growth, product prices, and market behavior. Tree growth and man- 

 agement practices differ according to differences in site and to lengths 

 of growing seasons. Product prices fluctuate according to market con- 

 ditions. Acknowledging the elusive nature of these variables, the finan- 

 cial decision to plant white pine must be based upon the expectations 

 of good volume growth, favorable prices, and an adequate market. 



According to Lane (10) low thinning has been the most widely 

 practiced method of thinning in white pine stands. Examples of the 

 low thinning method for periods exceeding 30 years included the Sagi- 

 naw Forest in southeastern Michigan (16), the Biltmore Estate in 

 western North Carolina (17), and the Yale Forest in southwestern New 

 Hampshire (7). In these managed areas thinnings at 5 to 7 year inter- 

 vals each removed about 10 to 20 percent of the stocking. In no instance 

 was the total growth increased. However, the amount of usable wood 

 was 12 to 35 percent more where thinning has been applied. Smithers 

 (15) thinned at 5-year intervals from age 30 to 50, removing about 15 

 percent of the basal area with each thinning. Thereafter thinning re- 

 moved about 10 percent of the basal area every 10-year interval. 



This white pine investment study is based upon data derived from 

 reports of the Yale white pine stands near Keene, New Hampshire, 

 which have a site index of 60 (6, 7) , and a white pine plantation at the 

 Biltmore Forest in North Carolina which has a site index of 65 (17). 

 These data cover a time period of sufficient duration to obtain sig- 

 nificant information on physical yield of white pine. A basal area con- 

 trol of 100 square feet/acre maintained by thinning at regular inter- 

 vals was the management practice used on the plantations studied. 



The first section of the report explains the physical yield for thin- 

 ning and harvests on both the site index 60 stand and the site index 

 65 stand. The second section show the projection and calculation of 

 prices for harvest and thinning cuts for sawlogs and pulpwood. The 

 third section explains the assumptions about establishment costs, carry- 

 ing charges, and harvest and thinning costs. The fourth section includes 

 the calculation of financial returns. Financial returns are calculated on 

 rotations of varying lengths (45, 55, 65, 70, and 75 years) from a base 

 year of 1967. Thus a 55-year rotation would be harvested in the year 

 2022. The format of this report follows that used by Manthy et. al. 

 (12) for red pine plantations. 



Physical Yields 



Physical yields used for the site index 60 stand are given in Table 

 1. The stand was thinned periodically to a basal area of 100 square feet 

 per acre. Table 2 gives yields for the site index 65 stand, thinned peri- 

 odically to a basal area of 100 square feet. 



The data from the Yale forest (site index 60) included only three 

 thinnings from age 35 through age 55. Therefore, it was necessary to 

 project this information forward to age 70 using fornuilae developed 

 by Barrett.* The data from the Biltmore plantation (site index 65) in- 



* Barren, J. P. Associate Professor of Forest Resources. University of New 

 Hampshire. Data unpublished. 



