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FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



for the first forty to fifty years of the rotation. Older stands 

 should be considered as belonging to the hardwood type. 



Fig. 93. — An old field which seeded up to hardwood and now contains an irregular stand 

 of yellow birch, cherry and maple. The larger trees should be cut. (Liberation 

 cutting.) 



5. Old-Field Conifers. ■ — This is another old-field type, not 

 so important in area as the previous one, but of considerable 

 value, due to the coniferous timber which it furnishes. This 

 type is found only in the higher portions of the region where the 

 soil is apt to be less thoroughly drained than is that on which 

 the old-field hardwoods occur. Spruce is the principal conifer 

 in the type, often forming pure stands and occupying most of the 



