'Forestry 95% Common Sense', Says Tom Alexander At Cataloochee
I ? ? ??
Ranch Woods
Gives Men
Winter Work
By TOM ALEXANDER
Owner of Cataloochee Ranch
Our ^woodlands at Cataloochee
Ranch make it possible for us to
provide year-round work for the
three or four men who help us on
the farm In summer. We try not to
have the winter layoff that many
farmers do. We find it a great ad
vantage to heep the men who know
our place and us, and whom we
know.
We have several hundred acres
of woods. For the most part, these
are low-grade ridge-top timber
lands, though we do have some
small really good wooded spots.
Most of our lands had been culled
over for the good sawtimber be
fore we acquired them.
A great deal of the woodlands
are covered with laurel or rhodo
dendron, with only scattered trees
sticking up through the dense un
dergrowth. But it is surprising how
much salable material we have
been able to salvage from these
cut-over-or brush-coverel lands.
In the' early days of lumbering
these laurel thickets were passed
over because it was very tough
logging to get the trees out and
because most of the timber grow
ing in the thickets was low-grade
and defective. Even on the best
sites in the north coves only the
best trees were taken. Those that
had hollow butts or were crooked
or a bit small were left. There was
no market at all 40 or 50 years
ago for hardwood pulpwoods, ex
cept chestnut.
During the past 19 years we have
gone back over these formerlv cut
over areas and into these laurel
beds and have salvaged a great
deal of valuable material. On one
20-rcre tract that had been c.it
over for the good sawtimber 20
years before, we got out 40.000 feet
of logs and over 300 cords of
chestnut acidwood. The logs came
from crooked and even hollow
trees, and from species that were
considered no good in the earlier
days.
Today, on this same 20 acres and
thanks to Champion and Mead for
creating markets for hardwood
pulpwood, we still have enough sal
able material to be worth at least
$20 an acre, while there Is enough
imiutci uiiiucr ofiuw saiaoie size
now but slowly growing into mer
chantable size to double this value
in a very few years. This particular
tract faces to the north and is al
ways cool and damp. North expo
sures grow the best timber and
grow it more rapidly than do the
south facing lands.
We cut our woodlands very con
servatively?that is we are not try
ing to get all our wood and logs
out in a few years. Even durir-;
winter there is always lots of farm
work to be done, feeding cattle,
mending fences, repairing machin
ery, and building and repairing
barns or other farm buildings. Our
woods work takes second place to
all these other activities, so that
our men actually have only a few
weeks to put into woods work even
in winter.
We are trying to cut our timber
at such a rate that we average
taking about l/20th of our total
stand each year. Our idea is that
in 20 or 25 years we can go back
over the same areas and get aboui
as much material as we did th<
first time.
We have not accurately estim
ated our timber, but have a rougl
idea of how much we have in all
Actually I doubt if we are averag
ing l/20th of our salable materia
each year. Some winters our whole
time is spent on other jobs and wc
do not get out any timber at all
Possibly the next year we will nol
have these other jobs and will get
out more than l/20th of our stand
that year, but that doesn't worry
us. The whole plan is quite flexible
and we do not consider it at all
important to cut just the exact
amount each year. If it averages
up over a five or ten-year period
It is all right.
On some of our woods work,
in low-grade timber and where the
logging conditions are nard. we do
not do any more than break even
as far as cash income is concerned.
We may even lose a little money.
EVERYONE loses whfn cattle are allowed In the woods, forestry
experts point out. This Is a typical picture, showing underbrush
gone, no leaves on the ground, soil dry and hard, with tree roots
exposed and injured. The ultimate results are evident here?dead
trees are not saleable.
Two Other WNC Counties
Lead Haywood In Planting
According to the latest forestry report, Haywood County re
ceived 116,300 white pine seedling) prior to. 1950-51 from the N. C.
Forest Service and 469,500 from TVA.
In 1950-51 there were 152,000 white pine seedlings distributed
in Haywood; 312.050 in the following year, followed by 83,000 in
1952-53; 231,000 the following year, and last year 345,000, making
a total for the 5-year period of 1,123,050.
Only Macon and Cherokee counties received slightly more than
did Haywood.
t But we figure that since we are
; holding our men and are improv
, ing the woods we will be ahead in
- the long run. The idea is a little
1 like the big corporations are com
. ing to in their Guaranteed Annual
? Wage plans.
I We are clearing some very small
; spots, but only where the land is
? fairly flat and joins some of our
. other fields. On the other hand we
: have planted some patches of clear
. ed land back into trees. These are
1 spots where the land is really too
' steep for farming, where machln
? ery can never be used, or where
I the soil is poor and inclined to
wash. We get our seedlings free
II through the county agent's office.
1 which gets them top us from the
TVA. Although our fields as a
, whole are much steeper than most
farms in the county, we believe
, that we will eventually have to
come to machinery farming and are
trying to get ready for that day.
The markets for hardwood pulp
wood provided in recent years by
The Champion Paper and Fibre
Company and the Mead Corpora
tion are a tremendous bcon to
the mountain woodland owner. As
a result of the steadily increasing
consumption of hardwood pulp
wood the value of the average acr?
of mountain woodland has been in
creased from $5 to $20 an acre or
more.
we can now cut and market the
small, the crooked, and even the
partly rotten trees that formerly
were left standing to take up woods
space and prevent better trees from
growing. Where formerly we were
able to get out maybe a thousand
feet of logs per acre, worth $10 or
$15. now we can get these logs out
and also 5 to 15 cords of pulpwood
from the same act'e. Our unit road
costs are reduced, and we have to
go over less than half the territory
to get our winter's cut.
We woods owners owe a real debt
of gratitude to these paper con
cerns for their research and experi
mental work that has made it pos
sible for them to make their pap
ers from hardwoods instead of ex
clusively from spruce, balsam or
pine.
A new and very important stop
has just been taken by Champion,
beginning the first of this year.
That is the maesurement of wood
by weight instead of by scale. It
will take some time for this very
important change to have its full
effect, but it will eventually mean
much closer utilization in the
woods.
Under the old system of measure
ment, all wood had to be cut In
even five-foot lengths so that the
pile could be accurately measured.
Under the weight system wood can
be cut In any length from SO inches
upward, and many sticks can be put
on the truck that are shorter than
five feet. The producer will get
(dee Alexander, Page ?)
"Tell Mr. Washington
I expect results anu
moment now/*'
t
' %
Long Distance
puts you In touch* Faster
BEN FRANKLIN got results fast when ho
? pulled lightning from the sky. And like
lightning, you eon get results?or news from
loved ones?by Long Distance.
If s easy to use, low in cost, personal
Call someone now?
Call by Number ? It's Twice As Fast
AND Till GRAPH COMPANY ?
North Carolina Ranks Well
In Survey Of Forest Fires
North Carolina was second low-1
est behind Virginia in number of
forest fires in an U-state survey
for December.
The survey, conducted by the
Southern Pulp wood Conservation
Association, Atlanta, Ga., showed
that 239 forest fires burned 2,701
acres in the state during Decem
ber.
According to the State Division
of Forestry, the largest number of
forest fires were attributed to
campers and hunters, with debris
burning second, y, I
The survey showed 11 states and
I
Region Eight, U. S. Forest Service,
-eporting 5,720 forest fires, burn
ng 69,708 acres. The majority of
itates reported adverse weather
?onditions, increasing the forest
Ire hazard. *
The Southern Pulpwood Conserv
ition Association warns that high
vinds and lack of rainfall increases
he forest fire hazard greatly.
Vegetation that normally would not
jurn easily becomes highly inAam
nable. Once ignited, this fuel
rapidly spreads from a small flame
into a raging forest Are causing |
thousands of dollars of damage.
Clay Countians
Could Get Along
On Pine Income
HAYESVILLE ? Back in the
1930s when Allen J. Bell started
planting pine trees, many of his
neighbors probably thought he was
wasting his time. They could make
more money "right now" doing
something else.
But many of them would prob
ably be happy to help Bell harvest
his "crop" now.
Clay County Agent R. G. Vick1
says Bell has begun thinning those
early plantings at $5 per cord
stumpage.
And Bell says, "My wife and I
would never starve even if we had
nothing but those pine trees."
Furniture Makers
Cite Rejection
Of Some Lumber
More than 14.000,000 board feet
of hardwood lumber must be re
jected or remanufactured by the
furniture plants of North Carolina
each year. This causes a needless
loss of Income to the sawmill oper
?tan and the furniture manufac
turers.
According to a survey recently
conducted by the Furniture, Ply
wood, and Veneer Council of the
North Carolina Forestry Associa
tion in cooperation with the South
eastern Forest Experiment Station
of the U. S. Forest Service, almost
10 per cent of the'4/4 or 1-inch
lumber purchased at 10 furniture
plants within the state in 1863 did
not meet the National Hardwood
Lumber Associations Rules for size.
Of the lumber Inspected in the
study, 4J per cent was thick (over
size), 1.6 per cent thin (scant) and
2.7 per cent was of uneven thick
ness (mlscut) for a total of 9.1 per
cent of the volume.
1
WComq T7
dowtfrgtow
OH/
But Trees Grow Into Money!
Yes ? right here in Western North Caroliha, farmers are harvesting valuable tree crops
every year ? and they are doing it in a manner that not only meets the approved prac
tices of the United States Forest Service but as assures continued yearly harvests of fine
forestry products.
A great majority of all mountain farms could be improved with the addition of a well
balanced forestry program. Besides the monetary value, trees contribute greatly to the
prevention of erosion, protection of wild life, and helps stabilize and perfect the water
flow. In addition, forests offer to the peoole of Western North Carolina and the thous
ands of visitors who come here annually, varied recreational opportunities. These
things we must consider in planning our farm programs.
We, at Champion, have a great interest in the forestry development of Western North
Carolina and our Foresters will be happy to lend their assistance in helping you establish
a tree lot that in a very few years will yield a profitable income.
Yes - - - trees do grow into money! - - - And they grow faster than you think!
HELP PREVENT FOREST FIRES
*. ?
THE CHAMPION PAPER AND FIBRE COMPANY
CAROLINA DIVISION
CANTON, N. C.