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OCCASIONAL PAPERS -No. 30

February, 1934.

SOUTHERN FOREST
U. S. Forest Service

EXPERIi^NT STATION

New Orleans, La,

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR FORESTRY IN SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE'

By E. L. Demmon,

Director.

' Address delivered before the 35th Amiual Convention of The
of Southern Agricultural Workers, held in the Peabody Hotel,
Tennessee - February 1, 1934,

Association
Memphis ,

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR FORESTRY IN SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE

By S. L. Demmon.

Opportunities for forestry in southern agriculture
h5,ve become even greater since they were last discussed before this group
of southern agricultural workers a year age. Since that time American
agriculture has entered on a change greater than any it experienced in
the preceding century, the change from the old laisses faire system to
nationally planned economy. Through this change, embodied in provisions
of the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment
Act, the southern farmer’s opportunities for profit through management
of his v/oodlands have been distinctly enlarged.

Farm woodlands rarik high as an element in the agri-
cuclural economy of the South. In 1930 the 11 Southern Ste^tes, fz'om Vir-
ginia to Texas^, contained 57,866,000 acres of farm v/oodla/nds, a total that
constituted 30 percent of all their forest land and that came within 5,000,000
acres of equaling their total area in cultivation. According to estimates
by the United States Forest Service, southern farm woodlands contained in
that year more than 48 billion beard feet of merchantable timber, or 39
percent of the total volume of saw timber in the South. Census reports
classify nearly cne-fourth ci all the land in farms in the South as wood-
land. In 1930 the South’s cash iiiconiG fi^om farm ici-est products reached a
total of $82,436,000, v/hich v^as the fourth largest income from c.ny^ single farm
crop of the region. As a money crop on southern farms, forest products were
outranked only by cotton (lint and seed), tobacco, and potatoes (all kinds).
They brought in a larger income than all truck crops combined. In four of
the Southern States - Alabama, Arkans-as, Mississippi, and Virginia - income
from forest products ranked second, and in four others - Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee - it ranked third.

Southern farm woodlands constitute 11.7 percent of
the area of commercial forest land in the United States as whole. In

contrast with forest lands elsewhere in the United States, they have an
outstanding advantage in that the avers.ge rate of tree growth in the South
^eeds that in any other region. The annual volume growth on forest lands

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of the South amounts to 4.8 billion cubic feet, which is 54 percent of that
on all tile forest lands of the United States.

In the past, southern farmers have done little to increase
the income from their woodlands through improved management. Much remains
to be done before all southern farm wcodlands are adequately proteced against

^ Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama,, Missi;
sippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and 0kls,homa.

fire, over-graaing, insect and disease epidemics, and nbnorma.l erosion, and
before their utilisation approaches the ideal. The e^dvent of the small mill
has been the chief cause of over-cutting in the South, as elsewhere in the
eastern United States. In manj cases, farmers have sacrificed stumpage under
pressure of financial difficulties or simply because a small sawmill happened
to be temporarily located in the vicinity. Often farmers owning small mills
have converted all their merchantable timber into lumber, ties, posts, or
other products for tbs sake of immediate cash income, when through selective
cutting and careful milling they could have obtained an equal income without
the sacrifice of adequate growing stock.

In the naval stores belt, farmers have often sacrificed tree
gro7/th in order to work immature trees for naval stores (turpentine and rosin).
This causes the early death or deterioration of second-growth trees which other-
wise would develop normally a.nd, as they increase in size, become m^ore profit-
efole to turpentine. Here also the desire to realize on their timber resources
has led to injury of the forest property.

The result of over-exploitation of farm woodlands is very
evident in the great acreage of cut-over, burned-over woodland in the South
that has reverted to public ownership for non-payment of t8.xes. Through over-
cutting and lack of management, followed by depletion resulting from uncon-
trolled fires, this land has often been reduced to a waste on ?/hich the owner
could no longer afford to pay taxes. Its reversion has increased the taxes
on land remaining in private ownership, tending to force it into the same
condition. Although forest growth in the South is potentially rapid, it
cannot compete with uncontrolled fires, destructive cutting, and confiscatory
taxes .

So much for the past; what of the future? The recently
signed Code of Fair Competition for the Lumber Industry sets up several
kinds of restrictions for sawmill operators and other manufacturers of forest
products. It sets a definite periodic maximum of production and specific
minimum prices at which manufactured forest products can be sold. Under the
Code the small mill owner, as v/ell as the owner of a large mill, is held to
a specific allotment of finished or semi-f ini^^^hed lumber products. Obviously,
he Y/ill limit his cut or purchase of saw logs to correspond v/ith his produc-
tion allotment; on the other hand, the fact that a minimum price has been
established for his product will enable him to pay more for stumpage and
legs than he has been paying.

As yet, the farm woodlands do not come directly under
the provisions of the Lumber Code. The Lumber Code Authority has recommended
that the Code be extended to include them and it may be expected that this
extension will soon take place. Although the individual farmer or other small
v/oodland owner is not yet specifically protected by the Code against exploi-
tation either as to the price he receives for his stumpage or through over-
cutting of his timber, he is now in a better position to "shop around" among
sawmill ov/ners and because of the Code obtain a better price for his stumpage
or logs. In doing this he can avail himself of the help of agencies such as
the State and Extension Foresters and the County Agricultural Agents. He can

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also better protect himself in the marketing of his timber products through
the establishment of marketing associations.

Under the terms of a marketing agreement to which the
Secretary of Agriculture recer tly gave his tentative approval, the' marketing
of naval stores would be regulated by the Agricutlural Adjustment Adminis-
tration through a control committee of producers, this committee acting
as the authority for the industry. One section of the marketing agreement
now under consideration would provide that unturpentined trees less than 9
inches in breast- height diamieter should not be worked except under special
permission, and that not more than one face should be worked on trees less
than 14 inches in breast-height diameter. This is a very desirable pro-
vision; turpentining of small trees is detrimental to the forest and thus
v/orks against the ov/ner*s profit and against public interest. Regulation
would be by marketing quotas similar to those under the Lumber Code.

This forestry provision is intended to help stabilize
the prices of naval stores through establishing a balance of production
and consumption. The effect on the farmer who works his woods for naval
stores would be to increase the price he obtains for his gum, and hence
the profits on his operation.

So far as the future market for wood products is con-
cerned, owners of farm woodland areas in the South are justified in expect-
ing that their opportunities v/ill net diminish. As has already been
mentioned, the farm woodlands of the South contain about one-fourth of the
total volume of saw timber in the region. In 1938, the South provided 37
percent of the Nation’s total output of lumber. It produced 52 percent
cf the Nation’s hardwood lumber. As a potential source of cordwood-size
timber suited to pulp and paper manufacture, the South stands pre-eminent
in the Nation; it is estimated that 42 percent of all the potential raw
material available for wood-pulp manufacture in the Nation is in the South,
a total cf 767,762,000 cords. Much of this is on farms. This timber is
grev/ing at a mors rapid rate than that of any other forest region of the
United States. The production of railroad ties, poles, staves, and other
wood products also offers a wide opportunity to the evrner of the farm
forest, an opportunity which, in fact, many farmers have misused to such
an extent as to cause their properties to deteriorate.

Aside from cash income through sale of forest products,
the production of fuelw'ood, posts, poles, lumber, and similar products for
use on the farm represents an Important part of the total farm income. For
the South as a whole, the latest available data indicate that 42 percent of
farm forest products, by value, is use directly on the farms. In Union Par-
ish, Louisiana, investigations by the Southern Forest Experiment Station in
conjunction with the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station showed that
in 1930 the value of forest products cut and used on 119 farms averaged |33
per farm, or $.48 per acre of woodland. The cut of products thus used was
concentrated on a small percentage of the total woodland area, so that for
the land actually cut over the value was much greater. If these products
had to be paid for out of the farmers’ pocketbooks instead of coming out
of their woodlands, the burden would be considerable.

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As a concrete example of the tree growth that is taking
place on farms in one part of the South, let me cite some information obtained
by the Southern Forest Experiment Station in its study or the financial as-
pects of growing timber. The data apply to Union Parish, Louisiana, as of
1929. In this parish more than 40 percent of the land is in farm woodland.
Studies of individual farms showed that very few farmers were practicing good
forestry. It was found, however, that in a farm woodland representing the
parish average, the well-stocked pine stands were growing at an annual rate
of more than 500 board feet per acre and that the average annual growth for all
the farm woodlands in the parish was more than 200 board feet per acre. The
possible annual income from sale of stumpage and pulpwood, at the prevailing
prices, averaged $2.47 per acre for well-stocked stands and |.71 per acre for
the 7/hole woodland. The cost of taxes, fire protection, and forest management
per acre per year was |.31 for the well-stocked areas and |.25 for the whole
woodland. Thus, the indicated net profit per acre per year was |2.16 for
the well-stocked woodland and |.48 for the whole woodland. These figures pre-
sent a strong argument for careful protection and management, since on well-
stocked woodlands the net profit per acre was more than four times as great
as on average woodlands.

It behooves the ov/ner of a farm woodland, whether he be
farmer or urban resident, to protect his property carefully, manage it wisely,
and cut it conservatively. To obtain protection against fire is in general a
relatively simple matter. Federal allotments are made available for this
purpose under the provisions of the Clarke-McNary Law and the State Forest
Services cooperate with owners or groups of owners of forest land in protecting
their forest properties from fire. With Federal and State cooperation, owners
of southern woodland areas can obtain protection of their forest properties
from fire at an annual cost to them of about 2 or 3 cents per acre. Owners
of small tracts in localities where it is impossible to establish protection
units can at least plow firebreaks around their woods, remove snags and down
timber, and observe care in the use of fire.

In the longleaf pine belt, woodlands must be protected
against hogs if longleaf reproduction is desired. This can be done without
excessive cost by building and maintaining good stock fences. An abundance
of pasture is available in the South 7/ithout over-grazing of farm woodlands.

A third form of protection that is today receiving be-
lated attention is protection against erosion. In seven Southern States, from
North Carolina to Texas, 55 camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps, with a
tonal of 11,000 men, are at work this winter on a program of controlling soil
erosion. This work is a part of a comprehensive program for controlling rapid
run-off of water and resulting soil erosion, at the headwaters of streams.

The method of stopping or healing gullies is largely to revegetate them by
planting trees, vines, or grasses. To do this in the larger gullies, low
temporary check dams of brush, poles, or wire are built, the banks are then
reduced to an angle of repose, top soil is put -into the gully, and soil-binding
trees, vines, or grasses are planted. These improvements, in addition to their
direct effect in checking erosion, will serve as demonstrations to guide the
farmers in their efforts to heal gullies on their farms. Areas on which
abnormal erosion has been checked can be put to work grov/ing crops of black

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locust or other timber. A necessary concomitant of this gully-healing
work is correction of agricultural practices, such as using improved
methods of cultivation, including terracing and contour plowing, lack
of which has been an important factor in undue run-off from slopes.

In the field of forest utilization, the farmer’s job
is not difficult. Instead of clear-cutting his merchantable timber, the
7;oodland owner should practice selective cutting and thus get a continuous
income. For his pulpwood and posts he can remove trees that are defective
for lumber purposes and that are interfering with the development of other
trees. Such culling increases the growth and value of the remaining stand.

He can thin cut young stands for firewood, cross ties, or pulpwood, and by
watching the market can arrange to make these thinnings at the times when the
cut material v/ill bring the best prices. Even if he desires to sell or cut
his timber for lumber, he should not slash off everything on the ground. He
will get more for his logs if he sells by grade rather than by gross volume.
Ordinarily, selective cutting costs nothing aside from the owner’s time and
its returns continue for many years. An owner of southen woodland can well
e.fford to pay taxes on managed forest land that is highly productive and
is returning a 'profit on the investment. He cannot afford to pay taxes on
woodland that has been denuded beyond hope of repair during his lifetime.
Trees in the woods are like capital in the bank; their new growth corres-
ponds to the interest.

Likewise, in the field of turpentining improved utiliz-
ation practices are easily a,ttained. There is an increasing tendency on
the part of farmers ov/ning small tracts of longleaf and slash pine timber
to do their own turpentining. This arrangement is more satisfactory than
leasing timber to naval stores operators, because it enables the owners to
follow conservative practices, such as low chipping and narrow faces, which
operators are sometimes reluctant to adopt. Tests conducted by the Southern
Forest Experiment Station have demonstrated that cutting streaks l/2-inch
high in longleaf and slighly less high in slash pine results in producing
practically a,s much gum per streak as cutting higher streaks and permits
working a face two to four years extra, with an accompanying incrs8.se in
returns to the timber owner. Particularly in crowded stands of slash pine,
experiments have shown that increased liability to insect and fungus attack
results from deep chipping and from making deep cuts to insert tins. Owners
who chip their own trees can lessen the danger of this type of damage by using
a more shallow streak and by tacking tins on the faces. In order to improve
their timber, farmer woodland owners can practice thinning by chipping to
death certain trees, the remvoal of which will benefit the trees remaining
in the stand. Occasionally, droughts make it necessary that turpentined
trees be rested; this can be arranged to better advantage if the owner is
handling the chipping than if he has leased out the chipping rights.

In regions where no pulpwood market exists, production
of naval stores provides the earliest possible returns from young longleaf
and slash pine timber. This early income is a matter of considerable in-
terest to farmers, since it ena,bles them to pay carrying costs such as
te^xes and fire-protection charges.

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A recent publication, "Florida Naval Stores," by L.

Wyman and G. H. Coulter, Florida Forest Service Bulletin No. 9, July 1933,
contains a form of turpentine lease that is particularly valuable to tur-
pentine farmers who are not in position to handle their own chipping work.

In all forestry activities in his woods, skilled help is
readily available to the farmer. Pra^ctically every State in the South has an
extension forester working, in cooperation with the State and Federal forestry!
agencies and through the county agricultural agents, to aid owners of forest
lands in establishing sound woods practices. Through joint efforts, also,
extension foresters and county agricultural argents are training 4-H Club
members in forest practices and are establishing demonstration areas. The
results of this cooperation are indicated by the fact that in 1935 farmers
in 12 Southern States were assisted in woodland management on a total of
520,782 acres; 910 farmers planted trees on 13,800 acres; 4,431 farmers
were assisted in some other phase of timber production; and 4,037 4-H Club
members completed forestry projects.

Records of the Extension Service show, incidentally,
that in 1932 each agricultural agent in the South, on the average, spent
on all forestry projects only 0.6 of one percent, or the equivalnet of less
than two full days per year, of his time. The maximum proportion of
time devoted by county agents of any one starts to forestry projects was
1.3 percent, the figure for Arkansas. In view of the proportion of the
farm area occupied by woodland and the size of the farm income from forest
products, it seems that the proportion of county agents* time devoted to
forestry activities might justifiably be greatly increased.

Stats foresters and district foresters of Stats organi-
zations also assist in advising farmers on their forest problems, and dis-
tribute tress for planting at cost. Printed matter on many phases of
forest protection, management, and utilization is available through these
various agencies.

The United States Forest Service, maintains, with head-
quarters at Ne?/ Orleans, Louisiana, and Asheville, North Ca^rolina, regional
forest experiment stations for research on technical problems involved in
forest protection, forest management, erosion control, reforestation, naval
stores production, and forest economics. These stations* findings are made
currently available to the forestry and agricultural agencies of the States.

All these agencies are working in the interest of the
farm woodland owner. Final application of the methods they recommend is
something that the farmer, himself, must carry out. The results will be
more than worth the effort.

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