A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1473 



marketable material other than fuel wood. Weeding operations to 

 favor the more valuable species in young stands will perhaps yield 

 greater returns than any other cultural operation in this region. In 

 stands of cordwood size improvement cuttings to stimulate the growth 

 of the better trees and utilize the defective are needed over large 

 areas. Selective cutting of mature stands, aiming to carry a gradually 

 decreasing number of the best trees to large size, will almost univer- 

 sally prove desirable practice. 



In the second-growth forests of northern hardwoods in the North- 

 east intensive measures similar to those outlined for the oak-chestnut- 

 yellow poplar type are in order. 



The large pulp and paper industries of the Northeast offer a ready 

 market for softwoods and to a lesser extent for poplar and aspen in 

 the spruce-fir-northern hardwoods region. These industries are now 

 importing more raw material than they are obtaining from the local 

 forests. Intensive production on the more accessible areas close to 

 the mills should, therefore, prove highly desirable. To meet the 

 needs for pulp wood the major effort should be to maintain or increase 

 the proportion of softwoods in the mixed stands. Over much of 

 this region no market exists for hardwoods, and in old-growth stands 

 the hardwoods are found to be exceedingly defective, especially on 

 areas from which the softwoods have been culled. Intensive treat- 

 ment of these stands would include selective girdling of worthless 

 hardwoods several years in advance of removal of softwoods, another 

 girdling of hardwoods after the cutting of softwoods, and weeding of 

 young stands to favor spruce and fir on clear-cut areas 5 to 7 years 

 after cutting. Early and frequent light cuttings after the trees begin 

 to reach merchantable size are desirable in order to utilize the balsam 

 fir before heart rot sets in and to stimulate the growth of the residual 

 stand. 



The success of the measures suggested above is strikingly demon- 

 strated on such areas as the Bates College Forest in Maine, the Yale 

 Forest in New Hampshire, the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, 

 and the Eh' Whitney Forest in Connecticut. The Harvard Forest 

 of 2,100 acres of mixed pine, hemlock, and hardwoods in the 23 years 

 during which it has been under management has had an increase of 

 growing stock from an average of about 4,750 board feet per acre to 

 5,700 board feet. Yet in this period there has been cut an average 

 of about 103 board feet per acre per year, which totals 2,380 board 

 feet for every acre on the forest or one half the total stand when 

 management was established. The annual growth per acre per year, 

 estimated at about 120 board feet (17.1 cubic feet) in 1908, has 

 increased to about 190 board feet (28.6 cubic feet). Annual growth 

 is still far below the ultimate productive capacity of the forest, 

 owing in part to the fact that none of the open lands which have had 

 to be planted has begun to yield merchantable timber. Gross reve- 

 nue has ranged from $4.76 to $7.15 per acre per year and net income 

 from $0.50 to $1 per acre per year until the present depression. A 

 permanent crew of five men has been employed, and twice that 

 number has been used each year for part-time work. 2 



Similarly the stand on the Yale Forest, which is very largely 

 northern white pine, increased from 2,370 board feet per acre to 



2 Fisher, R. T. The Harvard Forest as a Demonstration Tract. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 25:130- 

 139. 1931. 



