lyo REPORT OF THE 



necessary measurements, with a thorough study of the habits and repro- 

 duction of the principal species, constitutes the chief field work incident 

 to the preparation of the working plan, while the plan itself sets forth 

 the advised method and manner of treatment. 



In this study of a portion of the Adirondack Preserve, the intention 

 has been to devise a system whereby the forest may be utiHzed without 

 sacrificing the objects for which the Preserve is held. 



In the preparation of a forest working plan, the first step is necessarily 

 a thorough study of the quality and amount of the merchantable timber 

 and of transportation and market. A definite understanding of these things 

 is necessary alike for the lumberman and for the forester. It is the basis 

 on which each of them must form his judgment as to the amount of timber 

 on the land, the diameter limit to which he may cut, the area to be logged 

 over, and the probable profits to be obtained. Such a study of the whole 

 situation is essential if the work is to be financially profitable. 



There are, however, two points of view from which this situation may be 

 regarded. The lumberman is primarily interested in the present crop and 

 seeks the most profitable method of harvesting all the merchantable timber 

 with little or no thought for the future. The forester, on the other hand, 

 is concerned not only with the profitable lumbering of the mature timber, 

 but with lumbering it in such a way that the forest may be lumbered again 

 and again. In these two points of view lies the radical difference between 

 the lumberman and the forester. 



The forest working plan is dependent on a knowledge of the future 

 growth of the commercially important trees, for on the amounts which 

 can be cut in the future, and on the time which must elapse before such 

 cuts can be made, depend in large measure what the present cut shall 

 be, how much shall be lumbered, and how many years must intervene 

 between cuts. It is highly important that the figures on which these esti- 

 mates are based should be accurate. To insure this, a very careful method 

 of estimating standing timber has been adopted by the Division of Forestry, 

 by which not only is the stand of merchantable timber found, but also 

 the stand of the smaller trees from which the future harvests are to come. 

 The method is explained in detail later (page 25). The estimates of future 

 yield are made by counting on felled trees the annual rings on the stump 

 and at the top of each log, by careful diameter and height measurements, 

 and by other means which aid in reading the life history of the trees. From 

 a large number of these measurements tables are constructed, showing the 



