FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 121 



with often much dwarf maple and cherry, the last of which 

 in cuttinjTS over twenty vears old will be found on their last 

 legs, soon to be killed out by the longer lived species. Some 

 young lir and spruce also is generally present, l)ut except in 

 the areas of mossy land with soft wood growth, it is seldom 

 predominant. I cannot think that the young spruce on the 

 ground is sutlicient to maintain the proportion the si)ecies 

 held in tlif oriainal arowth. 



Sup})()se we strike into the woods from Bcmis, tin'-' w'iw' 

 over land cut through twenty 3'ears or more ago. '""'*''• 

 Following the roads back from the water, or better striking 

 off across country in home constant direction, the method of 

 cutting is soon revealed. Only the largest and l)est was cut. 

 The roads struck for the thickest and best of the timber,^ 

 leaving untouched the regions of thinner standi. Stri[)s are 

 passed with scattering spruce in which no cutting was ever 

 done ; then we may come to a piece of ground a half acre in 

 extent which was nearly cleared. It is covered now with a 

 thick growth of hoop-pole size, through which a man has to 

 force his way, while out of tliis mat rise occasional big 

 yellow birches and the small or defective spruce which at 

 the time and under the circumstances were not worth the 

 taking. Of the amount of the cut the stumps on the ground tell 

 the story. Tops ;ind l)rush at the end of twenty years are all 

 rotted out, and travel except for ^oung growth is nearly 

 clear. The stumps, however, persist for twice that time and 

 by their number and size give an indication of the amount 

 cut and original condition of the land. 



Here then, in these old cuttings about the lakes, ,^„,. 

 is the i)lace to find out what the results of a con- i*''^''*'^'"'- 

 servative cutting [)olicy will be. Spruce timberland thinned 

 out by light cutting has had twenty years to grow in. What 

 has been the result? IJailroads will soon give a market value 

 to the small and scatterinij timber, not onlvon these lands but 

 on the whole Androscoggin drainage. Should the small 

 timber be cut, or will it pay better to let it stand and grow? 



