FOREST COMMISSIOXEU'S REPORT. 37 



trees and measurino; and estimatins: their contents, and also 

 hy means of Pressler's method hitel}^ descril)cd, in determin- 

 ing the rate per cent at which the thinned timber was grow- 

 ino;. The cut on this hmd had been lioht, not takinjj trees 

 as a rule thtit would scale less than about 200 feet. There 

 certainly did seem to be on the land a considerable amount 

 of orowino; timber. 



I was particularly anxious at this time to get foJl.iP/esti- 

 some delinite figures that would compare with esti- gTOwti"^ 

 mates of o-rowth on siirucc land made by Mr. Georae T. 

 Crawford of Boston. Mr. Crawford is said to know the wild 

 lands of New Hampshire better than any other man, and 

 great areas have been bought and sold on his judgment. He 

 is also acquainted with the liangeley region in Maine, and 

 with the timber of the Canadian provinces. A judgment as 

 to growth from such a man, even though it is empirically 

 based, is entitled to a great deal of respect, and I was anxious 

 to check up with him in my own work. His idea is that the 

 growth upon thinned out spruce land is about four per cent 

 on the timber left, and in absolute amount makes an average 

 of perhaps 140 board feet per acre. It was a matter of great 

 interest to find out whether any such figures were iroino- to 

 hold here. 



To cut a long story short it may be said at once (jj.f,^.tjj 

 that on this land the standing trees proved to be ^''^''*^' 

 growing about 2 per cent on their volume, while after con- 

 siderable counting, measuring and looking round it api)parcd 

 that something like 400 or 500 cubic feet of spruce per acre 

 was standing on the ground. In board measure this might 

 amount to say one and one-half thousand feet. Now 2 })er 

 cent on r)00 is 10, the present yearly growth per acre in 

 cubic feet, which at a fair equivalent might be called 40 

 board feet. The differen(;e between these and Mr. Craw- 

 ford's figures is very evident, not to say striking; but it is 

 quite as much apparent as real. The facts. have been borne 

 in mind throughout the season's work, and it may be said 



