318 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



brush and the low-value hardwoods to 

 conifers. Two-year seedlings were used. 

 The original spacing between trees was 

 5 feet by 6 feet (1,452 trees to the 

 acre) , but the plantation went through 

 a severe drought in 1936 and 300 fence 

 posts were harvested in 1945. In 1947, 

 nevertheless, 1,176 trees were still 

 growing on an acre. Because of the 

 experimental nature of the plantation, 

 the cost was high $33 an acre. Al- 

 ready there are 6.7 cords of pulpwood, 

 worth about $13, available, although 

 half of the trees are still less than mini- 

 mum pulpwood size. The next cut 

 should be made about 1955 to thin the 

 stand. 



A 1923 red pine plantation, 6 feet 

 by 6 feet in spacing, has 820 trees an 

 acre left; the merchantable volume is 

 1,390 board feet and 24.2 cords, worth 

 about $60 if clear-cut now. The den- 

 sity of the stand suggests the desir- 

 ability of making a thinning that will 

 yield box bolts and pulpwood. While 

 the actual cost of establishment is miss- 

 ing, it would appear that a light cut 

 would yield a stumpage return suffi- 

 cient to pay the initial cost of es- 

 tablishment as well as the essential 

 pruning of thrifty crop trees. 



The market demand is steady for all 

 products from pulpwood size up. A 

 market must be developed for salvage 

 material just under pulpwood size. The 

 young stands that were given release 

 and thinning in the early days of the 

 depression period have now grown to a 

 point where a commercial improve- 

 ment cut is desirable to keep the stand 

 growing steadily at an even rate. 

 Much of the material which should be 

 removed is too small for pulpwood. 



An effort is being made to mecha- 

 nize operations in the woods, so that 

 the material can be handled economi- 

 cally as posts to supply a market in the 

 Great Plains. A trial sale was made in 

 1947 on 16 acres of red pine, which had 

 been thinned in 1934 at 23 years of 

 age. The tract was marked on a strict 

 improvement basis, and all thrifty well- 

 formed trees were left with more room 

 to grow. It yielded 2,500 posts, 26.1 



cords of pulpwood, and 7.8 cords of 

 box bolts. As the purchaser found the 

 cost of hand peeling posts too high to 

 allow fair profit, he crowded as much 

 of the larger post material to pulpwood 

 as he could. 



The stumpage return to the Govern- 

 ment averaged $6.80 an acre. The 

 purchaser hired all the work of felling, 

 peeling, skidding, and hauling, yet 

 made $ 1 .40 an hour for his own time in 

 giving supervision to the operation. 

 Had an adequate post-peeling ma- 

 chine been available, the production 

 of posts probably would have been 

 more economical. Such machines are 

 being manufactured and the securing 

 of several to be operated on a custom 

 basis will be another advance in in- 

 tensive management. Jack pine, aspen, 

 and other species, as well as red pine, 

 should be suitable for fence posts if 

 treated. 



The market for fence posts will be 

 limited by the capacity of pressure- 

 treating plants, which already have full 

 schedules of railroad ties, poles, piling, 

 and other timber. Additional treating 

 capacity close to the forest is needed. 



A semichemical plant for the pro- 

 duction of boards and container ma- 

 terial, and one that can use the small 

 material of most species with the bark 

 on, would be a welcome addition. Like- 

 wise, additional plants for processing 

 and remanufacture will add much 

 towards further intensity of manage- 

 ment. The installation of a concentra- 

 tion yard and finishing plant at Deer 

 River as a project of the Iron Range 

 Resources and Rehabilitation Com- 

 mission was undertaken in 1948. 



WHEN THE PRESENT MANAGEMENT 

 plans were prepared in the early 1930's, 

 they were based on rather crude data 

 as to volume. Growth calculations 

 failed to take into consideration the 

 better growth resulting from stand- 

 improvement work. Moreover, the 

 allowable cut did not consider fully the 

 market opportunities that have since 

 developed, especially for the small ma- 

 terial. The present prescribed allow- 



