1474 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMEKICAN FORESTRY 



about 5,800 board feet in the 10-year period 1921-30, although on 

 the average 81 board feet of sawlogs and 0.2 cord of fuelwood per 

 acre was cut each year during this period. The average annual 

 growth was about 75 cubic feet per acre. 



On the Bates Forest of about 11,300 acres the growing stock, 

 chiefly northern white pine, has been built up during the first 10 

 years of intensive management from an average of only 1,020 board 

 feet per acre to 2,450 board feet. During this decade the annual 

 cut has averaged about 646,000 board feet of logs and almost 1,200 

 cords of fuel wood, bringing a cash return of about $1 per acre per 

 year. 



Of the many specific examples of the application of intensive 

 forestry that might be cited from all parts of the region, a few are as 

 follows : 



In 1877 a Connecticut farmer purchased a 26-acre tract covered 

 with a young stand of hardwoods, mostly oak, which presumably had 

 followed a clear cutting about 1850.^ At the time of purchase none 

 of the trees were large enough for ties. Since that time the owner 

 has obtained from this tract all the fuel wood used on the farm and 

 also timber and lumber for repairing farm buildings and for rebuilding 

 the barn. Besides more than 400 cords of fuel wood and some small 

 orders for piling, more than 50,000 board feet of lumber has been cut 

 from the tract. Yet the present stand totals more than 11,000 board 

 feet per acre of sawlogs, with perhaps 10 cords per acre of fuel wood 

 available in the tops and limbs. 



The tract now contains one of the finest stands of hardwoods in 

 Connecticut, the larger trees ranging from 18 to 30 inches in diameter. 

 Cutting has always been on a selective basis, removing as logs only 

 trees which had gained sufficient size to yield a good-quality product 

 and taking cordwpod from windfalls, defective trees, and tops of 

 sawlog trees. It is evident not only that this tract has been an 

 asset of real value, but that its contribution to the needs of the owner 

 has been made from year to year without any lowering of its prospec- 

 tive yield. 



On a State forest in New Jersey 26 acres of dense, thrifty white 

 cedar stands, 30 to 45 years old, were thinned during a period of 3 

 years. All the suppressed, intermediate, and codominant trees were 

 taken out; only sufficient trees to form a full stand at maturity were 

 left. The products sold for $337 per acre, bringing a net profit of 

 $37 per acre. At the time of cutting the value of the remaining 

 standing timber was approximately equal to the gross value of the 

 products removed. The trees removed would naturally have died 

 before the stand matured, and the trees left are stimulated to more 

 rapid growth which will probably shorten the economic rotation 

 period. 



Another example of profitable silviculture is taken from loblolly 

 pine in Maryland. On an area of several acres of thrifty 14-year-old 

 loblolly pine containing on the average acre 1,810 trees 2 inches or 

 more in diameter, 70 percent of the intermediates and a few dominant 

 trees, averaging in all 792 trees per acre, were cut in a thinning. 

 Eleven standard cords of wood were obtained, and 15.5 cords were 

 left standing. The 11 cords were sold at $5.50 per cord or $60.50 

 per acre. A net profit of $1 .05 per cord or $1 1 .55 per acre was realized. 

 An average of 1,057 trees per acre were left standing, more than taree 



