FOREST THINNING AND ITS RESULTS. 



BY 



WILLIAM F. HUBBARD, 



FIELD ASSISTANT, BUREAU OF FORESTRY. 



PART I. 



THERE are few forest problems in thinning necessary to produce the most 



which a general knowledge of lucrative intermediate yield and the best 



the practice of thinning is not of assist- results from the final yield in the short- 



ance, and as soon as an intensive forest est time.*' 



system becomes practical it is of the Part I deals with the theory arid prac- 

 greatest importance. The necessity of tice of thinning ; Part II will give the re- 

 lessening the fierce struggle in the forest suits obtained from definite experiments, 

 for the survival of the fittest is evident together with a few notes concerning 

 to all who have had any experience in the adaptation of these to American 

 woodcraft, and even in this country a conditions, 

 few wood-lot owners have developed 



ideas on the subject generally without PART I---THE THEORY AND PRACTICE 



ever hearing of the art of forestry. The OF THINNINGS IN EUROPE. 



value of thinning being apparent in a A> _ _ The Valuc of Thinningm 

 general way, we find that its origin 



dates as far back as the history of for- A normal stand of coniferous timber 



estry itself, and that it was one of the on first-quality soil begins with about 



first branches of the art to become sys- 4,000 trees to the acre, but at maturity 



tematized. As early as the sixteenth (100-120 years) there are seldom more 



century thinnings were planned by a than 300 trees, of which only 200 to 150 



regular method in certain parts of Ger- belong to the final merchantable yield of 



many, and from that time they became saw timber. It seems an enormous waste 



more and more general in Europe. of time and energy to plant such a num- 



When forestry became an art, in the ber and yet have only one-tenth or less 



latter half of the eighteenth century, of them pay the bulk of the expense and 



the theory and practice of thinning re- the final profit. Yet there is no other 



ceived a large share of attention, and method possible. The object of a forest 



from the beginning of the nineteenth system is to obtain the greatest amount 



century to the present day there have of timber in merchantable form per 



been definite experiments to determine given area in the shortest time. If 



the increased increment and quality of fewer trees are planted to the acre the 



timber resulting from different methods. resulting mature specimens have not the 



Although experiments have covered so cleanness of shaft and fullness of form 



wide a period, itis strange that little defi- necessary for good lumber. If this fact 



nite information has appeared until needs proving, a British example may 



quite recently, and as yet only in the be cited. By the crude methods of 



European forest periodicals and experi- forestry in Great Britain the woods are 



ment station reports. Even the Ger- planted wide and heavily thinned, so 



man text-books are lackingin exact data ,. ,, 



,, ,. ... . * The authorities used are : Manuscript notes 



and reports on the subject, while in from the i ec tures of Professors Buehler and 



English there is nothing known to the Lorey at Tuebingen ; Ph. Flury in vol. vii, 



writer beyond a few general principles. Mitteilungen der Schw. Centralanstaltfuerdas 



The Object of the following two papers For f}' Versuchsewesen ; M Kunze in Tha- 



.11 ... randter Forstl. Tahrbuch, vol. 4=5; Piofessor 



is to give the latest results of experi- Lorey in the Forst and Jas?dt Ze i tungi and c. 



ments showing the proper degree of Laschke, History of Thinnings. 



(268) 



