CONTROL OF GIPSY MOT1T BY FOREST MANAGEMENT. 41 



The other 11 species, some of them important as timber trees and 

 some from the standpoint of moth resistance, were represented on 

 this lot by too few trees to be important in any plan of management. 



The soil is good, a brown sandy loam, deep, moist, and well 

 drained, and the lot is level, except for a small area where water 

 stands late into the spring. It is free from rock or loose stones. 

 When the demand for agricultural land increases sufficiently this 

 lot undoubtedly will again be cleared and cultivated. The trees 

 averaged 4.9 inches in diameter breast high, the same as the Dover 

 stand, but this area was poorly stocked, the stand being very dense 

 in some places and much too open in others, with an average of 321 

 trees per acre. The infestation by the gipsy moth was verjr severe in 

 1913. Several of the white pines were almost bare, with the needles 

 eaten back almost to the sheath. Others were from one-half to three- 

 fourths defoliated. 



The present growth is very irregular in size, and if the stand were 

 not infested it is not likely that any owner would consider forest 

 management or would cut the lot before 20 years from now, at which 

 time the hardwoods could be cut clear without loss, although the 

 product would be only cordwood. But if management were begun 

 now the object would be to get rid of the less valuable hardwoods, 

 especially gray birch, and release the pine and more valuable hard- 

 woods by thinning. 



Since the stand was infested and Class I trees (most favored food 

 of the caterpillars) formed only 45 per cent of the stand, to cut clear 

 now, as was recommended in the stands previously discussed, would 

 be an unnecessary waste of good species well started. Nor can suc- 

 cessive cuttings be recommended in stands of this character. If the 

 danger of soil exposure were serious enough to warrant the ex- 

 pense, the Class I trees might be removed in two successive cuttings 

 as previously described ; but when, as in this case, 55 per cent of the 

 stand consists of trees in Classes II, III, and IV, the soil exposure, 

 considering the small area involved, would probably not be a con- 

 trolling factor. 



Gipsy-moth cutting. — Immediate protection against further dam- 

 age by the gipsy moth can be secured by what may be called a 

 " gipsy-moth cutting." 



In its effect upon tree species which are favored food of gipsy- 

 moth caterpillars this resembles a damage cutting in that silvicul- 

 tural considerations are wholly disregarded as far as these species 

 are concerned. All Class I trees of whatever species are removed, 

 whether of merchantable size or not. At the same time any dead 

 trees are cut, and a light thinning, combined with a liberation 

 cutting, is made in the trees of Classes II, III, and IV. To be 

 effective this must be followed by planting some moth-resistant 



