FOREST TREE PLANTING CAMPS 409 



practical. The most desirable size of stands for the orderly manage- 

 ment of a forest property may be approximated from a consideration 

 of the size of compartments, the generally recognized units of man- 

 agement, which in some cases coincide with stand or else embrace a 

 number of stands. According to Martin^" compartments should have 

 the following average size: Broadleaf species, 60 acres; pine, 50 

 acres; spruce, 37 acres. 



Only in special cases and under exceptional conditions do Eu- 

 ropean authorities recommend compartments of more than 100 acres. 

 Because of the size interrelation between compartments and regenera- 

 tion areas in Europe and the less intensive management in America 

 at the present time, 100 acres may be taken as a conservative maximum 

 for the size of plantations and other regeneration areas. Unbroken 

 plantations of coniferous trees of more than 50 to 100 acres should 

 rarely, if ever, be made. The establishment of overlarge plantations 

 (250 to 550 acres) is an unsafe venture. They are unwieldy, and do 

 not fit into a rational plan of continuous or sustained yield manage- 

 ment of forests with an average aggregate area of about 20,000 acres. 

 They may be a means of restocking denuded areas rapidly, but they 

 do not assist in bringing order into a forest property. 



"Martin, H.: Forsteinrichtung, s. 29. Berlin. 



