88 



THE FORESTER. 



April, 



Studying American Forests. 



Field Investigations. 



E. M. Griffith, field-assistant of the Di- 

 vision of Forestry, who left Washington 

 a month ago to make field investigations, 

 has already examined a number of large 

 tracts in Missouri and Arkansas. One of 

 these is a tract in Dunklin County, in the 

 southeastern part of Missouri consisting of 

 about 54,000 acres in one solid body. The 

 timber is largely Ash, Hickory, and Oak, 

 with some Honey-locust and Persimmon ; 

 in one or two sections Cypress is found in 

 considerable quantity. The timber is es- 

 timated to cut 12,000 feet per acre, and is 

 very tall, clean, and free from decay. 

 Taken all together, it is a remarkably fine 

 body of hardwood. 



As a result of this examination, the 

 owners the Deering Harvester Company 

 have made definite application for a 

 complete working plan for the property, 

 with the view of managing it on the lines 

 of conservative forestry. 



Mr. Griffith has made the preliminary 

 examination of two tracts in Arkansas, but 

 as yet the owners have not taken action 

 upon the reports made. The timber lands 

 examined near Malvern and Perla, Ark., 

 consist of 15,000 acres of Pine, most of 

 which has been cut-over once, and in some 

 cases twice. About 20,000 acres addi- 

 tional, which were examined in the same 

 localities, are mainly virgin forest, lying 

 for the most part in the Pine flats. The 

 timber lands at Pine Bluff, Ark., consist 

 of 85,000 acres in Grant, Jefferson and 

 Saline counties, the main timber being 

 Short-leaf Pine (Pimis echinata~}, with a 

 considerable amount of Oak, Hickory and 

 Gum. 



Mr. Griffith has now proceeded to the 

 Black Hills Forest Reserve, where he is 

 making a detailed working-plan. This is 

 the beginning of the work on the Forest 

 Reserves by the Division of Forestry. 

 Later assistants will join in the work 

 which will be continued throughout the 

 entire summer. 



Timber Measurements. 



A single acre of Washington timber, re- 

 centlv measured by the Division of For- 

 estry, contained 218,690 feet B. M. of Red 

 Fir, 11,000 feet of Hemlock, and 6000 

 feet of Cedar; making a total stand of 

 236,690 feet. The smallest Fir on the 

 acre was 3 feet in diameter and the largest 

 8 feet. The height of the forest approxi- 

 mated 300 feet. The Hemlock was scaled 

 down to 20 inches in diameter and had it 

 been scaled to i 2 or 14 inches, as custom- 

 ary in the East, the stand would have 

 been several thousand feet greater. This 

 acre was measured near Wilkeson, Wash- 

 ington, about 30 miles from Tacoma. 



The average stand per acre for 131 

 acres measured by the same party near 

 Buckley, in the same county, was 74,402 

 feet of Red Fir, 30,105 feet of Hemlock, 

 5000 feet of Cedar, 2175 feet of Spruce 

 and 593 feet of White Fir; a total stand 

 of 112,276 feet. In these measurements 

 no trees less than 2 feet in diameter were 

 scaled. No allowance, however, was 

 made in the above calculation for cull. 

 The 131 acres were taken in various parts 

 of a township and represents with fair ac- 

 curacy the stand throughout that township. 

 The significance of these figures is appar- 

 ent when it is remembered that 10,000 feet 

 per acre is considered a heavy stand in all 

 lumber regions east of the Mississippi. 



Forest Valuation. 



In connection with the investigations of 

 commercial trees by the Division a set of 

 tables has been prepared for the Adiron- 

 dack hardwoods, by which various finan- 

 cial calculations can be made accurately 

 and easily if the approximate number of 

 trees on a given area and average diameter 

 are known. The most important tables 

 show : The value of mature trees at dif- 

 ferent stumpage rates ; value of immature 

 trees of all ages at different stumpage rates ; 

 interest represented by annual growth on 



