BUREAU OF FORESTRY. 113 



rapid awakening to the advantages of practical forestry, and a grow- 

 ing appreciation of the opportunity open to private forest owners 

 through the offer of cooperation made by the Bureau in Circular No. 

 21, which gives the terms on which farmers, lumbermen, and others 

 may cooperate \vith tlie Bureau in handling their forest lands. Wood 

 lots, not exceeding 200 acres, are studied without cost to the owner, 

 but in the preparation of detailed working plans for larger tracts the 

 Bureau and the owner share the expenses of the work, the former 

 paying the salaries of its men and the latter their traveling and field 

 expenses. From July 1, 1901, to July 1 of the present jeav, .37 appli- 

 cations have been received from private owners for advice and assist- 

 ance in the management of their forest lands. Twenty-five were for 

 timber tracts and 12 for wood lots. They reach a total of 1,904,476 

 acres. The total area of private lands, in handling which assistance 

 has been requested since the publication of Circular No. 21, in Octo- 

 ber, 1898, to July 1, 1902, is 4,709,124 acres. 



WORKING PLANS MADE. 



The field work necessary for detailed working plans was completed 

 during tlie year for seven tracts with a total area of 421,000 acres in 

 Maine, New York, Michigan, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The 

 total amount estimated as the cost of these working plans to the owners 

 was $9,725 and the total amount actually expended was $9,040.86. 



One of these working plans was for a tract of 110,000 acres in Polk 

 and Monroe counties, Tenn., on the western slope of the SmokyMouu- 

 tains. The field work occupied a party of 12 men for six months. It 

 included a thorough study of the forest, the habits and rates of growth 

 of the timber trees, and their behavior after lumbering. A careful 

 investigation was made in order to determine what modifications of 

 present methods of lumbering will leave the forest in good condition 

 without seriousl}' impairing present profits. The stand was actually 

 measured upon 1,500 acres, and 1,200 measurements of volume and 

 rate of growth were made upon felled trees. The tract was divided 

 into blocks, according to watersheds, and the stand of each of the 

 merchantable kinds was computed separately for each block. The 

 silvicultural problem was very complicated because of the large num- 

 ber of species in the forest mixture. Only a few of these have as yet 

 any market value, and it was difficult to determine how the tract may 

 be lumbered so that the reproduction of the few valuable kinds may 

 hold its own against that of the less valuable trees upon the lumbered 

 areas. Careful studies were made of the habits of the more important 

 trees and of the other local conditions which determine the form of 

 management. Methods for the effective protection of the forest from 

 fire were thoroughly investigated. The principal recommendations of 

 the working plan may be summarized as follows: 



(1) A diameter limit is set for each of the commercial trees, below 

 which none may be cut. 



(2) A certain number of trees above the diameter limit recommended 

 should be marked and left standing to serve as seed trees. 



(3) Contracts for the sale of stumpage should provide that a certain 

 quantity of the less valuable kinds be cut and removed with the val- 

 uable trees. This should be done in order to leave the forest after 

 lumbering in a condition favorable to the reproduction of the valuable 

 kinds, the chief object of the working plan being to produce a future 



AGR 1902 8 



