312 THE FORESTS OF CECIL COUNTY 



This table shows a stand of 193 million feet of lumber for the 

 shore woodlands if the better stands were present over the entire 

 area. Substract from this the 51 million feet of inferior material 

 under " Other Species " and the total merchantable stand would be 

 142 million feet of lumber. It is probable that, if the better stands 

 were made to produce full crops and these full crops were found 

 over the entire area of the shore-timber, the merchantable stand 

 would be over 200 million feet of lumber. 



The possible yield for the Barrens timber, if we consider 30 cords 

 a full crop, would be 600,000 cords. Twenty-five cords per acre are 

 now cut from unburnt areas, so that the estimate of 30 cords per 

 acre is not high. 



IMPROVEMENT. 



There are three questions of prime importance to Cecil forest 

 owners : 



1. Improvement of the composition of existing stands. 



2. Improvement of quality and quantity of material produced. 



3. Growth of improved stands on all forest-producing areas unfit 

 for agriculture. 



To improve the composition of the stands, they must first be pro- 

 tected from fire. At the time of cutting, seed trees of the desired 

 species should be left to reproduce their kind. These trees should 

 be selected from the best found on the area and should, if possible, 

 be in seed-bearing when the cutting takes place. Five to ten trees 

 of each species desired should be left and they should be distributed 

 evenly over the areas and not in groups. In cutting desirable spe- 

 cies which sprout readily from the stump, care should be taken to 

 insure a good sprout growth. The cutting should take place in the 

 fall or winter and the surface of the cut should be slanting to pre- 

 vent a rapid decay of the stump before the sprouts are well estab- 

 lished. An opposite course may be taken with undesirable species. 

 If the cutting takes place in the summer and the tops are piled on 

 the stumps and burned, no sprouts will appear. All defective trees 

 (Plate XXVIII, Fig. 1) should be classed with inferior species and 



