252 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



region the ratio of acreage of small holdings to large ones is 

 much below that indicated in the figures given. 



Besides such large owners of land as lumber companies, pulp 

 and paper concerns, should be added in Maine another class of 

 large owners, namely, individuals or companies owning timber 

 land, but not themselves operating the lands. They are owners 

 who sell stumpage and in the Maine section are an important 

 class of owners. Formerly the number and relative importance 

 of this class was greater than it is to-day. In fact, the trend of 

 ownership is away from individuals who hold stumpage toward 

 corporations who conduct their own logging operations. As a 

 rule the timberland owner selling stumpage should be inclined 

 favorably toward conservative cutting. He desires to secure a 

 steady income (received often periodically) from his timber- 

 lands and to do this must cut conservatively. He does this in 

 ordinary practice by specifying in the logging contract a diam- 

 eter limit below which size trees may not be cut. This is, of 

 course, a crude method of securing proper cutting, but it serves as 

 an indication of the right attitude. As knowledge of the proper 

 and practicable methods spreads it is to be expected that owners 

 selling stumpage will improve their selling contracts. The dif- 

 ference in attitude between the ordinary lumberman and the 

 pulp and paper mill has been discussed already under "Indus- 

 tries." The tendency is for the holdings of pulp and paper mills 

 to increase, by the absorption of lands belonging to lumber 

 companies. 



The area of 28,000 acres listed as owned by hotel companies 

 in northern New Hampshire is worthy of mention, because this 

 class of owners is increasing. Their control means either re- 

 serving the forest for its scenic value without any cutting or 

 an extremely light and conservative culling. In the latter case 

 they become an extremely desirable class of owners. 



Another thing characteristic of land and timber ownership 

 in the spruce region is that the ownership of the land and of the 

 timber usually lie with the same person or company. Ownership 

 of the land by one party and of the timber by another is an 



