MASSACHUSETTS WOODLANDS. 



are removed while they are still alive and fit for use, and are not 

 allowed to gradually sicken and die, an invitation to insects and 

 diseases of the forest. 



In the case of sprout land the crowding is generally more severe 

 and the need of thinning more urgent than the plantation supposed 

 above, for from every stump 10 to 50 suckers may spring, so that 

 several thousands of young trees may start up on an acre. 



PRACTICE OF THINNING. 



WHEN TO THIN. 



The conditions which exist in most parts of this country do not 

 permit us to thin as early or as often as is desirable. The market 

 for small-sized wood is uncertain, and we must be satisfied with 

 a less intensive cultivation of our forests than our European friends 

 enjoy. 



A safe rule to follow is to thin a stand as soon as the material 

 to be removed has reached such a size that its sale will pay the cost 

 of the removal, and as soon again as the material to be removed 

 has accumulated in sufficient quantities to pay the expense involved. 

 The profit is to be found in the improved growth of the stand. 

 When the wood lot owner is a farmer, or has farm help during the 

 winter months, when they might be idle much of the time, the 

 net cost of the work may be held quite low. 



A less commercial and a more scientific rule would state that 

 a thinning should be made as soon as the trees have attained their 

 maximum rate of height growth, and the lower limbs are well 

 pruned off. In practice this would mean a moderate thinning 

 when the stand is from twenty to thirty years old, and a heavier 

 one ten to fifteen years later. If the rate of growth of our native 

 trees and their response to treatment were better known, we could 

 afford to thin at some net expense, being able to calculate what 

 the profit would be; but unfortunately American foresters have 

 not had time to gather the necessary data on this subject, and 

 until we do, the rule of letting the material pay the expense is the 

 best to follow. 



WHAT TO THIN. 



The extent to which a closed stand may be opened up depends 

 on several circumstances. Species which are called "tolerant," 

 because they stand the shade well, should be kept quite thick, for 

 they cling tenaciously to their side limbs. Hemlock and beech 

 are extreme examples of "tolerant" trees. A forest on a dry, 



