THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 129 



SECTION TWO 



DISTRIBUTION OF CUT 



To make the actual annual cut conform directly to the 

 cut as determined, i.e., to cut yearly the exact amount speci- 

 fied in the working plan, is neither possible nor desirable. 

 Unforeseen contingencies, both silvicultural and economic, 

 often necessitate an overcut one year, an undercut the following. 

 If the working plan must be flexible even under European 

 conditions which allow the forester to decide the " where " 

 and " when " of cutting, how much more is it necessary in 

 America, where the " where " depends on profitable acces- 

 sibihty and the " when " on market conditions. 



It therefore suffices entirely to keep within the allowed cut 

 for the working period of ten or twenty years — the period 

 of years during which the working plan is intended to apply — 

 and to make no attempt to cut one-tenth or one-twentieth 

 thereof each year. In other words: a periodic sustained yield 

 rather than an exact annual sustained yield should be the 

 aim. 



For similar reasons, a great flexibihty must be allowed in 

 the selection of the actual cutting areas. The working plan 

 properly lists certain areas to be cut within the working period 

 of ten or twenty years — the time before the next revision of the 

 working plan — but these cannot be rigidly adhered to, cannot 

 in Europe, and much less so in America. European experience 

 has brought about a great liberality in this regard — the executive 

 officer in charge of the forest is given freedom of choice as to 

 what areas he wishes to cut each year of the working period,* 

 this yearly cutting plan is viseed and approved by his superior 

 officers, otherwise he has carte blanche to exercise his judgment. 



* With due regard, of course, to supplying local needs for timber and to a 

 proper distribution of classes of timber so as to keep values from fluctuating 

 and to provide industries dependent on the forests with the timber they 



