1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



79 



are few plants or grasses to choke the 

 growth of the seedling. 



After a careful examination of the 

 plantation the following operations were 

 decided upon : 



1 . To caliper all of the trees and tabu- 

 late them in 3 classes, as dominant, in- 

 termediate, and suppressed. 



2. To select average trees from the 

 dominant and intermediate classes, 

 which should serve as a standard in 

 computing the volume of wood in the 

 plantation. 



3. To cut out and remove from the 

 plantation all suppressed trees and 'as 

 many of the intermediate as should be 

 found necessary in order to allow the 

 remaining trees enough room to make 

 a proper development. 



The measurements resulted as fol- 

 lows : 



Dominant trees = 626, averaging 19.4 

 feet in height and 3 inches diameter at 

 breast height. 



Intermediate trees 930, averaging 

 15.9 feet in height and 2. i inches diam- 

 eter at breast height. 



Suppressed trees = 820, which aver- 

 aged less than i inch in diameter and 

 probably less than 6 feet in height. 



Volume of average dominant tree = 

 .56 cubic feet, giving a total volume of 

 351.1 cubic feet for this class from an 

 annual accretion of 29.2 cubic feet. 



Volume of average intermediate tree 

 = .25 cubic feet, giving a total volume 

 of 235. i cubic feet for this class on an 

 annual accretion of 21.37 cubic feet. 



Total volume of wood in the planta- 

 tion = 586.2 cubic feet. 



Total annual accretion == 50.6 cubic 

 feet. 



A great many of the suppressed Scotch 

 Pines and a few of the suppressed 

 Western Yellow Pines are apparently 

 quite thrifty, and during the last two 

 or three years have made very satis- 

 factory growth. 



Such trees, it was believed, could be 

 profitably transplanted, and with this 

 idea in mind they were left undisturbed. 

 The owners agreed to transplant as 

 many as possible of them during the 

 coming winter, setting them in blanks 

 in deciduous plantations. 



Four hundred trees were marked for 

 transplanting, and 568 were marked 

 for cutting and later cut out. Of the 

 latter number 80 per cent were Jack 

 Pine, of which 148 were trees of the 

 intermediate class. 



All of the poles cut out were em- 

 ployed in constructing a thatched shed 

 roof. The value of the thinnings for 

 this purpose was estimated at $5 , which 

 fully covered the cost of labor in thin- 

 ning. 



The remaining trees, i ,408 in number, 

 were pruned to a height of 4 or 5 feet. 

 The greater portion of the branches re- 

 moved were dead, and very few of the 

 living branches were an inch in diameter. 

 Although the number of trees re- 

 maining is still very large for the area, 

 the plantation is in excellent condition 

 for a few years of vigorous growth. 



The trees are evenly distributed, and 

 the fact that the stand is close will tend 

 to increase the present excellent rate of 

 growth in height, though not, it is be- 

 lieved, to the detriment of increase in 

 diameter. 



Three years hence one-third of the 

 remaining trees should be cut out. 

 They will then be large enough to be 

 of considerable value as poles. The 

 survivors will then develop good crowns 

 and increase rapidly in diameter. 



A remarkable feature of this planta- 

 tion is that an unsound or dead tree 

 was not found in the entire number. 

 The twig moth has attacked the West- 

 ern Yellow Pine and the Scotch Pine 

 to a considerable extent, destroying the 

 terminal buds. In a few instances the 

 Jack Pine has been similarly attacked. 



