Il6' SUGAR PINE TYPE 



continued drought is followed by very high wind. As a conse- 

 quence only the small trees are killed outright but the larger 

 trees are injured at the butt. This is particularly the case on a 

 hillside where leaves, cones and branches collect on the upper side 

 of the tree and form an accumulation of inflammable material 

 that will burn long enough and hard enough to make deep scars. 

 Such damage is not so serious in itself as in its indirect effect in 

 weakening the trees so that they are more susceptible to insect 

 and fungus injury. Similar results follow breakage by Kght- 

 ning, wind, and snow. In such damaged trees bark beetles of 

 the genera Dendroctonus and Buprestidae reproduce in numbers 

 great enough to attack live timber successfully. Losses of 5 

 to 10 per cent of the total stand are not uncommon in this way. 



While several species of fungi attack the weakened trees in 

 this type no serious damage to sound, Hving timber has been yet 

 reported. In fact, sugar pine when protected from fire seems 

 unusually resistant to diseases. 



Timber Values. — On the whole the advantages offset the dis- 

 advantages in estimating in the sugar pine type. The stands are 

 open with compai^atively little underbrush. This means few 

 trees per acre with few shrubs and vines to impede the estimator's 

 progress. Then, too, the trees are large size and a few big trees 

 are easier to estimate than the many small trees which it would 

 take to make up the same volume. Another aid is the high pro- 

 portion of the type which has been surveyed so that tracts may 

 be readily located on the ground. These factors make it pos- 

 sible to get fairly good results from a 10 per cent estimate where 

 areas of more than 100 acres are to be valued. Hence the cost 

 need seldom exceed 10 cents per acre in spite of the inaccessi- 

 bihty of some of the mountain tracts and the fact that the type 

 is usually a mixture of several species. 



Separate stumpage prices for the different species in the type 

 were unheard of two decades ago. Private holdings of a size 

 great enough to be lumbered economically were secured by 

 grouping timber and stone claims which were bought at a flat 

 rate of $2.50 per acre from the Government or approximately 

 i$ cents per M board feet. From this minimum there has been 



