108 



Canadian Forestry Journal, July-Auyust, 1912 



of which are supplied all prospective buyers. 

 The auctions take place in some neigh- 

 bouring town, each range distributing its 

 annual yield of from three to four million 

 board feet among five or six sales. The 

 district revenue officer fulfills the duties of 

 auctioneer, and either the conservator him- 

 self or one of his assistants is present to 

 assist and determine upset jjrice when 

 necessary. 



The purchaser of a lot of timber re- 

 ceives a check, authorising him to remove 

 his purchase, payment being made direct to 

 the district revenue office. 



Owing to the proximity of the con- 

 sumer, prices in Saxony are high, averag- 

 ing .$7.78 per thousand feet, board measure, 

 for total fellings and $10.25 for merchant- 

 able tind;>er. This is, of course, free of all 

 cost of removal. Firewood brings only $2.86 

 per cord. These prices are for the year 

 1909. With the cost of i)i"oduction absorb- 

 ing 36 per cent of the gross income, the 

 net profit per acre was for the same year 

 $6.06, bringing a revenue of over $2,500,000 

 inti) the Saxon treasury. 



Eegeneration of the Woods. 



For successful natural regeneration, fre- 

 quent and good mast years are sine qua non. 

 Owing to the short summer in the hills and 

 to the effects of factory fumes generally, 

 this recpiirement is seldom, if ever, ful- 

 filled for the conifers. In the case of 

 beech woods, however, natural regeneration 

 is practised with success, though a good 

 deal of after-culture is necessary. But, as 

 the state forests are, for the most part, 

 conifeious, clear cutting combined with ar- 

 tificial regeneration is general in Saxony, 

 both sowing and planting being practised. 

 Formerly pine woods were almost always 

 regenerated from sowings, though now the 

 planting of yearlings is gaining favor. For 

 spriu;-e, ])lanting is better suited and this 

 method is generally followed. 



Sowing. — The usual method is to cul- 

 tivate in the autumn, hacking strips al)out 

 one ft. broad and from three to four ft. apart 

 (these figures depending on species, lo- 

 cality and growth of weeds) and sow these 

 prepared strips in the spring. For pine 

 about four pounds of seed is required per 

 acre, and for sjiruce about twice that quan- 

 tity. Pine seed costs about 50c per pound, 

 ■«hile spruce seed is much cheajier, costing 

 from 20c to 40c. The total cost depends 

 on the nature of the ground, quantity of 

 veeds, distances, etc., and varies lietween 

 $3.50 and $5 per acre. 



Planting. — The method of cultivation 

 used for sowings may be followed here, 

 though it is more customary to hack 

 patches or holes. The ground may with 

 advantage lie prepared for planting in the 

 autumn, though it is not so necessary as 

 it is for successful sowino-. The plants are 



put into the ground as late as possible in 

 the spring so as to obviate the risk of sj^ring 

 frosts. As regards spruce, two to three 

 year old seedlings are commonly used, and 

 three-to- four-year-old transplants in un- 

 favorable localities. In the case of pine, 

 which develops a much larger and more 

 vigorous root system, one- or two-year-old 

 seedlings are the rule. Under favorable con- 

 ditions it is customary to plant yearlings. 

 These are preferable to two-year-olds, for 

 the reason that they are very much cheaper 

 to plant and do not suffer so much during 

 the process. For exceptionally unfavorable 

 localities, use is made of two-to-four-year- 

 old transplants. The number of plants 

 varies from 2,500 to 4,000 per acre, ac- 

 cording to local conditions and the size 

 of the plants. The cost of planting differs 

 so much under different comlitions, that it 

 is impossible to give any representative fig- 

 ures. The cost of preparing the ground 

 and planting may, under normal circum- 

 stances, lie between $10 and $15 per acre, 

 but may rise, under abnormal circum- 

 stances, as high as $20 to $30. This is 

 exclusive of the cost of the plants them- 

 selves, which are, as a rule, raised on the 

 range. It is usual to have one or two 

 permanent nurseries placed at ])oints easy 

 of access, and several temporary nurseries 

 distributed about the range. It is recom- 

 mended in the general rules contained in 

 the working plan to lay out a temporary 

 nursery on or in the immediate neighljour- 

 hood of each felling area whenever pos- 

 sible. In this way all ordinary needs of 

 the range in this direction are satisfied. 

 Any surplus is sold and, in the event of the 

 stock not being sufficient, ]>lants or seed- 

 lings are bought in as required from pri- 

 vate or government nurseries in the vicinity. 



The following prices per one hundred 

 are averages taken from the 1911 annual 

 price-list of nursery stock for sale on the 

 different government ranges, published by 

 the ^Minister of Finance: — 



Spruce : yearlings for transplanting, 4 to 

 5c ; two-year-old seedlings, 7c ; three-year- 

 old seedlings, 8 to 9c; four-year-old seed- 

 lings, 9c; three-year-old transplants, 12 to 

 20c, and four-year-old transplants 15 to 25c. 



Pine: yearlings, 5c; two-year-old seed- 

 lings, 7c; two-year-old transplants, 9 to 19c, 

 and three-to-four-year-old transplants, 15c. 



Dr. Fernow's forest survey of the Trent 

 water-shed has been going on satisfactorily 

 during the sumnu^r, and it is expected that 

 it will be concluded al)out Sept. 15. Let- 

 ters received from members of the party 

 indicate that they had a good deal of diffi- 

 culty with wet weather during the earlier 

 ]>art of the season. Up to midsummer they 

 had seen very little timber except maple, 

 the greater part of the country having beeu 

 burnt over. 



