in 



2 5 8 



returned substantial incomes 

 past and give every promise of con- 

 tinuing to do so in the years ahead. 

 Because much of the hardwood timber 

 is now merchantable for pulpwopd 

 and because prices of timber have in- 

 creased decidedly during the 50 years, 

 today's cash income from the property 

 equals that of the past, even though 

 the volumes being harvested now are 

 considerably less. 



Yearbook of Agriculture 1949 



the hazards, makes it possible for the group 

 owners to enjoy income at short in- 

 tervals, and enables them to draw up 

 satisfactory contracts with companies 

 interested in purchasing timber. On the 

 other hand, as the equity of each indi- 

 vidual diminishes because of increase 

 number of heirs, interest likewise 



THE DEAD RIVER co. and the East- 

 ern Corp., manufacturers of paper, re- 

 cently concluded a 10-year renewable 

 management agreement on a sizable 

 acreage of land. It requires diameter 

 cutting limits as follows: Balsam fir, 

 6 inches; spruce and hemlock, 10 

 inches; pine, 10 inches for pulpwood 

 and 12 inches for sawlogs. Large pine 

 and large hardwoods suitable for saw 

 timber, veneer, and novelties are re- 

 served by the Dead River Co. Cutting 

 may not exceed three-fourths of the 

 calculated growth over any 5-year pe- 

 riod. Areas are selected for cutting with 

 regard to maturity, protection of for- 

 ests against fire, insects, and disease, 

 and in a manner that will insure rea- 

 sonable silvicultural control. Past man- 

 agement of the Dead River Co. hold- 

 ings has been conservative, so that the 

 properties cut over now contain more 

 timber than when acquired. 



The properties are to be developed 

 intensively by building all-year gravel 

 roads and encouraging industries that 

 are necessary to get high returns from 

 the properties. Complete utilization 

 from the land is possible through mar- 

 kets for all commercial species that 

 are growing on the land. 



A FEW OTHER estate and investment 

 holdings have access to diversified mar- 

 kets and the benefits of management 

 by a trained forester. They are the ex- 

 ception rather than the rule. The gen- 

 eral practice when the original owner 

 died has been to divide the equity but 

 leave the physical property intact. 



Divided ownership spreads the risk 

 from fire, insect damage, and other 



in 



diminishes. Diffused ownership makes 

 agreement on one single-management 

 policy difficult. In the long run, indi- 

 vidual heirs interested in the greatest 

 current income or interested in liqui- 

 dating the property tend to make their 

 weight count at the expense of those 

 willing to manage the land as a long- 

 time investment property. 



Group owners have been obliged to 

 place management responsibilities on a 

 single individual who acted as agent for 

 all. These agents were often lawyers, 

 retired judges, real estate dealers, or 

 individual members of the family, most 

 of whom had no knowledge of forestry. 

 Consequently, sales and cutting prac- 

 tices were left largely to the discretion 

 of the buyer of timber. Before 1900, 

 these were mostly lumbermen inter- 

 ested in spruce saw timber; cutting was 

 therefore confined to saw-timber trees. 



Thereafter, extensive pulp opera- 

 tions brought progressively more dras- 

 tic cuttings. The removal of softwood 

 without cutting hardwoods has led to 

 serious deterioration. Investment prop- 

 erties have been particularly suscep- 

 tible to such deterioration because they 

 lay in the unorganized towns of Maine, 

 where few roads have been built. Only 

 timber that could be driven down the 

 streams was merchantable. 



Family-type holdings are gradually 

 being acquired by pulp companies. A 

 few of the larger holdings may per- 

 sist for some decades to come, but they 

 will be the exception rather than the 

 rule. Stability of long-term manage- 

 ment objectives appears to be out of 

 the question for most such properties. 

 Owners generally are unwilling to de- 

 velop the properties intensively by 

 building roads, erecting homes for for- 

 est workers, and encouraging such 

 industries as are necessary to get high 



