THE SWISS METHOD OF REGULATING THE CUT IN 

 PRACTICE 



By C. H. Guise, M. F. 

 Instructor in Forestry, Cornell University 



In a recent issue of Forestry Quarterly an article appeared 

 which aimed, as the author expressed it, "to show how Pressler's well 

 known formula may be used in a practical way to determine the cur- 

 rent annual increment in mixed selection forest, and from this to work 

 out the regulation of the cut.^ Data secured while making working 

 plans in both the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains were used in 

 determining the current annual increment. With the data at hand, 

 the regulation of the cut was worked out by what is known as the Swiss 

 Method. 2 



The conservative and satisfactory results obtained by the use of 

 the Swiss Method led to its employment in determining the allowable 

 cuts for two tracts of forest land, for which the writer made working 

 plans during the past year. 



These two tracts were alike in only one respect — both were covered 

 with mixed selection forest. 



One of the working plans was made for the forest lands on a private 

 estate in the western part of the Catskill Mountains.^ The area of 

 the tract was 2,612 acres. Beech, yellow birch, sugar maple, and 

 hemlock made up over 90 per cent of the timber, on the mountain 

 slopes. A very large portion of the timber was overmature and well 

 over the diameter corresponding to the determined technical rotation, 

 in this case 16 inches d. b. h. 



The other working plan was prepared for a tract of land, 3,734 acres 

 in extent, owned by the State of Wisconsin.'* This property, known as 

 the Peninsula State Park, is a rounded parcel of land, projecting from 

 the mainland of Door Peninsula into Green Bay. In contrast to the 

 rugged topography of the Catskills this area is, with the exception of 

 several small bluffs, entirely flat and covered with the typical mixed 

 forests of the Lake States. White pine, red pine, balsam, cedar, hem- 



1 A. B. Recknagel, "A Practical Application of Pressler's Formula." Forestry- 

 Quarterly, Vol. XIV. No. 2, pp. 260-267. 



2 A. B. Recknagel, "Theory and Practice of Working Plans." (Second Edition, 

 1917.) John Wiley & Sons, N. Y., pp. 74-77. 



A brief of this method also appeared in Forestry Quarterly, Vol. XIII, pp. 260-362. 



' This estate is located in the Denning Tract, Town of Denning, Ulster County, 

 New York. A cop}^ of the working plan is on file at the Department of Forestry, 

 New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 



^ This Working Plan will soon be published by the State Conservation Commis- 

 sion of Wisconsin. 



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