MASSACHUSETTS WOODLANDS. 11 



If as a result of thinning the trees become larger in a given 

 space of time, conversely they will attain any suitable size in a 

 shorter space of time than without a thinning. The experiments 

 of European foresters have shown that the rotation of the timber 

 crop can be shortened by judicious thinnings from 10 to 20 per 

 cent. 



In the course of this work many unsightly and diseased trees 

 are removed, and this fact tends to make the woodland more at- 

 tractive to the eye. Where forest land is used for park purposes 

 as well as for timber production, a moderate thinning is highly 

 recommended. It should, however, be conducted under careful 

 supervision, as the tendency is often towards a " sand-papering " 

 treatment of the woods, to which many people who love primitive- 

 ness in nature object; and they wrongfully believe this effect to 

 be a necessary result of forestry work. 



IS THINNING PRACTICABLE? 



There are many owners of forest property who, although they 

 do not doubt that a thinning will benefit their woods, say that the 

 cost of the work is prohibitive. Of course there are many places 

 in this State so remote from a market that the product will not 

 even pay the charge for labor; but the trouble with most of these 

 people is, that they want to get back their wages, a fair stumpage, 

 and often an additional profit, from work meant for improvement 

 only. It is an especially valuable line of work for the landowner 

 who is obliged to keep men and horses through the winter months, 

 with little for them to do. Such a man makes something out of 

 the thinning work, no matter if the actual returns are small. 



In the sprout hard-wood stands, from 3 to 8 cords will be found 

 to be the usual product of thinnings, depending on the age and 

 density of the stand. In the seedling hard woods and mixed stands 

 the density is so variable as to make any definite statement in re- 

 gard to the probable product of thinnings impossible. As a rule, 

 about one-third of the trees and from one-fifth to one-quarter of 

 the total volume in the woodlot are taken out in this work. 



Two years ago this office published a small pamphlet containing 

 data on the white pine. Part of this booklet was given over to 

 yield tables. A pine yield table is one which shows the volume of 

 well-stocked pine stands at different ages, which in this case ranged 

 from twenty-five to fifty-five years. These tables were made by 

 measuring the trees on many sample plots of all ages, and averaging 

 the results. When these sample plots were calipered, those trees 



