THE EASTERN HEMLOCK. 29 



unfit for lumber. In connection with the prevailing "butt rot/' 

 this has made necessary the custom of cutting high stumps and sawing 

 off the butts until they reveal solid wood. Where there is a market 

 for pulpwood, high stumps and butts left in the woods represent a 

 great deal of unnecessary waste. 



HEMLOCK IN FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



Hemlock grows too slowly and is of too little commercial value to 

 be recommended for planting or for encouragement among natural 

 second growth as a timber tree. An understory of hemlock, how- 

 ever, like one of spruce or fir, is useful for soil protection, especially 

 in stands of oak, chestnut, pine, and other species, when these do 

 not themselves cast a sufficiently heavy shade. As a decorative tree 

 for parks it is very desirable, and its heavy foliage and shade endur- 

 ance give it exceptional value for the protection of stream sources. 



The management of hemlock will ultimately be restricted to lands 

 useless not only for agriculture but also for growing many kinds of 

 commercial timber. Poorly accessible mountain lands, where log- 

 ging is difficult and expensive, can well be devoted to raising hemlock 

 and other slow-growing timber through long rotations and to large 

 sizes. The expense entailed by such a procedure, however, will ordi- 

 narily be too great to warrant private investment, and the manage- 

 ment will therefore be a State problem. In such places lumber pro- 

 duction will tend to become secondary to protection as an object of 

 management. 



Hemlock's tolerance of shade adapts it for growth as a subordinate 

 stand among other kinds of timber. In such cases it materially in- 

 creases the yield per acre and at the same time protects and enriches 

 the forest soil, thereby tending to accelerate the growth of the other 

 species. 



To increase the proportion and accelerate the growth of hemlock 

 in the mixed stands where it is now found, the selection ("single- 

 tree") method of management is best. This involves the removal at 

 stated intervals of scattered mature trees or small groups of trees, 

 and should not open up the stand enough to endanger it from wind- 

 fall or from too sudden access of light and air. On steep slopes the 

 cutting must be especially light, to prevent erosion. Besides accel- 

 erating the growth of the hemlock understory by admitting light, the 

 system also insures a constant growth of timber without the long, 

 unproductive period of reestablishment which follows clear cutting. 

 In all selection cutting the branches should be lopped and scattered. 



Pure or nearly pure hemlock second growth should be thinned 

 very lightly and often, so as to insure to each tree a good supply of 

 light and growing space. Additional thinnings should be made when- 

 ever the crowns close together. 



