Sice of State Forests 523 



Dauphin county where the State owns 3,358 acres. This acre- 

 age is small in comparison with the other State Forests, but is 

 of ample size for a forester in view of the intense and detailed 

 activities required in a demonstration forest. Under extensive 

 management as one finds on the National Forests, a Forest Super- 

 visor often has more than 1,000,000 acres under his charge ; under 

 conservative management as one finds in the State Forests of 

 Pennsylvania, a forester has charge of about 20,000 acres on an 

 average, while under intensive management as one finds in the 

 forests of the State of Saxony, Germany, a Forstmeistcr, or 

 Oberforster as he is called when first appointed, has charge of 

 about 4,130 acres on an average. 



2. Species, Forest Structure, and Means of Regeneration. 

 Hardwood species are more difficult to handle than coniferous 



species, and mixed stands more difficult than pure stands. The 

 natural forests of Pennsylvania are mixed, with the hardwoods 

 species far in the majority, hence a forester will not be able to 

 handle as large an area as if they were pure and coniferous in 

 structure. On account of the recent artificial establishment of 

 large areas the forest structure is changing. The transition is 

 gradual and cumulative in favor of the conifers. Natural seed re- 

 generattion is a more extensive method of reproduction than arti- 

 ficial regeneration, hence wherever natural seed regeneration is 

 the prescribed method of reproduction a forester can handle a 

 larger area than where artificial regeneration is in practice. 



3. Degree, Kind, and Amount of Utilization. 



The total amount of material that is utilized annually has an in- 

 fluence upon the size of a forest. The greater the productivity, 

 which manifests itself in the annual or periodic yield, the smaller 

 the area of a forest should be. Under extensive management 

 the total yield consists of the final yield but as the management 

 becomes more intense the intermediate yield becomes more im- 

 portant and may amount to as much as 50 per cent of the total 

 yield. 



At present the thinnings in the State Forests amount to little, 

 but in the future they will amount to more. If history will repeat 

 itself we may be able to anticipate the growing importance of 



