Some Common Hardivoods. 



399 



!ias to be settled. A study of the mature or over mature forest 

 was first made in order to determine the number of mature trees 

 per acre. The largest number of trees found per acre was forty- 

 one, and the next best area averaged 39.5 trees per acre. 



Fig. III. 



Fig. III. is a survey of 1.7 acres at the Ada Creek, a tributary 

 of the Latrobe River. 



From the plan it will be seen that the trees are very unequally 

 «paced, and that thei-e are gaps in the forest. The crown canopy 

 is not complete, and all thei sun's energy is not being used for tree 

 growth. From a long study of the crowns I came to the conclusion 

 that a final spacing of 32 feet was suitable for these trees. This 

 is not very great when we consider the height to which these trees 

 grow. It may be objected that many trees, in fact numbers, do 

 not form so big a crown. This is so; but these big trees with so 

 small a crown are not thrifty trees, as they have not the leaf area 

 to make a laige amount of wood. These small crowns are due to 

 the severe struggle for exi>^tence, but in a controlled forest the 

 struggle would >>e relieved by thinning, and hence the trees would 

 carry well formed crowns. 



