NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FOREST. 161 



But if we take the small stands here and there 

 which occur in nature's forest, grown under similar 

 premises as those of the tables, we will find, as 

 would be expected, the same results ; the stand 

 has developed in the manner indicated by the 

 tables. 



These tables of normal forest yield can serve 

 us as a goal which may be gained by a proper 

 forest management, when the useful product of 

 nature's forest can be trebled and quadrupled. 



To illustrate the economic and practical value of 

 the laws deduced from these tables we may state 

 only a few of them. The so-called rapid growers, 

 i.e. those trees which have a rapid height growth 

 in their youth, are, in the end, not the largest pro- 

 ducers, if stout sizes are desired ; the persistent 

 growers, i.e. mostly the shade-enduring trees, pro- 

 duce relatively more in the long run. Hence, the 

 rapid-growing aspen, which is near the end of its 

 life at 80 years, may have then produced at best 

 7600 cubic feet to the acre, while the shady, slower, 

 but persistent spruce has, by that time, accumu- 

 lated over 12,000 cubic feet, and is still growing 

 at the rate of over 80 cubic feet per year. 



On good sites and with rapid-growing species, 

 the culmination of the rate of volume growth 

 occurs earlier than under opposite conditions, and 

 then declines more rapidly, influencing, therefore, 

 the most opportune time for harvest. For the 

 Scotch pine the highest rate of production may be 



