BtEEAU OF FORESTBY. 115 



tunity for experimentation which is offered combine to give this piece 

 of work peculiar usefulness. 

 The working plan deals mainly with the following points: 



(1) An accurate estimate of the stand of merchantable timber. 



(2) A study of the rate of growth of the Longleaf Pine. 



(3) A system of fire protection and the organization and instruction 

 of a fire service. 



(4) A plan to foster and increase the reproduction of the Longleaf 

 Pine. 



(5) Where lumbering operations should begin, how they should be 

 carried on, to what extent the timber should be cut, what yield should 

 be expected, what would be the expense of cutting and marketing 

 under proper rules, and what financial results might be expected. 



The preparation of the working plan for .a tract of 10,000 acres on 

 Grand Island , Michigan, gave useful results. The field work necessary 

 for a working plan occupied a party of 6 men fo ■ two months. The 

 stand was actually measured upon 301 acres, and 299 measurements 

 of contents and rate of growth were made upon felled trees in addi- 

 tion to careful silvicultural studies of the more important species. 

 The forest is composed of hardwoods of large size, which, from the 

 nearness of a strong market, are of high value. There is here an 

 unusually good opportunity for conservative forest management, upon 

 a paying basis from the start. 



The tract of the Moose. River Lumber Company, of 15,000 acres in 

 Herkimer County, N. Y. , was studied by a party of 4 men for four 

 months, and the data necessary for a working plan were collected. 

 The area is equally divided between virgin and cut-over land. On 

 the latter there is a fair amount of small spruce among the first growth 

 of hardwoods, while the former contains in addition a fine stand of 

 mature spruce. The Moose River Lumber Company operates its own 

 mill at McKeever, and can therefore manufacture its own product 

 without the expense of long transportation for its logs. The unusu- 

 ally good opportunity for conservative forest management rendered 

 the preparation of a working plan for this tract of decided importance. 



The sixth tract upon which the Bureau completed field work during 

 the past fiscal year includes 150,000 acres of the 275,000 acres in north- 

 western Maine which belong to the G-reat Northern Paper Company. 

 The field work occupied a party of 20 men for four months. It included 

 complete measurements of the stand upon 3,303 acres, and of the vol- 

 ume and rate of growth upon 900 felled trees. Careful study was 

 made of the Red Spruce and Balsam, which are here, both commercially 

 and in number of individuals, the most important trees. The chief 

 problem in the management is so to modify the present methods of 

 lumbering that the Spruce may hold its own in the reproduction on 

 cut-over areas. A part of the field work was the preparation of a maj) 

 of the tract to show the topography and the burnt-over lands, the 

 lumbered areas, the virgin forest, and the forest types. 



The field work necessary to a working plan for the 15, 000-acre tract 

 of Mr. E. H. Harriman, near Arden, N. Y., was begun April 1 and 

 completed June 15. It was carried out entirely bj^ 9 students, con- 

 stituting the senior class of the Yale Forest School, under the imme- 

 diate direction of Prof. Henry S. Graves, formerly assistant chief of 

 the Division of Forestry, and still a collaborator of the Bureau. A 

 forest map of the entire tract was made, as well as a careful study 

 of the forest, by which its character, condition, present stand, and 

 future yield were ascertained. 



