Conservation Commission. Ill 



season. Snow and ice will also last much longer under lopped 

 tops. 



Objection 7. That lopped tops seriously interfere with the re- 

 production on a cut-over area. It was ascertained that whether 

 the tops are lopped or not, ahout ninety per cent, of the branches 

 which are cut from the trees are cut from the saw logs or pulp- 

 wood, which leaves the forest as merchantable material, and these 

 limbs are necessarily more or less piled and form the conditions 

 which tend to prevent reproduction. The addition of ten per cent, 

 or less of the material, which is a result of the lopping, cannot 

 decrease the amount of reproduction more than ten per cent. 

 In the case of Ne-ha-sa-ne park, where the tops were lopped, was 

 noted one of the finest examples of spruce reproduction to be 

 found in the Adirondacks. 



Numerous examples were found which show that lopping does 

 not kill all of the seedlings which have started, and furthermore, 

 that not only are they able to grow up through the debris, but 

 new ones are able to start. 



Objection 8. That the operator should be reimbursed for his 

 increased outlay if tops are to be lopped. The basic principle of 

 this law is that lumbering increases fire danger and that the person 

 who operates is responsible for the change. It has been necessary 

 to enact laws in many lines that limit various business enterprises 

 or direct how they are to be conducted. In none of these cases 

 does the State itself pay for the increased burden imposed upon 

 the parties affected. The land owner derives better fire protection 

 and the laws operate in his favor in case an adjacent owner is 

 lumbering, as well as against him when he himself cuts. 



Objection 9. The cost of lopping is too great. The cost as given 

 by lumbermen varies from fifteen to fifty cents per cord. The 

 first figure is probably more nearly correct, as it has been the 

 custom since the law went into effect to pay jobbers an additional 

 five cents per market or fifteen cents per cord to lop tops and 

 several jobbers have been heard to say that they could make a 

 little money at this figure. The lopping of tops on the Webb Pre- 

 serve about twelve years ago cost approximately eight cents and 

 the job was perfectly done. The cost of lopping varies from ten 

 to twenty-five cents per cord on different operations, but the 

 average is probably not over fifteen cents. 



