756 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



in sez'cn years. These results are regarded as especially significant be- 

 cause oak is naturally rather slow in growth, and because the South 

 Jersey sands, while capable of producing good timber, are not con- 

 sidered as most favorable for tree growth. 

 Improvement Cutting in a Stand of 20-ycar-old Mixed Hardzvoods. 



Fifty years ago a 20-acre tract of hardwood timber at Mount Laurel, 

 Burlington County, now the Alount Laurel State Forest, was clear cut, 

 and another stand of timber of both sprout and seedling origin took its 

 place. The principal species in the order of their abundance were chest- 

 nut oak, red oak, white oak, black oak, chestnut, hickory, red maple, 

 red gum, and black locust. There was also considerable scrub and 

 pitch pine on certain areas, records of which are not considered in this 

 report. 



At 40 years of age (1911) this tract contained trees from 3 to 16 

 inches in diameter with a total volume of 2,259 cubic feet, or ap- 

 proximately 28 cords per acre. An improvement cutting made at this 

 time removed all chestnut, toegther with crowding, inferior, and sup- 

 pressed trees of other species, which were sold as sawlogs, telephone 

 poles, fence posts, bean poles, vineyard stakes, and cordwood. Forty- 

 five per cent of the volume of the stand was cut and sold at a net 

 profit of $15 ' per acre, leaving a stand of 142 trees per acre from 

 3 to 16 inches in diameter and an average diameter 7.2 inches, with 

 a total volume of 1,232 cubic feet or approximately 15.4 cords per 

 acre. After 10 years' growth (1921) there were found to be an average 

 of 172 trees per acre from 3 to 19 inches in diameter and an average 

 diameter of 9.1 inches, with a total volume of 1,980 cubic feet or ap- 

 proximately 24.8 cords, or a gain of 9.4 cords per acre in 10 years. 

 Again we have practically a cord per acre per year following an im- 

 provement cutting. These results are particularly encouraging be- 

 cause the stand was composed largely of rather slow-growing oaks; 

 stump analyses in 1911 showed that the entire stand had been crowded 

 and growth retarded for a period of 20 years before the improvement 

 cutting was made ; with an average of only 142 trees per acre after the 

 improvement cutting the stand was not fully stocked. Had fully 

 stocked areas containing from 200 to 250 trees per acre been isolated 

 and measured, an increase of more than a cord per acre per year would 

 have been observed. 



^ A similar improvement cutting in a 90-acre woodlot in Morris County yielded 

 a net profit of $45 per acre. 



