MASSACHUSETTS WOODLANDS. 



31 



A better idea of the density of these trees can be realized if it is 

 known that 302 trees spaced regularly over an acre would be 12 by 12 

 feet apart. 



The other condition was that where a few trees had started and de- 

 veloped very wide spreading, and with large side limbs near to the 

 ground. The density varied from a condition where the side limbs of 

 the trees came together and completely shaded the ground to where 

 the trees stood with open spots and areas about them. In these open 

 areas there was almost always a good reproduction of white pine com- 

 ing in among the blueberry, huckleberry and kalmia bushes. The fol- 

 lowing sample area was taken where the pines had a great deal of 

 room about them, with a good reproduction of pine coming in : 



PLOT ACRE, NORTHEAST OF LARGE POND, IN DIRECTION OF A FIELD. 



DIAMETER BREAST HIGH (INCHES). 



A total of 5 trees, or 20 to the acre, with a height of 55 to 60 feet. 



OWNER'S DESIRE. 



It was Dr. Goldsbury's first desire not to mar the beauty of his 

 farm, or to make his woodlot an eyesore to the village of his town by 

 cutting and stripping the land of its fine growth. Furthermore, he 

 desired to take such steps as would improve his lot and place it in- a 

 more flourishing condition, so that it would come down to the younger 

 generation unimpaired. Lastly, his difficulty in getting any one to 

 attempt the thinning of his lot influenced him to sacrifice his woodlot 

 to an experiment which would make a basis of calculations for such 

 work in the future. 



GENERAL POLICY. 



For the first condition above mentioned or the even-aged growth, the 

 plan was to thin out the weak and poorer trees, leaving the good speci- 

 mens with sufficient room for their tops to spread and develop without 

 retardation for some ten years at least. The ground for this policy 

 was based on the fact that the trees had made their main height growth, 

 and their energies were now towards developing their diameters. The 

 growth in diameter of a tree is in proportion to the size of its top, 

 since the leaves are the laboratories of the food material which goes to 

 make up the growth, the more laboratories the faster the growth. 



With this theory in mind, actual practice meant leaving the better 

 and more promising individuals with sufficient room about them to 



