FORESTRY AT NEHASANE PARK 683 



property, destroying the existing growth. This reduced the timber- 

 land area available for a second cut to about 20,000 acres. During the 

 last six years, including the operations contemplated for 1920, about 

 12,500 acres have been cut over a second time for softwoods and a 

 large proportion of this area has also been logged for hardwoods. 

 There remains roughly 7,500 acres which at the present rate of cut-, 

 ting will be logged for softwoods within five years. The hardwood 

 logging may require a few additional years. 



Gaylord makes a heavy cutting which removes the greater part of 

 the spruce, hemlock, and balsam. These species are cut in the spring 

 and summer when the bark peels easily. In the late summer and fall 

 the hardwoods are cut. 



Neither the trees to be cut or those to be left are marked, the cutting 

 being controlled by inspection, and trees below certain diameter breast 

 high limits being reserved. For spruce the diameter limit is 8 inches, 

 for hemlock and balsam 6 inches, for hardwoods 16 inches. Soft- 

 woods are merchantable above 4 inches breast high and hardwoods 

 above 12 inches. Softwood tops are lopped as required by the State 

 law. Hardwood tops are left as they fall. The yield secured averages, 

 for all types combined, 8 cords of pulpwood per acre and 1,000 feet 

 board measure of hardwood logs with hemlock bark in addition. 



In discussing the condition of the forest after this cutting it is suffi- 

 cient to recognize two types : 



■ (a) Softwood land, which includes swamps and low-lying areas 

 where the hardwoods are either lacking, or few in number, and not 

 able to compete successfully in reproduction and growth with spruce: 

 and balsam. Occasional steep, rocky slopes, ledges and knolls clothed: 

 with softwood are found, but they are of relatively small area and; 

 may be disregarded. 



(b) Hardwood land, where hardwoods form the predominating 

 element in the forest, particularly in reproductive ability. This class 

 of land comprises ridges where hardwoods are nearly qr quite pure 

 and also stands of mixed hardwoods and conifers. 



The following two tables show the number and sizes of trees left 

 on a few sample areas of each of these two classes of land, and indi- 

 cate the condition of the softwoods, whether with free or overtopped 

 crowns, and the condition of the hardwoods as to soundness. It is 

 evident that in the balsam swamp type (softwood land), the hard- 

 woods are an unimportant factor, while on hardwood land the reverse 



