FOREST COMMISSIONER S REPORT. 



29 



ino- for the sake of illustration if not for its own. It shows 

 what the factors in the problem are and how they go together. 

 Finally let me present a sample half-acre from ^|!eas^Tiieu- 

 this region, one of a number that were run out and ^''^^"*^- 

 studied. It represents a well-covered piece of ground, 

 thoroughly typical of the bulk of the timber on this tract, 

 and of considerable small and thick spiaice timber in other 

 localities. Some thin«:s about it seem to indicate that this is 

 a very old second growth vvhich started up after some prime- 

 val fire or blowdown. The great number of small trees, 

 many of which are crowded out and either dying or dead, 

 indicates that. So does the mixture of sapling pine and 

 w^hite birch. Such records as these may seem to many of 

 little account, even childish perhaps alongside of the sweep- 

 ing conclusions which it is sought to establish. This area 



HALF ACRE OX III, R. V, SOMERSET COUNTY. 



Thick Spruce Timber of Slow Growth. Little Soil but Rocks. Cover of 



Ground Moss. 



* A^eiT many. 

 Estimated scale if cut to standard of 8 inclies at 24 feet, about 2,500 feet. 



work, however, served one purpose in training the eye of the 

 observer in the field, while there may be a time and a place 

 where exact records of how the timber in ]Maine naturally 

 stood will be of interest and value. 



From a canoe on Spencer pond, a clear idea is ()])tained 

 of the topography of the two townships in which it lies — 



