2l6 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



birch, and poplar may all be found on this class of land, usually 

 in pure or nearly pure stands. Red spruce is the most common 

 tree. The soils here are of medium to good quality and the 

 growth correspondingly rapid. Where spruce forms the stand 

 the growth will often average a cord of pulpwood per acre per 

 year. For example, one acre of spruce of the old field type, 

 measured in New Hampshire, gave the following figures: 



Age of the stand 65 years 



Height of the stand 60 to 65 feet 



Number of trees 5 inches or over in diameter 627 



Cutting to a 4-inch top the yield was 69 cords of stacked pulpwood. 

 Growth per year 69 -^ 65 = 1.06 cords. 



Stands yielding 40,000 to 50,000 feet, board measure, per acre 

 are sometimes found. 



The type has the smallest area of any in the region, and is 

 relatively more abundant in Vermont than elsewhere. 



Methods of Handling the Forest. 



In forestry work throughout New England and especially in 

 the spruce region, measures best for the forest from the theoreti- 

 cal standpoint often cannot be undertaken, owing to obstacles 

 of a practical nature. The forester directs his efforts to securing 

 continuous crops of timber on the land and to increasing the 

 productive power of the forest, but frequently the distance from 

 markets and poor facilities for the sale of timber force him to 

 employ some method not altogether the best for the good of 

 the forest. His work is often a compromise between an ideal 

 system and methods the lumberman has found practicable. 

 The intention in these pages is to advise measures which are 

 practicable, and at the same time improve the condition of the 

 forest. 



The object of forest management in the spruce region is in 

 general the production of spruce. This is the tree to favor over 

 all others. Occasionally in special types of forest other trees 

 should be favored, but such cases are in the minority. 



