CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE YIELD TO BE EXPECTED FROM NEW ENGLAND FORESTS 

 UNDER PROPER MANAGEMENT. 



The previous chapters have brought out the fact that New 

 England has large areas of waste land suitable for forest growth 

 but now bare, and has even greater areas of forest land, only 

 partially stocked or occupied by slow-growing species or those 

 of inferior value for which trees of higher value and faster 

 growth could be substituted advantageously. Reckless cutting, 

 forest fires, and the grazing of stock are largely responsible for 

 the deplorably bad silvicultural conditions of many stands. The 

 woodlands of New England on which forestry actually is prac- 

 ticed are, as explained in Chapter XVII, insignificant in amount 

 compared to the total forest area. 



For these reasons it follows naturally that the present annual 

 growth must fall far below what the forest lands of New Eng- 

 land are able to produce. The object of this chapter is to com- 

 pare present annual growth with what may be expected from 

 the same territory when the forests are placed under scientific 

 management. 



Estimating the annual growth for the forests of New England 

 is, in the present state of knowledge, no easy task, and all that 

 can be done is to obtain an approximation to the truth. In 

 Circular No. 159, entitled, "The Future Use of Land in the 

 United States," the United States Forest Service estimates the 

 annual growth per acre for the forests of the United States at 

 twelve cubic feet.^ This average for the whole country is be- 



^ Cubic feet are chosen as the unit for this discussion because it more accurately 

 expresses the entire growth of a forest than do other units, especially board feet, 

 in which unit there is oftentimes no growth over extensive areas. 



408 



