34^ FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



The stands are even-aged in form and almost entirely of 

 sprout origin, although a few seedling trees can usually be 

 found. 



The type yields all classes of forest products, such as cord- 

 wood, ties, poles, piles, and lumber. The kind of product, and 

 the yield at a given age, depend greatly on the quality of the 

 site, cordwood being the only product of the poorest soils. 

 The percentage of chestnut in the stand greatly influences the 

 yield of lumber and particularly of poles, piles, and ties, as 

 many of the other species are not used for these purposes. 

 Until recently reliable figures on the yield of the type had not 

 been secured, but in 1910 the Connecticut Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, in cooperation with the United States Forest 

 Service, made a thorough study of the growth and yield of the 

 type.^ 



Generally speaking, in stands of pure chestnut a growth of 

 about one cord per acre per year may be counted on in all but 

 the poorest stands, while in stands of pure oak the growth rarely 

 exceeds eight-tenths of a cord per acre per year on the better 

 sites and may be as low as a quarter of a cord on poor soils. 

 Maximum yields of lumber for stands containing a high per- 

 centage of chestnut run between 20,000 and 25,000 feet, board 

 measure. In Connecticut it has been estimated that 30,000 feet, 

 board measure, is the maximum possible yield on average soil 

 for a pure chestnut stand (planted) at the age of seventy years. 

 It is interesting to contrast this with the yields secured from 

 unmanaged stands of pure white pine (see page 306) . At seventy 

 years a pine stand gives 55,800 feet, board measure, per acre 

 on soils of average quality. These pure chestnut stands, the 

 most productive in lumber of the hardwood types in New Eng- 

 land, are by many persons erroneously considered to be as 

 rapid growing as white pine stands. Actual figures prove quite 

 the contrary and illustrate the great superiority of the white 

 pine. 



2. Hemlock. — ^The hemlock type is not one which covers a 

 ^ See Bull. 96 U. S. Forest Service. 



