No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 357 



Thinnings. 



Six thinning operations along strict forestry lines have been 

 undertaken the past few months, two of which are about com- 

 pleted. One of these, the W. T. Porter lot in Dover, Mass., 

 containing 50 acres, was stocked with a stand of such nature as 

 to make very careful work necessary in order not to injure 

 much of the young growth. A large part of the area was 

 heavily stocked with white and pitch pine of all ages up to 

 eighty to ninety years, also pasture birch, large red and white 

 oak, mapl^, ash, chestnut, etc., all growing in a very mixed 

 manner. Since much of the area was badly moth-infested, 

 nearly all of the white oaks were removed. Also all pitch 

 pine and pasture birch were removed from the tract. All told, 

 several thousand feet of white pine, pitch pine and oak were 

 felled, besides about 200 cords of wood. 



The logs brought the following prices on the lot: white 

 pine, $10, pitch pine, $8 and oak, $15 per thousand. The cord- 

 wood when sold should bring about $3.50 per cord on the lot. 

 Regardless of the fact that operations were necessarily expen- 

 sive on account of the badly mixed nature of the growth, it is 

 thought that on the larger part of the tract expenditure and 

 returns will be about even. 



Mellor Lot. 

 Operations of a thinning nature have been started recently 

 on the 175-acre tract of Mr. Alfred Mellor, in Cummington, 

 but will not be completed for some time. The area is stocked 

 with a heavy growth of mixed hardwoods and conifers of good 

 size. There is much to do on this piece of woodland property 

 to place it in the condition desired by the owner. In certain 

 places where trees have been cut and logged by the old methods 

 there are, as is usually the case, quantities of slash left as a 

 breeder for forest fires. Much of this will be cleaned up and 

 burned this winter. The trees on the property are of such size 

 that much of the work to be done in the future should be 

 carried on at a profit to the owner, whose intention it is to do 

 about one-tenth of the work each year. This is probably the 

 first piece of woodland thinning ever carried on in Cummington. 

 It is hoped others will follow Mr. Mellor's lead. 



