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FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



ging for better products; second, to clear cuttings of inferior 

 hardwood species and of valuable hardwoods growing on sites 

 where they cannot produce better products; and third, to thin- 

 nings. An ample supply of fuel could thus be secured. 



One of the chief reasons for the cutting of young and middle- 

 aged stands for cordwood is to supply brick and lime kilns and 

 brass plants with wood for fuel and use in manufacturing proc- 

 esses. In northwestern Connecticut the making of lime is an 



Fig. 137. — Chopping out a thinning. Mixed hardwoods type, about 60 years of age, 

 with a yield of 35 cords per acre, 8 cords per acre removed in the thinning. 



important industry, while through the central part of the State 

 are many brick yards. Brass plants are found in the Nauga- 

 tuck valley of Connecticut. All these industries consume large 

 quantities of cordwood and the owners often buy up young and 

 middle-aged stands for the special purpose of cutting the trees 

 into cordwood. 



Ownership of Woodlands. — The sprout hardwoods is essen- 

 tially a woodlot region and will always remain in that class. 

 Practically all the woodland was at one time owned in connec- 

 tion with the farms. At the present time a good many tracts, 

 large for the region, have been acquired. These are owned by 

 wealthy men, in connection with their summer homes, or by 



