larger lll'l'a::; where
it hus Ul'l'1l lOHt or reduced. The timb('I'-~iUpply problem of the
souUwl'n Appalat'hiall I'l'gion iH therefol'e mainly one of C011YCl't1ng
d('pletl'd and poorly growing forCHts into Htands whieh will be both
rapidry and continuou~ly prodnctive. It is the purpose of this bul­
letin to descl'ibe bl'iefty the southel'Il Appalachian forests, the demands
II floll thetll, the hc,tors that nifeet theil" l'l'production, gl'owth, lmLl
\'nlue, nml tIll' kind of treatment which appears JleCPSslu'y to main­
tain the pl'odl1l'tivity of the 'fol'eHb;, or, bettel', to insllre perpetual
tillliJel' yields of the largest amoullt and highest valtl<\ that the soil
wiII sllstnin.
DISTRIBUTION AND CONDITION OF TIMBERLAND
For the l'ntil'(' l'l'gioll the area, of aetnal lllid potrntil11 timberland
amollnts to ubont GO,771,OOO acres, or 59 pel' cent of the total land
arl'll. Or this, more than 21,000,000 acres Ul'e in the l1loltntltins, but
Iwady 4<WOO,OOO aCl'es uI'e on the plateaus. Extensive timber tracts
hO\\'~'\'Pt', arc fOllnd only in tIlt' lIlotllltuillS; on tltl' pluteal~s the forest
('onsistH ('hil'f1" of fal'lll woods of ;')0 U(,I'l'S 01' ll'ss. Fanll woods also
muln' up ilO \)L'I' ('ent of the total fon'st UI'l'lt in tlH' 1HOlllltuiIlR, bllt
hel'c tllt'Y a1'('. lal'gpl.' nnd W'lwl'Ully adjoin OIW arlOthL'l" and the more
('xtellsive tillliJPl' tr'llctS. Thtls, thl' fOl'psts of the IllOlll1tains and
those of tIll' platealls aIHl valleys diffel' uoth ill continuity alld size
of separately owned tmets. ViewNllts a 801lr('e of pel'pPillal supply,
tlw fal'lII w~,ods PI'(,Sf'lIt conditions quitl' c1iifl'rent fl'om those of the
1I1<H'P ('ollcpntrah,(j tilnlwrlands in thl' mountains. '
'rite eight national flwe:-;ts in the I'l'gioll 011 ,Jllne 30, 1929, cOW'l'cd
an nW'l'pgatp area of 1,!)SS,;')u;1 aeres, 01' about 3 pel' tent of the
totall;;'pa, of actual or potplll'ial fol'l'st. This al'ea is being increased
uncleI' the Pl'tlSL'Ilt Fl,(h'I'al program for national fOl'e:-;ts in thl) south­
('I'll Appalachians. National pal'ks, for which Innd is now being
pllI'chased, an' ('xpeetl'(/ to ('0\'('1' 755,000 aeres in North C:lI'olina,
T('nnl'HSPP, and Vil'ginia. Ael'lll'ding to 1'('('(,lIt st:atisties (1':3),1 State
I ltfill(~ UlllI\lJ..l'~ ill plIl'l'llt:hpsl~s refl'l' to LiI·,'rll(lII'C ('11('[1, p, S!l.
7
'.tJ1\,fBER GROWING IN THg SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
forests IImi par'ks occupy 15,393 acres in ,"Vest Vil'ginia, 3,835 acres
in Maryland, 3,G24 acrcs in Kentucky, 1,724 acres in North Carolina,
and :3RR acres in Virginilt, Ol' a tobd of 25,164 acres, Municipal and
coullty fOl'csts and parks, Jal'gely for the protection of water supplies,
aggregate 61,727 acr'cs in North Cltrolina, Maryland, and Virginia.
The total arett 1I0W or soon to be ullder public administration as for­
ests or park in the southern Appalachian States is therefore about
2,830,000 acres, or less than 5 per ccnt of the total forest area.
Ninety-live per ccnt of the area suitable. for timber growing in the
southern Appltlachian region is privately owned.
The area· of timbl'dand in public ownership is too small to make
Yl'ry much difference in the production of the region as a whole, no
llIH ttl'r how well protected and managed the public forcst lllay be.
The fOl'cst proulem is therefore chiefly one of privateiy owned tracts,
large and smalL In the mountains the large size of many of the
holdings and the g('neral continuity of forest land favor large-scale
lllallag('lIll'lIt. In the plateau and valley regiolls, accessibility and
the challl'(' of occupying labor during oft periods offer different but
equally advantageous possibilities fot' smaLl-!:k.\le pl'Oductive treat­
nwnt, It is lwident that if the southem Appalachian forests are to
l'ontilluc as a sl,Jf-susta.ining supply for the industrial and domestic
Il('('ds of the region, this must be bl'Ought about through the intelli­
gent pradic'e of for'l'stry, and that largely by the private owners.
In its prest-nt condition the forest val'il's from virgin timber stands
to hetH'i 1,)' ('Ut-O\'t'l' land, from unburned to badly fire-damaged'
stands, and from fl'pshly cut, newly reproducing areas to dense stanrls
of St'COllct gr'owth, Virgin stands rcmain in only a few places, mostly
in the mountains, Theil' !tggregate area has been roughly estimated
at less than ;300.000 acres in 'Yest Virginia, 220,000 acres in
,Tirginia, ami between 1,000,000 and 1,500.000 acres in the rest
of the region, E\,(~II these, estimates include It considerable area
that has been lightly clllled in the past. The remainder of the
mOl1ntain t imber'land bas been culled or cut over more or less
hmwily, The (,lIttings have generally been pnrtial, removing the
l)l'o(lu('ts that could be profitably taken at the time and thereby in­
t'I'{'asing the proportion of nnmE'rchantable timber in the stand,
Many trH('ts have been worked ovcr repeatedly for different products
at intNTab of a few years, On the other hl.!.nd, clear cutting was at
one tillle t'xtellsively pmcticecl in Maryiand, Virginia, 'Vest Virginia,
and It few places in the States farther south, to supply charcoal wood
for the many iron f1ll'naces that once were operated. On the lands
thus Cllt OYer a dense, even-aged second I!rowth has appeared, con­
sisting principally of mixed hardwoods, Most of the second-growth
stands .that J'('nwin on the" coalp(i lands" are now from 30 to 80 or
more y(~al'S old, ,
The ...-Itrying conditions that must he (lealt with in bringing cut-over
urpas into continuolls production will be discussed at a later point in
the bulletin,
TIMBER GROWING FOR INDUSTRXAL NEEDS
....
.As H 1'OIU'('(' of s1Ipply 1'(11' lo('al ind1lstries and for shipment to out­
'" sid(' markE'ts the s01lthern Appaladlian forests haTe played an im­
pOl'taut part ill the ~conomic development of the regioil. The kinds