40 FOREST REGULATION 



today emphasizes its value when he says : "The division of a forest 

 into suitable lots ('Wirtschafts figuren') must be considered as one 

 of the most important tasks of the field work." (Page IV, For- 

 steinrichtung.) 



The necessity of such a subdivision and of having all informa- 

 tion by definite, small tracts is fully appreciated today by the 

 lumberman who demands information by "forties'', in spite of the 

 fact that his interest in the particular area or forest ceases with the 

 cutting of the merchantable timber. 



The forty as a unit of land division, of course, came into the 

 timber business through the practice of the United States Land 

 Office which has long used the forty as a unit of land area and 

 land disposal. 



Intensive forestry has found it advantageous to subdivide to 

 areas even below 40 acres, and few European foresters would 

 recommend lots larger than 160 acres even on poor sites, and in 

 rough country. 



The form of the lot (or compartment) should be as simple as 

 possible ; in level country the rectilinear form, twice as long as 

 wide, with long axis perpendicular to the direction of the prevailing 

 wind, is quite generally employed. In mountains the form becomes 

 irregular, but too great irregularity lessens the value of the division 

 and usually adds to cost of division and still more, its maintenance. 



The Division, the Lot (compartment) is a land division, it is 

 permanent ; it does not change with operations of Silviculture, etc. ; 

 it is independent of the stand of timber on the land, or its condition 

 of type, age, etc. Usually it is recommended to include in one Lot 

 only one type of forest, only one kind of land, etc., but this is not 

 always practical. Thus in the Great Lakes Pinery it is a common 

 thing to find on one So-acre tract conditions as per diagram, figure 2. 



In this case, three distinct kinds of land, leading to three dis- 

 tinct kinds of woods occur on the 8o-acre lot. To separate these 

 three types along the crooked lines of the border of the swamp would 

 not help things, but rather complicate. Here the lot as land division 

 includes three types, three sites, and the forester in his description 

 and in future treatment separates these three as Sub-lots. 



Sub-lot is a stand-division within the Lot. In the above case 

 the three Sub-Lots are permanent, but this is not always the case. 



