30 BULLETIN 426^ U. S. DEPAETMEKT OF AGKICULTUKE. 



fir-sugar pine types of which tkis species forms a part. They were 

 prepared from data collected on the Plumas Forest (Plumas County, 

 Cal.) during 1912 and represent results on areas of average pro- 

 ductiveness.^ 



These tables indicate that the maximum volume is produced at 

 300 years in the yellow-pine type and at 460 years in the fir-sugar 

 pine type. The highest rate of volume production, however, occurs 

 at 180 years in the former type and at 280 years in the latter. 



- MANAGEMENT. 



The manner in which any tract of forest land is handled depends, 

 of course, entirely upon the wishes or necessities of its owner. If 

 present financial considerations demand it, clear cutting of all mer- 

 chantable trees must be practiced. Some lumbermen, by following 

 this poHcy, jeopardize the future of the forest, encoiu^age species 

 of low value, and postpone a second cut for at least a centmy. If 

 esthetic considerations govern, then expenditures may be made 

 which will never yield a direct monetary retmii. If, however, the 

 owner desires to make his manufacturing business permanent and is 

 wilhng partially to subordinate present to future returns, he must 

 determine what classes of trees can be most profitably left to furnish 

 seed, shade, and a second cut ; what protective measures are necessary 

 and practicable to prevent the destruction of the trees left, both 

 during logging and later; and what amount he can spend annually 

 or periodically in artificial reforestation or thinnings if necessary. 

 There is a marked tendency now toward close utihzation of all pines 

 cut, toward leaving trees that are evident!}^ immature, and toward 

 protecting the remaining stand from fii^e and insects. 



High taxes tend to prevent the practice of management on private 

 lands. Natm^ally lumbermen can not afford to hold land for a second 

 cut when taxes and other carrying charges will in the meantine 

 amount to more than the possible prospective profit. With low 

 taxes and carrying charges operators can afford to leave and to 

 protect young trees and trees of inferior species until they become 

 more valuable. Since lands in Federal ownership are not burdened 

 with as heavy carrying charges as private holdings, and since it is the 

 evident duty of the Government to experiment and lead in the field 

 of forestry, the cuttings on the National Forests are natm'ally the best 

 examples of present-day forest-management methods. 



NATIONAL FOREST METHODS. 



The following principles govern cutting in the sugar-pine type on 



National Forests: 



It is the general aim to improve the forest by cutting so as to put 

 it in condition to produce a sustained yield in future years when that 

 becomes necessary. 



I S88 Appendix to Plumas Working Plan, by Barrington Moore, forest assistant, February, 1913. 



