784 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



aged stands." By middle-aged forests is meant those whose age 

 lies between one-quarter and three-quarters the rotation. But in the 

 north where forests are mostly very old, one does not consider the 

 age of the wood but instead so-called maturity classes, letting "grow- 

 ing," "mature" and "overmature" stands correspond to the "young," 

 "middle-aged" and "old" as given above. 



As to yield tables that could be used in computations, there are good 

 ones for pine, but rather loose information for spruce — nothing very 

 definite. But the Experiment Station is working up a large amount of 

 material in this respect and the matter will be less embarassing very 

 soon. 



It is but seldom that any order is prescribed in the cutting of the 

 stands for each year, but this may be done for a 10 or 20 year period. 

 It is generally felt that it becomes impossible to follow any predeter- 

 mined order ; one is satisfied in having the crtiiser give clear informa- 

 tion regarding the necessity of cutting, thinning, or planting, etc., and 

 follow these requirements a s be st one can. It must be remembered 

 here that trained foresters are handling the woods and the results of 

 each administration are easily controlled. 



ROTATION 



The rotation is there like elsewhere a hard problem to decide as to 

 "whys and wherefores." The Swedes have gone through struggles 

 between soil and forest rent, besides having had other original theories 

 of their own but no definite result has been arrived at since there, as 

 elsewhere, the figures rest in some respects either on thin air or on 

 pure guesswork. The latest compromise is that the rotation shall be 

 long enough to produce the maximum value of wood in conjunction 

 with a reasonable amount of interest on the capital engaged (mostly 

 wood capital) in producing it. These are two very uncertain state- 

 ments since the first depends on how the forests are handled and the 

 second is based on approximation in valuation which may be quite 

 wrong for the future. But it is at least something to go by and satisfies 

 the foresters' conscience. The rotation varies from 80 years, even 70 

 in the south, to 150 years in the north. 



The working plan also concerns itself with the forestry system, to 

 be employed, the care of the forests, silviculture, improvements, pastur- 

 age, wild hay meadows, roads, etc. 



