AGE FOR PROFITABLE LUMBERING. 39 



lost cases it will be practically completed in. two or three years. 

 Pruning may be done veiy cheaply by using- a sharp hand ax and 

 cutting each limb close to the bark with a single stroke. 



THINNING. 



In plantations where trees are i by <i feet the first thinning should 

 be at fifteen years; where planted 6 b}^ 6 feet, at thirty years. One- 

 half of the trees should be removed. The product of the thinning can 

 frequently be used for fuel, fencing, or other purposes. The second 

 thinning, or first harvest, should be between forty and fifty years 

 after planting. At this time one-half of the remaining trees should 

 be cut. These can in most places be profitably marketed for box 

 boards. After thus removing one-half the stand at each thinning 

 there will still remain a forest in which the stand is 8 by 8 feet to 12 

 by 12 feet, according as the original distance was 4 by 4 or 6 b} r 6 feet. 

 The trees may then remain as long as the owner wishes, gaining in 

 value constantly by the improvement of the wood in both quantity 

 and quality. Trees sevent} 7 or eighty years old make excellent and 

 valuable timber. 



The above is the ideal method, the final cutting leaving sufficient 

 trees to seed the area for the next crop; but many persons have 

 reaped their total crop at 45 years of age, frequently removing 60 

 cords of box-board lumber per acre. 



AGE FOR PROFITABLE LUMBERING COST AND PROFIT. 



From the foregoing figures it is readity seen that the age at which 

 the first profitable lumbering may be practiced is between thirty-five 

 and forty-five years from the time of planting. At this time the aver- 

 age diameter of the trees, where grown in the proper densitv, is 8 to 

 12 inches. This would not sell in the market as first-class nor even 

 as second-class timber, but trees of this size have in most regions a 

 ready market for use as box boards, and are worth from $3 to $5 per 

 cord on the stump. The accepted unit of measure for box-board lum- 

 ber where sold on the stump is the cord. 



There follows an estimate, b from the data obtained, of the cost and 

 profit of an average 60-acre plantation of white pine on waste pasture 

 land in New England. The cost of the land is put at $4 per acre, 

 though in many cases it can be obtained for much less. Taxes for 

 the total period are reckoned at 2 per cent of the original value. The 

 rate is made high in order that the amount which is thus allowed for, 

 over that which would actually be required in the early period of 



Those who contemplate forest planting are referred to Circular No. 22, of the 

 Bureau of Forestry, which describes the assistance given to private owners by the 

 Government. 



6 A similar estimate is found in an article in the Yearbook of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture for 1902, entitled "The Practicability of Forest Planting 

 in the United States," by William L. Hall. 



