Vol. 15—1961 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

493.
SVI,E OBSEHv'A110N~ oi, J1.i~;}dAl ,jPRAYING
fOR FINE RElti;ASEIN EASTTE1;r;ES:JEE
'lhomas K. Goodrich
i\\.,!'irtl spray.i ng ~f selective herbicides tn release an .established
t·lli\:! st-and, or to weed a pine s i Le in preparation for pl.ant.Lng pine, is
now all accepted si1vicultural practice on many of the 1crger forest awner-sl..i
ps , TLis was not always so. Twelve years a60 the art and science of
aerial apj.Li.cat.Lon of herbicides was unknown. Six years ago it was in
its infancy, only having been attempted experimentally on limited areas.
llow, 1961, silvicultural weeding of forest stands by aircraft is coming
into its own just as cotton dusting did a number of years ago.
Aerial work ap1-'eals to most foresters. They see in it the opportunity
to cover large acreat.,es in a short period of time with a gr-eat-Ly
reduced labor force. It fits in with the era of mechanization that is
filtering through the dimly lit forest aisles.
d,v company, Hiwassee Land Company, began its aeri.al spraying program
back in July of 1955. Actual negotiations and pro cedur es were worked out
with t.l.e contractor several months prior to that. The first year's work
was not alto~ether satisfactory, but we believed the technique showed pro­
'iLise. That first year, 1955, we sprayed 2,000 acres of competing low
~rade hardwoods on the Cumberland plateau. The following year we sprayed
4,U78 acres. During the summer of 1957, Hiwassee sprayed 3,635 acres.
In lS58, 6,846 acres, in 1959, 7,900 acres, and in 1960, 17,050 acres
were
call
of t.l.i.s
aerial sprayed. This totals
for another 24,000 acres.
met-hod of silvicultural
41,509 acres.
So you can see
weeding.
1
1ne
that
present
we think
year's
pretty
In the course of six years of large scale aerial applications of
herbicides, it follows that we are bound to have made some observc ..tions
that may possibly be of some value to others. Although the hills and
mountains of east rl'ennessee, no ct.h Georgia, and north Alabama have
presented so.ne difficult problems, these same problems exist elsewhere,
and tLe difference is one of degree rather than character.
Anyone of the items to be presented in tbis paper is material for
a paper in itself, so, of necessity ,covera.ge is limited.
plans
well
Ore,d.nization
and freparation
The organization of a production size aerial spr-ay.i ng oper-at.i.on
i.s of fundamental .impor-t.ance , It can either make or break the entire
j0b.e personally favor the I1total contract" approach. Under trLis
.1Ass i stant Land .ianagenent Forester, Hiwassee Land Company', Ca.Lhoun,
r enness ee ,