INTRODUCTION. 



A working plan is simply a scheme of management for a forest 

 tract. To prepare it a thorough study must be made not only of the 

 present character of the forest, but also of its capacity to furnish 

 future yields and of the conditions which will govern the transport 

 and marketing of the timber cut. Upon this study is based a system- 

 atic plan for lumbering. The point of view is purety practical; the 

 purpose is to prescribe cuttings which will not only pay, but will also 

 tend toward the gradual and sustained improvement of the forest. It 

 is a business policy recommended after an expert investigation. 



In the preparation of a working plan two important points to be 

 determined arc: (1) The amount of timber standing; (2) the rate at 

 which the principal species are growing. This known, it is possible 

 to estimate what will be the yield of timber after a given number of 

 years, and also to calculate the amount of merchantable timber which 

 the forest is capable of producing each 3'ear, so that, if desired, the 

 annual cut may be made equal to the annual production and a sustained 

 yield of timber he assured. 



On the tract of the Sawyer & Austin Lumber Company one of the 

 chief objects in making a working plan was to determine whether the 

 present tract is large enough to furnish a sustained yield equal to the 

 yearly capacity of the mill, and if not, to estimate the additional area 

 necessary to secure such a result. 



The stand of timber was determined in the following way: Strips 10 

 chains long, of which each 1<> chains in length made an area of 1 acre, 

 were run on compass courses through the forest, and on these strips 

 the diameters of all pine down to 2 inches and hardwoods down to 10 

 inches were measured with the calipers. These measurements were 

 recorded upon tally sheets, a separate sheet for each acre, and upon 

 them notes were made of the silvicultural condition and the merchant- 

 able quality of the stand. The strips were so run through all types of 

 forest as to afford a basis for a close estimate of the stand. These 

 '"valuation surveys " covered 1,900 acres, or about 2 per cent of the 

 total forest area. 



The table giving the merchantable contents of pine in board feet was 

 constructed by scaling the logs of 025 felled trees. The rate of growth 



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