50 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



The average acre shows the following age class relations. 



Average Number of Trees per Acre of the Various Species and 

 Age Classes — Swamp Type (2 Acres) 

 Species — 



Black Ash 



Cedar 



Balsam 



YeUow Birch 



Hemlock 



Black Spruce 



Ehn 



Maple 



Basswood 



Total. . . 

 Per cent . 



The Coniferous T5rpe 



The coniferous forest type, as presented on the accompanying 

 maps and in the appended tables, is composed of three distinct types : 

 the hemlock type, the pine type, and the coniferous swamp type. 

 Taken together, they occupy to-day only a small area, less than 5 per 

 cent of the total woodland. Only a few acres are virgin ; about one- 

 third is moderately culled, while four-fifths of the area is severely 

 culled. The second growth and young growth occupy about one- 

 eighth of the coniferous forest type. 



The hemlock type is found in patches on low land surrounding 

 lakes throughout the area, but is most extensive in the northern portion. 

 The largest block in the southern portion of the area is found in western 

 Anstruther and eastern Cavendish. No sample plots were made in 

 this type, but it is safe to say that three-fourths of such stands is hem- 

 lock. 



Some 500,000 acres, or 57.3 per cent of the forested area were once 

 occupied by pine, chiefly white pine, but, owing to repeated fires, 

 following limibering operations, the pine forests now exist only in re- 

 latively small patches. Such as do exist are advanced second growth 

 from 60 to 100 years old ; the original virgin pine has been practically 

 eUminated from the area. 



Sample plots were made in a stand of white pine between 60 and 

 70 years old in the township of Marmora. The stand had occupied 

 about 57 acres and had been recently cut. The pine occupied two site 

 classes, the ridges and the flats between the ridges. The soil, a sandy 

 loam, averaged 17 inches in depth on the flats and 8 inches on the ridges. 

 From the former site, 150 trees per acre, averaging 11.9 inches in dia- 

 meter had been taken, while, from the latter, 55 trees per acre averaging 

 1 1.5 inches in diameter had been removed. The average yield per acre 

 was 3,400 board feet. Fire scars on the trees revealed the fact that the 



