Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 67 forest is commonly manifested in the Southern Appalachians. In the selection of trees to be felled the small farmers, fo^ut' \^ei "Jl who for a long time were the only lumbermen in theaystem' 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 thev 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 extremes in this respect. The result is that they have reduced the general quality of the forests in a measure entirely disproportionate 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 youngor 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 faulty Removal of . ,. . 11 -i i ' faulty trees. trees of a merchantable size where there is already sufficient young growth upon the ground to protect the soil and serve as a basis for a second crop of timber. (See PI. LI V.) In extreme, cases, where the condition of the forest is seriously impaired by the presence of a large number of such trees or where they 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 theco^<J»"*°$£ timber trees may be encouraged in opposition to those of °[ valuable apt-
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).