C902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



319 



TREATMENT OF SECOND-GROWTH WHITE PINE. 



PART I. 



Bv Wallace I. Hutchinson. 



THE following methods of thinning 

 and pruning White Pine, and the 

 effect of such cuttings, are based on in- 

 vestigation carried on in the natural 

 pine groves of southern New Hamp- 

 shire. Many of the principles set forth, 

 although applicable to this portion of 

 thecountr}', will have to be slightly mod- 

 ified to suit conditions elsewhere. 



As the supply of White Pine decreases 

 and the stumpage value increases pro- 

 portionately, the aim of nearly every 

 farmer who owns a woodlot is likely to 

 be the production of the greatest quan- 

 tity of valuable timber in the shortest 

 possible time. To do this, his first ob- 

 ject should be to stock the area with a 

 sufficient number of trees to form a com- 

 plete cover overhead. This is not only 

 beneficial to the soil, but also for the 

 proper development of the trees. In 

 the natural woods this state of affairs 

 verj^ often exists. 



Natural forests are likely to be more 

 valuable than artificial plantations, for 



most natural forests grow only in such 

 situations as are congenial to the life of 

 trees, the seeds of which will not germi- 

 nate readily in unfavorable soils. Na- 

 ture seldom errs in the choice of condi- 

 tions favorable to tree- growth, a judg- 

 ment in which man is very liable to 

 error. 



Shortly after the leaf canopy is estab- 

 lished the growing trees begin to crowd 

 one another, and the struggle for light 

 and space commences. A number of 

 the trees overtop the rest, rearing their 

 heads to the full enjoyment of the light. 

 Below these a few trees here and there 

 enjoy with their leading shoots the light 

 which is not absorbed by the dominat- 

 ing trees. Others are left so far behind 

 in the race that they are deprived of en- 

 joyment of all direct light that is, they 

 are suppressed. They live for a shorter 

 or longer period, but unless they are 

 a shade-enduring species they are not 

 apt to survive for any great length of 

 time. 



FIG. I. A WELI.-MAN.\GED FOREST; I.ARGE TREES READY FOR MARKET; UNDERGROWTH 



SUFFICIENTLY DENSE TO PROTECT THE SOIL. 



