108 FORESTRY ALMANAC 



thinned to increase the growth of the remaining trees, and how? 

 How can the mixed stands of pine and inferior hardwoods be 

 made more productive? Will white pine come in naturally under 

 the gray birch on the burned-over lands or should it be planted? 

 In either case, how should the gray birch be treated to give the 

 white pine the best chance to develop? How much additional land 

 must the company buy to grow its own supplies, assuming that it 

 has not enough now? To answer that, of course, requires knowl- 

 edge as to the rate of growth of the different species. 



A farmer in eastern Vermont owns 50 acres of hillside pasture 

 and 200 acres of woodland. The latter consists principally of mixed 

 spruce and hardwoods and is producing about one-quarter of a 

 cord an acre a year. How can he treat the woodlot so as to raise 

 this yield to a cord? How shall he cut to increase the amount of 

 ash and basswood in the new stand? How to increase the spruce? 

 Is the pasture worth more for grazing or for growing timber? If 

 the latter, should it be planted to pine, spruce or hardwoods, or, 

 perhaps, to European or Japanese larch, and what character of 

 planting stock should be used in each case? 



These are but samples of an indefinite number of questions to 

 which conclusive replies are not available. To answer them satis- 

 factorily will require years of systematic investigation by trained 

 men. Some of this will have to deal with fundamental problems, 

 such as the relation between tree growth and light, temperature, 

 soil moisture, physical and chemical composition of soil, and other 

 environmental factors. Its ultimate aim is to develop the facts 

 and principles which must be used in producing fully stocked, 

 rapidly growing stands of desirable species throughout the country; 

 in other words, to establish the scientific basis of forestry. 



That research in the production of forest crops is as necessary 

 and will pay as well as similar research in the production of agricul- 

 tural crops can not be doubted. Professor Fisher (Richard T. 

 Fisher, Director of the Harvard Forest) told you that the efficient 

 management of a forest demands skill; skill demands knowledge 

 back of it. That means trained men, men who know forests and 

 how to get the most out of them, just as knowledge must be back 

 of the production of farm crops, no matter what they are. Con- 

 vincing evidence of the value of the latter is afforded by the fact 



