THE SPRUCE REGION 251 



lands they have been influenced to cut more conservatively and 

 to secure adequate protection. 



Character of the Land and Timber Ownership. — The character 

 of the ownership of the land and timber in a forest region is al- 

 ways of interest from the forestry standpoint, since it often has 

 a bearing on the methods of management which may be em- 

 ployed. Usually conditions of ownership differ widely in the 

 several forest regions and in a way serve as a distinctive charac- 

 teristic of a region. 



The region under discussion is characterized by the large size 

 of the individual holdings as compared to the other portions of 

 New England. There are a number of holdings comprising 

 several hundred thousand acres apiece, and holdings of from 

 20,000 to 100,000 acres are numerous. A large part of the land, 

 however, is owned in small holdings of less than 1000 acres in 

 extent. The proportion of large to small holdings is greatest 

 in the Maine section and smallest in the Vermont section. 

 Figures showing the character of the ownership are not available 

 for the entire region. For the New Hampshire portion, however, 

 data secured in 1903-4 by the United States Forest Service,^ are 

 available, and are here given to show the approximate areas 

 owned by different classes of landowners in northern New Hamp- 

 shire in that year. 



Lumber companies 400,000 acres 



Pulp and paper mills 500,000 acres 



Agricultural land 244,000 acres 



Hotel companies 28,000 acres 



vSmall holders of forest land 756,000 acres 



Total 1 ,928,000 acres 



These figures cover approximately the New Hampshire area 

 in the spruce region. It will be seen that small holdings form 

 the largest single class, but that lumber companies combined 

 with pulp and paper mills own a larger acreage. New Hamp- 

 shire stands midway between the Vermont and Maine sections 

 in per cent of small holders, and undoubtedly for the whole 



^ See Bulletin 55, Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture. 



