20 NORTHERN HARDWOOD TYPE 



rough and roads not far distant, there are the following difficul- 

 ties to be overcome: 



1. Small size of the tracts. 



2. Great variation in composition of subtypes. 



3. Large number of species with varying uses so that dif- 



ferent diameter limits must be employed in estimating. 



4. Low branching habit of hardwoods so that the usable 



length is very variable. 



It is unfair to generalize and say that all tracts in this type are 

 small, but certainly they average less in acreage than tracts in 

 the spruce type. The very good reason for this is that the hard- 

 woods occur on the lower slopes near the farmland and hence 

 were more desirable as woodlots in the early days. Then too 

 the prime use of a woodlot 50 years ago was for firewood, and 

 softwoods don't make first class fuel. These two factors of 

 greater accessibility and higher-use value led to the early sub- 

 division of the hardwood type into lots of 50 acres or more. 

 Seldom is it possible to find a tract composed of units of more 

 than 100 acres to the lot. Large grants of 500 or 1000 acres 

 such as are the rule in the spruce type never occur. This factor 

 of area is merely one of the reasons why a relatively large per- 

 centage must be covered in the estimating strips because a low 

 percentage of a large tract will give as good an average as a 

 much greater proportion of a small tract. 



Still another reason for running the strips close together is the 

 great variability in composition. There may be a small pocket 

 of white ash in one corner of the tract which will greatly inhance 

 its value but which would not be discovered unless an unusually 

 careful search were made. Other valuable species tend to occur 

 in small groups also so that nothing less than a 10 per cent esti- 

 mate is safe even for tracts of 500 acres or more. With smaller 

 blocks an even higher proportion is necessary. For example, 

 at least 50 per cent should be actually measured if a true estimate 

 of a 10 acre lot is to be secured. 



The placing of the base line and the planning of the strip work 

 present no unusual difficulties but follow the principles outlined 



