Cooperative North Carolina State-industrial tree improvement research project

In 1957 a tree improvement project titled The Cooperative N. C. State-Industrial Tree Improvement Research Project began with the objective of increasing yield, more specifically fiber content, per acre of timberland. Champion carried out their field work using Loblolly and Virginia Pines in South Carolina where foresters identified and took tree cuttings, called scions, from selected superior trees and created a seed orchard. In this photograph Walter Kilodij is shooting scions out of a banded tree which marks it as one of the superior trees chosen for the project. More information about this photograph can be found in Champion publication The Log. Click the link in the “Related Materials” field to view the article on pages 1 - 7