8 THE WHITE PINE 



tious, for those trees which first showed decay 

 at the butt were in almost all cases standing 

 in open positions, with very large crowns, broad 

 annual rings, and porous wood ; while the old 

 timber in dense groups mixed with hemlock 

 was remarkably free from disease. 



On the other hand, the wood of old trees 

 which have grown rapidly and homogeneously 

 possesses qualities of preeminent value for cer- 

 tain uses. 



The lumber length of a tree increases with 

 the diameter. In the table which follows the 

 lumber length is regarded as the length from 

 the level of the ground to the uppermost end 

 of the merchantable timber, which was taken at 

 the point determined by the actual practice of 

 the lumbermen in each case. For the sake of 

 convenience in determining the lumber length 

 of standing trees- the stump has been disre- 

 garded. 



This table presents in another form the re- 

 latively smaller loss from trees of large diame- 



