FORESTRY IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND 



BY RALPH C. HAWLEY 



PROFESSOR OF FORESTRY, YALE UNIVERSITY 



S( >l'THERN New England for our purposes may be 

 taken as including the states of Connecticut and 

 Rhode Island. This territory is one of the most 

 thickly populated sections of the United States, surpassed 

 only by Massachusetts and New Jersey. In 1910 it had 

 a population of 281 inhabitants per square mile of 

 territory. 



Southern New England boasts of excellent transpor- 

 tation facilities. The New Haven System reaches into 

 all sections of the territory. 

 Roads, oftentimes of state 

 construction, enable the use 

 of motor trucks in bring- 

 ing forest products from 

 nearly ever)' lot to the rail- 

 road. From the logging 

 standpoint, the region may 

 be said to be exceptionally 

 well developed. 



The region is primarily 

 a manufacturing district. 

 In 1910, 8.8 per cent of the 

 population were engaged in 

 agriculture, while 54.0 per 

 cent earned their living 

 through manufacturing and 

 mechanical industries. 

 These industries are of 

 such character that they do 

 not use wood as their chief 

 product. Such an industry 

 as the pulp wood business 

 of Northern New England, 

 utilizing softwood logs as 

 its chief raw material, does 

 not exist in this southern 

 district. The industries re- 

 quire wood products for 

 shipping their output or for 

 minor uses in connection 

 with manufacturing pro- 

 cesses. The fact that for- 

 est products do not constitute the chief raw material for 

 the local industries has great influence in determining the 

 attitude of the population toward the forest resource. 



The forest area of Southern New England is now 

 about 46 per cent of the total land surface. This is 

 equivalent to 1,750,000 acres of forest land. The area 

 forested is apparently on the increase. In 1910 the for- 

 ested area was estimated at 41 per cent, in 1850 as 32 

 per cent and in the Connecticut portion of the territory 



JUST AFTER THINNING OPERATIONS 



A thinning has just been completed in this white pine stand 

 years of age. 7000 board feet of lumber were cut and 27000 board 

 feet left per acre in this operation. 



See "Changes 

 turies" by Roland M. Harper, Journal of Forestry 



'.he Forest Area of New England in Three Cen- 

 Volume 10, Page 442. 



in 1820 as about 26 per cent. This is the lowest point 

 to which the forest area has sunk since settlement of 

 Southern New England.* The present forested area 

 may be considered, with very few local exceptions, better 

 suited for growing trees than for the production of 

 agricultural crops. 



Agriculture in Southern New England is essentially a 

 minor industry as compared to manufacturing. The 

 soils which are capable of profitable agricultural use in 



competition with better 

 lands to the south and 

 west, are already utilized. 



It is interesting to note 

 the ownership of the 

 1,750,000 acres of forest 

 land. Roughly estimated, 

 this is held as follows: 



State Parks 0.25% 



State Forests 0.25 " 



Municipal Forests . 1 " 



Corporations 3 " 



Lumbermen 1.50 " 



Individuals 94 " 



The National Government 

 does not own forest land 

 in Southern New England. 

 The forest is primarily 

 hardwood in character. 

 One type, called the upland 

 hardwood, comprises over 

 80 per cent of the forest 

 area. This was originally 

 composed of chestnut, 

 oaks and a variety of other 

 hardwoods. As a result of 

 the chestnut blight, chest- 

 nut will soon be extermi- 

 nated in the commercial 

 sense. The oaks remain 

 as the principal trees. Less 

 than 7 per cent of the for- 

 est area is occupied by the 

 swamp hardwood type. Soft maple, elm, yellow birch, 

 black and white ash, with other moisture loving hard- 

 woods make up the composition. 



Stands of pine usually white pine, with some pitch 

 pine cover about two per cent of the forest area. This 

 type is an intrusion into Southern New England of the 

 pine region to the north. 



Old fields occupy nine per cent of the forest area. 

 Under this term are included the fields, both those 

 cultivated and those only pastured which have fallen into 

 disuse and are reverting to brush and forest growth. 



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