CHIEF FIRE WARDEN. 81 



aggregates $22,000. Beech is invariably raised from the 

 seed dropping from mother trees evenly distributed. 

 Scotch pine is planted when one year old, over 10,000 

 seedlings being used for each acre. Spruce and fir are 

 planted when four years old, or seeds are sown in strips 

 being about four feet apart. Oak is either planted as a 

 seedling two feet to three feet high, or acorns are dibbed 

 in, the method used depending on local conditions. All 

 plants are raised in forest nurseries, kept under the care 

 of local forest rangers. Comparatively large areas are 

 covered with oak -coppice forest, which is copsed every 15 

 to 20 years, with a view of obtaining tanning bark. White 

 pine and douglas fir have been introduced with splendid 

 success. American red oak and hickory seem to answer 

 the local conditions fairly well. 



In certain densely populated sections, where soil fit for 

 agriculture is scarce, field crops (potatoes and rye) are 

 raised together with tree crops during the first three to five 

 years following the cutting of mature trees. Rows of 

 potatoes alternating with rows of pine seedlings are fre- 

 quently seen. This combination reduces the expense of 

 reforestation. It secures for the seedlings a soil of high 

 porosity, whilst it exhausts, on the other hand, the mineral 

 contents of the ground and the accumulated layer of 

 humus. 



Reforesting is effected on about 40 per cent of area by 

 seed from standing trees; on about 10 per cent of area 

 by coppicing and on about 50 per cent of area by artificial 

 sowing and planting. The annual yield is strictly sus- 

 tained. The yield per acre per annum is 74 cubic feet, 

 of which not less than 60 cubic feet is used as fuel. The 

 value of cordwood piled up along forest roads is about 

 $2. 50 per cord. The value of logs cut and hauled to for- 

 est roads is about $11.25 P er i>ooo feet board measure. 

 As to the usual method of cutting a crop, about 30 per 

 cent of the yield is made up of stuff obtained from thin- 



