30 



IMPROVEMENT THINNINGS IN 



REPORT ON THE PRACTICAL THINNING 

 OF A WHITE PINE WOOD LOT. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The following report is a record of the conditions and facts con- 

 nected with the experimental thinning of a white pine woodlot in 

 Warwick, Mass., belonging to Dr. P. W. Goldsbury : 



THE TRACT. 



The tract extends over an area of 12 acres of gradual swales and 

 ridges at the bottom of a valley. Excepting for a small area where a 

 ledge outcrops or lies very near the surface, the soil is a deep, sandy 

 loam of good moisture, and everywhere well drained. 



The stand, which averages fifty years of age, is interrupted by two 

 small ponds from being a block of solid growth. This growth is a 

 result of a natural seeding of an old pasture. As a result of this 

 natural seeding, there are represented two conditions which governed 

 the policy of the thinnings, the first that of a dense condition where 

 the trees had practically started at the same time and grown up to 

 form an even-aged stand, tall and comparatively clean of their side 

 limbs. A sample plot taken in this condition will better illustrate it : 



PLOT | ACRE, SOUTH OF BAPTISM POND, IN DIRECTION OF THE HOUSE. 



A total of 66 trees, or 264 to the acre, with a height of 65 to 70 feet. 

 PLOT i ACRE, ON THE FLAT BETWEEN THE Two PONDS. 



DIAMETER BREAST HIGH (INCHES). 



A total of 91 trees, or 364 to the acre, with a height of 60 to 70 feet. 



