86 



THE FORESTER. 



April, 



out the less valuable trees, but to do this 

 with financial success, or at least without 

 a loss, is quite another matter; the success 

 of the undertaking must depend very largely 

 upon the economic conditions surrounding 

 the forest, and in many instances improve- 

 ment fellings with any hope of profit are 

 entirely out of the question. 



Take for example a mixed forest of pine 

 and hardwoods in the South ; there is no 

 doubt at all that the future of such a forest 

 would he greatly improved by the removal 



far outweigh the amount obtained from 

 the sale of such produce. 



A modified form of this question presents 

 itself in the Adirondacks where spruce is 

 the valuable species, and the hardwoods 

 inferior species; here it is merely a com- 

 parative matter as in many cases the hard- 

 woods can be harvested at a profit ; nev- 

 ertheless the returns obtained from them 

 are very small in comparison with those 

 which the spruce affords, and very often 

 the lumbering of such trees is carried on 



A BADLY FORMED MIXED FOREST OF SAL AND INFERIOR SPECIES, BEFORE 



IMPROVEMENT FELLINGS. 



of a large part of the hardwoods, which 

 would have as a result an increase in the 

 proportion of pine in the reproduction; as 

 pine is the valuable species here and the 

 hardwoods are practically worthless, such 

 a result is of course much to be desired. 

 In Germany the hardwoods could be 

 cut and sold as firewood at considerable 

 profit, but in this country the expense of 

 lumbering and transport to market would 



at a financial loss. It should be the object 

 of management in such a forest gradually 

 to increase the stand of spruce and to do 

 this at the expense of the hardwoods; 

 such an attempt is now being made by 

 Prof. Fernow on the timber lands of the 

 New York State University. 



As an example of what may be done 

 under favorable conditions the following 

 brief description of the way in which the 







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