The First Silvicultural Study of the Southern Forest Experiment Station
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Journal of Forestry, 2021, 432–435
doi:10.1093/jofore/fvab012
Picture the Past
Received January 26, 2021; Accepted January 28, 2021
Picture the Past
The First Silvicultural Study of the Southern
Forest Experiment Station
Don C. Bragg1,
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Don C. Bragg (Don.C.Bragg@usda.gov) USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Monticello, AR
Photograph 1 [22423A]: When the USDA Forest silvicultural options for them were virtually unknown.
Service’s Southern Forest Experiment Station began Hence, Dana, Hardtner, and colleagues sought to in-
operating on July 1, 1921, the Station had its in- vestigate the response of these old-field stands using
augural silvicultural research project already in the thinning practices developed in Europe but adapted for
woods. In 1915, Samuel Trask Dana, C.R. Tillotson, American forests. This January 1915 photograph by
and some others from the agency’s Washington of- Dana shows one of the quarter-acre plots established
fice collaborated with Henry Hardtner and Urania in Winn Parish, Louisiana, with all trees numbered for
Lumber Company to establish a series of plots on the study tracking purposes.
Company’s lands in LaSalle and Winn parishes in cen- Photograph 2 [22421A]: Some of the 25 per-
tral Louisiana (Wakeley and Barnett 2011). The plots manent plots were reserved as unharvested controls
were in young (10 to 20 years old), even-aged, old- (“checks”), whereas the remainder received a thinning
field stands of loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf treatment (Wyman 1922, Bull 1936). These treatments
(Pinus echinata) pines, a common forest condition were classified as either “German thinning” (also
across much of the southern US. These typically over- known as low thinning, ordinary thinning, or thinning
stocked and often burned pine stands represented an from below) where suppressed trees are removed first,
opportunity for future timber production, although or “French thinning” (also called high thinning, crown
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of American Foresters 2021. 432
This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
Journal of Forestry, 2021, Vol. 119, No. 4 433
thinning, or thinning from above), where suppressed a kraft paper mill until about 1920 (Fulling 1956,
trees not expected to survive until the next entry and Barnett and Carter 2017).
codominant trees next to crop trees were cut (Hawley Photograph 3 [185385]: Heavier thinnings in
1929). Depending on how intensely (originally called even-aged, old-field southern pine stands were also
“grades” ranging from A [light] to D [very heavy]) done, although conventional wisdom favored light
these removals were applied, the thinned stands could thinnings (Maunder and Fry 1966). This picture,
look very similar or quite different. In this picture, also taken in April 1924 (likely by W.R. Hine), shows a
taken by Dana in January 1915, the old-field plot of heavily thinned loblolly pine stand in LaSalle Parish,
shortleaf and loblolly pines received a light (Grade A) Louisiana. In addition to the more open condition,
German thinning. Note that the felled pines are clearly this image shows two other notable departures from
smaller than the crop trees. Furthermore, although the previous picture. First, the boles of the thinned
these cut pines were delimbed (possibly for the picture trees have been commercially used; by this time,
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or perhaps to reduce the risk of fire), this wood was a large kraft papermill was operating in southern
not being commercially used, as there was then little Louisiana. Second, the tall stumps in this image are
market for small-diameter southern pine. Pine-based remnants of the virgin longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)
paper production in the South was inconsequential forests that covered parts of this area. These stumps
prior to 1919, and the Louisiana area did not have not only suggest a different land use history for this
434 Journal of Forestry, 2021, Vol. 119, No. 4
parcel—it does not appear that this land was row supported the growing realization that although
cropped after lumbering—but also hint at the nature light thinnings from below in overstocked stands of
of research of this period. Before about 1930, few for- even-aged southern pines captured usable materials
estry field studies were robustly replicated to control before they died and decayed, they only marginally
for factors such as differences in stand history, site improved growth performance on larger residual
conditions, species composition, stand age, etc. Later trees (Barrett and Righter 1929, Bull 1935, 1936).
efforts to increase experimental control, avoid biased Mann (1952) would later interpret some of these data
observations, conduct proper sampling techniques, much differently when pulpwood production became
and robustly analyze data using appropriate statis- much more important to southern landowners.
tical techniques (e.g., Gevorkiantz 1935) would al- Photograph 5 [352111]: The first silvicultural field
most certainly have resulted in a much different study experiment of the Southern Forest Experiment Station
of these stands. provided not only a useful (if limited) set of research
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Photograph 4 [232352]: Study weaknesses not- outcomes, but it helped to demonstrate the value of
withstanding, the Urania old-field thinning work visual examples of the thinning treatments and their
produced some useful results during its decades-long (un)intended consequences. This August 1937 photo-
run. In this picture, taken in December 1928 by L.I. graph by C.A. Bickford and T.T. Kohara of a heavily
Barrett, the 3.1 cords of pulpwood, cut from a single thinned plot with a dense hardwood understory in
quarter-acre plot in an example of a heavy French LaSalle Parish highlighted the challenge of opening
thinning, not only documented the initial high yield pine canopies to improve growth performance.
of thinning such overstocked old-field stands, but Although this heavy thinning significantly increased
it presaged the primary goal of this project (accel- pine crop tree growth, the treatment—especially on
erating the growth of small pines into more valu- better quality sites—also released resources to hard-
able sawtimber size classes). The Southern Forest wood competitors that often dominated the understory
Experiment Station researchers then responsible for of the site. Not only was this a problem for natural
this study emphasized that “...the ultimate objective pine regeneration, but later research documented how
of management in southern pines should be the pro- these hardwoods decreased mature pine growth, espe-
duction of sawtimber, not cordwood.” (Barrett and cially in dry years. Eventually, prescribed fire would re-
Righter 1929, p. 782). To this end, these studies turn as a tool to southern pine managers to improve
Journal of Forestry, 2021, Vol. 119, No. 4 435
Collection at the USDA Forest Service’s Research Data Archive
(https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2020-0047;
https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2020-0047). This article was written
by a US government employee on official time and is therefore
in the public domain.
Literature Cited
Barnett J.P., and M.C. Carter. 2017. The dawn of sustain-
able forestry in the South. USDA Forest Service General
Technical Report SRS-221. 39 p.
Barrett L.I., and F.I. Righter. 1929. Working plan for experi-
mental thinnings in shortleaf and loblolly pines. J. For.
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27(7):782–803.
Bull H. 1935. Thinning loblolly pine in even-aged stands. J.
For. 33(5):513–518.
Bull H. 1936. Pulpwood yields from experimental thin-
nings in old-field stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines.
USDA Forest Service Southern Forest Experiment Station
Occasional Paper 57. 9 p.
Fulling E.H. 1956. Botanical aspects of the paper-pulp and
tanning industries in the United States—an economic and
historical survey. Am. J. Bot. 43(8):621–634.
Gevorkiantz S.R. 1935. The statistical method in forest re-
search. J. For. 33(12):974–978.
Hawley R.C. 1929. P. 335 in The practice of silviculture. 2nd
ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY.
Mann Jr., W.F. 1952. Response of loblolly pine to thinning. J.
For. 50(6):443–446.
natural regeneration success and control hardwoods, Maunder E.R., and A. Fry. 1966. Samuel Trask Dana: The
only to be replaced later by planting and herbicides. early years. For Conserv. His. 10(2):2–13.
Wakeley P.C., and J.P. Barnett. 2011. Early forestry research
in the South: A personal history. USDA Forest Service
Endnote General Technical Report SRS-137. 90 p.
1.
All photographs are public domain images available for Wyman, L. 1922. Results from sample plots in southern
download from the Southern Research Station’s Centennial pines experiments. J. For. 20(7):780–787.
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