NOTES AND COMMENTS 



SiTK AND Site Classes 



Site may be defined as^ "An area considered as to its physical 

 factors with reference to forest producing power; the combination 

 of climatic and edaphic conditions of an area. G., Standort ; P., Station." 



Quality of site may be determined from index stands which have 

 been under forest management. Sites may be classified according 

 to quality in terms of height of trees or yield of index stands. 



In forest terminology, site class is defined as follows: A designa- 

 tion of the relative productive capacity or quahty of different sites, 

 with reference to the species employed; the volume or the height pro- 

 duced at a given age being used as a standard for classification. In 

 Europe five classes, in the United States often only three classes are 

 differentiated, designated by Roman Numerals, Quality I representing 

 the most productive site class. G., Bonitat. 



The beginner in forestry may find difficulty in understanding site 

 classification because of failure to realize the correlation between site 

 factors and the silvicultural characteristics of species. Only those 

 species, well adapted to the site under consideration, should be com- 

 pared in reference to production, and then only in developed stands. 

 Another possible source of confusion arises in reference to the time 

 it takes to develop a given crop. This question is one aside from site 

 discussion on itself, although pertinent in choice of species. Toumey^ 

 under the topic of choice of species in planting says : "In the indirect 

 assessment of the site factors, the quality of the site or yield capacity 

 is ascertained for the species upon which the assessment is based. 

 When we try to relate this to another species, it should be remembered 

 that the climatic and soil conditions which result in a maximum yield 

 for one species may not result in a maximum yield for another." 



Nisbet=^ says in reference to assessment of the quality of soil: 

 ". . . . a soil which might only be regarded as inferior so far as 

 the cultivation of mixed crops of oak, maple, sycamore, larch, Douglas 

 fir, and beech are concerned, might perhaps be considered a moderately 

 good, or even a good soil, if considered with regard to woods in which 

 pines, spruces, and firs were to be the ruling kinds of trees." 



'List of terms prepared by the Sub-committee on Terms in Silvics, Silvi- 

 culture, and Forest Description, Committee on Terminology, Society of American 

 Foresters, 1916. 



2Toumev, J. W., "Seeding and Plantmg," p. 43, 1916. 



sNisbet," John, "Studies in Forestry," 1894. 



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