HOW TO MAKE IMPROVEMENT THINNINGS 

 IN MASSACHUSETTS WOODLANDS. 



IMPORTANCE OF THINNING. 



By improvement thinnings and cuttings we mean the systematic 

 removal of a portion of the trees in a growing forest, in order to 

 benefit the portion that remains. It is the forester's method of 

 cultivation, and it is the only practical way he has of increasing 

 the yield and improving the quality of his crop. The methods 

 of the arboriculturist are, except in limited cases, too costly to have 

 a place in practical forestry. 



Those people who doubt the value of forestry practices often 

 argue against thinnings, on the ground that nature's methods must 

 be the best. It is no more true that nature's methods are best in 

 the forest than in the orchard or garden. The practice of thinning 

 in European forests for nearly one hundred years has established 

 beyond a doubt that this work increases the amount and quality 

 of the lumber. In 1830 the average annual growth in German 

 forests was 20 cubic feet per acre, while in 1904 it was 65 cubic 

 feet, an increase of 300 per cent., which can be attributed almost 

 entirely to the methodical thinning of their forests. 



Nearly 45 per cent, of the land area of Massachusetts is covered 

 with some form of woodland growth, which can be apportioned 

 roughly among three main types; the pine forest, which has come 

 up on abandoned fields and pastures; the mixed growth, composed 

 of hard woods, usually of seedling origin; together with pine and 

 hemlock and sprout forest. Above an altitude of 1,200 feet spruce 

 replaces pine. A seedling tree is one which has come from a seed 

 or nut ; and by a sprout we mean one which had its origin in a 

 sucker sent out by a stump from which a tree has been cut. 



The principles of thinning apply to all kinds of forest, but 

 it is perhaps the sprout land which chiefly needs improvement. It 

 is the largest single type, and yet, with the exception of sprout 

 chestnut, which is used for ties and poles, this sprout land is at 

 present producing nothing but cord wood. Proper care might 

 bring these cord wood stands to producing saw timber. 



