782 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Oak, basswood and cherry will also be tenth year should easily pay for them- 



favored. These are the most valuable selves. It is planned, also, to plant up 



and rapidly growing species, and all will some open waste areas and part of the 



find a ready market in the near vicinity, tract where the forest cover is not suf- 



There is an especially good market in ficiently dense with white pine, Norway 



the neighboring cities for poles, posts, pine and Scotch pine. The city forest 



ties, cordwood, and box-boards. The is especially well favored in its location 



soil and site conditions, moreover, are and soil conditions for successful forest 



very favorable for forest growth. The plantations, and there is every evidence 



species that will be discriminated that these species can be brought to 



against are the hemlock, soft maple, merchantable size in from thirty to fifty 



aspen, beech, and ironwood, owing to years, depending upon the kind of 



their slow rate of growth, difficulty of product that is desired on the markets, 



silvicultural treatment and relatively in- The portion of the tract to be planted 



ferior quality of wood produced. consists largely of stony old pastures 



In putting the tract under scientific and fields once covered with apple 



forest management the first operation orchards. Already young seedlings of 



was to make a topographic map of the oak, ash, elm and poplar are appearing 



area to ascertain the boundaries and the in them. It will be more desirable and 



configuration of the land. Along with profitable, however, to plant these areas 



this, an estimate was made to determine to white, Scotch or Norway pines on 



the character of the forest and to take account of their rapid growth and high 



stock of the amount of cordwood and technical quality of the wood product, 



lumber that is now standing on the particularly with the white and Xor- 



tract. way pines. For permanent forest man- 



For the purposes of fire protection, agement, it will undoubtedly be more 

 trails three feet wide were cut down to profitable, in the long run, to introduce 

 mineral soil on the boundaries, where these rapidly growing conifers rather 

 no protection such as the lake and roads than to continue with pure hardwoods, 

 were afforded, to prevent destructive Generally speaking, hardwoods are 

 surface fires either from coming over comparatively slow in growth and do 

 from adjacent timber land or from not grow so densely in the forest. This 

 spreading from the city forest. An im- consequently means a greater yield with 

 provement cutting was next made to the conifers in a shorter length of time, 

 clean out all the dead, diseased and In Europe the most splendid exam- 

 insect-infested trees and to discriminate pie of successful forestry is found in 

 against the inferior in favor of the more the Sihlwald, the city forest of Zurich, 

 desirable species. In this operation, an in northeastern Switzerland. This has 

 excellent opportunity was given to dis- yielded an annual income per acre of 

 play the fine points of the forester's $7.57. Many municipal forests in Ger- 

 knowledge of the proper handling and many have yielded a net income of over 

 improvement of woodlands. In connec- $5.00 per acre annually, after all ex- 

 tion with this work four permanent ex- penses of administration and protection 

 perimental plots were laid out for the have been deducted. In comparison 

 purpose of studying the rate of growth with agricultural yields, these figures 

 of the different species and the effects are not proportionately high. However, 

 of different methods of silvicultural when we consider that these forests are 

 treatment. occupying soils wholly unsuited and 



Based upon evidences of a rapid rate unfit for tillage or more valuable pur- 



of growth as a result of unusually fa- poses, it is an excellent return on the 



vorable soil conditions, the growth is capital invested. In addition, these 



estimated to be at least one cord of forests are serving a real purpose in 



wood per acre per annum. With care- putting otherwise waste lands to profit- 



ful treatment this rate of increment laid able use, in equalizing the stream flow to 



on each year should be materially in- prevent floods and in providing a cheap 



creased. Thinnings made about every and abundant fuel and lumber supply. 



