146 FOREST COMMISSIONER S REPORT. 



areas, therefore, scaled as near as could be judged to their 

 actual yield, ai)pear to be representative of the country in 



general. 



Comparison Thcsc fiiTures, howcvcr, must be qualified before 



with otlier » ' ^ ^ 



rivers. they Can be compared with similar figures from 



other parts of the state. Mr. Pike's estimates include trees 

 down to the smallest size cut in the region, the cutting there 

 beino- in fact nmch closer than that practiced in most other 

 parts of the State. Of the trees cut down, too, Androscoggin 

 lumbermen are as a rule much more economical than others, 

 while on the average they give their timber probably a some- 

 what more liberal scale. Mr. Pike's three and one-half 

 billions of spruce, on the upper Avaters of the Penobscot or 

 St. John would hardly be set, I thmk, as high as two billions. 

 In other parts of the State it would pass for a varying inter- 

 mediate amount. 

 Outline of Qm- sample areas, however, are thoroughly typi- 



a conserva- •• o ./ ./ i 



ti^e^'^utting ^^1 _ Yyoxu consideration of them it appears that con- 

 servative cutting, cutting that has reference to the steady 

 production of spruce on the land, would stop probably with 

 trees somewhere about fourteen inches at breast high, taking 

 thus the full grown trees, those of full size and grieatest value, 

 leaving the smaller for a period of at least twenty years 

 untouched on the land. By this means an annual growth of 

 somewhere about one hundred board feet per acre could be 

 derived from the land. This gain could be permanently 

 received supposing a similarly conservative cutting policy to 

 be continued, supposing too, the natural proportion of spruce 

 in the stand to be permanently maintained.* Scientific forestry 

 of course, could largely increase that production, but of that 

 we are not now speaking. The desirable condition is to 

 have the land well stocked with small and medium sized trees 

 from which at intervals the larger can be taken. The future 

 cuts, if land were to be used in this way, would take out 

 trees probably at from twelve to sixteen inches. 



*A question is niised liere wliose discussion for clearness' sake is deferreil. 



