THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 135 



unforeseen contingencies making the cutting of certain areas 

 impractical or allowing a higher cut than was originally intended. 

 Under fairly regular conditions the cutting plan may cover the 

 next twenty years, or even forty years, but under average Amer- 

 ican conditions this is little better than a useless ''play. Nor, 

 under most American conditions, is it necessary or advisable 

 to prorate the increment to the middle of the cutting period. 

 Such corrections had best be left to frequent revisions of the 

 working plan at regular intervals. 



The general cutting plan should take the form * on preced- 

 ing page: 



II. The specific cutting plan for the ensuing year, calendar 

 or fiscal, is drawn up by the administrative officer in charge of 

 the forest and submitted by him to his superior officers (if he 

 has any) for approval. Thus it is really a part of administration 

 and not of forest organization, yet it is closely linked thereto. 

 The administrator, through his intimate knowledge of the forest 

 and of the exact status of local conditions of logging, market, 

 etc., selects from out the general cutting plan those areas which 

 in his judgment should be cut during the ensuing year. On 

 large forests he usually consults each ranger on the subject. f 

 A convenient form for the annual cutting plan is as follows: 

 This can be printed or otherwise manifolded and serve as a 

 permanent record. (See next page.) 



In the following table, column 4 contains the estimated 

 volume to be cut during the year. If instead of compartment 

 10, compartment 96 had been chosen, with its 540 M. of spruce, 

 the value in column 4 would have been set as directly equal the 

 allowed annual cut, or 120 M. Column 5 is always the volume 

 actually cut. Column 6 is merely for convenience in checking 

 the results of estimates as a guide to their accuracy. When 



* The figures are taken from the General Stand Table, Chapter I, Section 2, 

 above. 



t In Prussia the Oberforster (supervisor) calls on each Forster (ranger) for 

 an annual cutting plan for his district. These he then combines for the whole 

 forest. 



