Effect of Silviculture on the Yield and Quality of Veneers

The structural and aesthetic value of wood is typically sacrificed in an attempt to meet demand. This paper addresses the financial and quality aspects of silvicultural choices as it relates to wood veneers. Five trees each were harvested from an unevenaged stand and from the following evenaged stands: intensive plantation, conventional plantation, and natural regeneration. The 48-year old loblolly pine trees were peeled at a veneer mill and graded visually (plywood grades) and ultrasonically (LVL grades). The intensive plantation trees, pruned at an early age to produce a large, clear bole, possessed the lowest quality veneer, both in terms of visual and ultrasonic grade. Although these trees did produce large quantities of clear wood, the early, rapid growth rates resulted in a exaggerated conical shape and thus a large slope of grain. The most desirable veneers came from those trees with a modest growth rate during the juvenility period—from the natural regeneration and uneven aged stands. 1Research Scientist, Southern Research Station, 2500 Shreveport Hwy, Pineville, LA 71360; Professor, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272; Research Forest Ecologist, Southern Research Station, 523 Reserve St, Hot Springs, AR 71902, repectively. Citation for proceedings: Outcalt, Kenneth W., ed. 2002. Proceedings of the eleventh biennial southern silvicultural research conference. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–48. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 622 p.