THE FORESTER. 



February, 



Studying the American Forests 



In The Empire State. 



The applications for advice as to the 

 best treatment for woodlands have come 

 from owners all over the country, for 

 tracts ranging in size from the small farm 

 wood lot of a few acres to the large tracts 

 of forest land held by the commercial 

 companies. During the early summer, 

 in answer to an application on land of the 

 latter class a party from the Division of 

 Forestry spent two and a-half months on 

 the lands of the Mac In tyre Iron Company 

 in Essex County, New York, gathering 

 data from which to prepare a working plan. 

 On a tract of some 70,000 acres over 

 1000 acres of valuation surveys were taken. 

 These were made on the strip method and 

 consisted in the measurement of all soft 

 wood trees two inches and over at breast 

 height and all hard woods over ten inches. 

 The surveys were run through the various 

 forest types and in different parts of the 

 tract, so that the results give a much more 

 correct estimate of the stand of timber 

 than is obtained by using other methods. 

 These figures of the present stand were 

 supplemented by studies in the rate of 

 growth of Spruce on cut-over land, by 

 means of analyses of felled trees. The 

 party was made up of student-assistants 

 and woodmen engaged locally. The stu- 

 dent-assistants were Messrs. Henry Grin- 

 nell, Smith Riley, M. De Turk High, E. 

 T. Grandlienard and G. F. Peabody, who 

 was in charge of the work for a time dur- 

 ing my absence. 



^ Under instructions from Mr. Henry S. 

 Graves, Superintendent of Working Plans, 

 twenty-three lots were visited by the writer 

 during the late summer and autumn. 

 Preliminary examinations were also made 

 on nine larger tracts on which more study 

 will be required. 



The woodlots ranged in size from 10 

 to 200 acres, the limit of the woodlot 

 agreement, and aggregated 2000 acres. 

 The preliminary examinations covered 

 over 90,000 acres. The woodlots were 

 distributed as follows : 3 in New York, 



4 in Massachusetts, 5 in New Hampshire, 

 i in Rhode Island, 2 in Connecticut, i in 

 Pennsylvania, i in Delaware, i in Vir- 

 ginia, 2 in Illinois, i in Missouri and 2 in 

 Iowa. 



Each woodlot presents a new point to 

 be considered and some individual problem 

 .to be solved ; on one lot the question of 

 stump sprouts plays an important part, on 

 another a rocky hillside is to be planted 

 and brought from a waste place into a use- 

 ful part of the farm, again there is erosion 

 to be checked before the fertile fields 

 beyond are washed away, while on another 

 farm a wind-break is desired. These ques- 

 tions make the work intensely interesting. 

 On many of the small tracts the visit of 

 the assistant, followed by a careful letter 

 of advice and suggestion, is sufficient to 

 enable the owner to carry out the treat- 

 ment recommended by the Division. Many 

 questions can be answered while going 

 over the ground with the owner, and help- 

 ful suggestions given. Sometimes all that 

 is needed, for the present, is to assure a 

 man that he is proceeding in the right way 

 with his woods and to give official com- 

 mendation to the plan which he has come 

 to adopt as the result of his own experi- 

 ence and foresight. Very often in visiting 

 a locality the assistant has an opportunity 

 to talk with other owners of woodland 

 and thus arouse further interest. 



In the Eastern States the influence of 

 the State Forestry Associations is dis- 

 tinctly seen in the applications coming 

 from city men for their country places. In 

 some instances the landscape gardener 

 rather than the forester should be con- 

 sulted, but even on such estates, while 

 confining himself to the commercial side 

 of the question, the forester is often able, 

 while on the ground, to show the owner 

 how to treat his woods, so that both profit 

 and pleasure may be derived from them, 

 making them yield the desired crop with- 

 out injuring the aesthetic effect. 



RALPH S. HOSMER, 

 Washington, D. C. 



