FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 101 



least valuable species, such as maple, gum, or beech shall be chosen in 

 preference to the valuable ones, such as poplar, chestnut, or linn. 



6. Only the inferior species must be used for necessary logging pur- 

 poses, such as construction of skids, slides, bridges, tram roads, flumes, 

 etc., and such material must be paid for at the price agreed upon. 



7. Saw timber for flume construction will be paid for at a fixed 

 price per thousand feet. Chestnut and hemlock as well as the inferior 

 species shall be used for this purpose. 



8. Right of way for flumes or tram roads over the seller's land will 

 be allowed to the purchaser free of charge during the life of this con- 

 tract, but where they cross a road adequate and satisfactory crossings 

 must be constructed by the purchaser. 



9. All improvements constructed by the purchaser on the seller's 

 land which are not removed within months after the expira- 

 tion of this contract, shall become the property of the seller. 



10. Fire must be kept out of the woods, the purchaser to be held 

 responsible for loss from any fire on his sale area. 



11. Title to the timber shall remain in the seller until it has been 

 scaled, measured, or counted, and paid for. 



FOREST EXTENSION. 



Abundant reproduction of seedlings or sprouts, or of both, is gen- 

 erally obtained after cutting.* Therefore in forested land artificial 

 reproduction will seldom be necessary. But land which has once been 

 cleared, and which is no longer being used for agriculture, frequently 

 reverts to forest very slowly. In order, therefore, to put such land 

 to a profitable use and prevent its rapid deterioration through erosion, 

 it may often be advisable to resort to artificial reforestation. 



Artificial reforestation may be effected by two methods : first, by the 

 planting of young trees grown in a nursery; and second by the sowing 

 of seed directly in the area to be reforested. 



PLANTING. 



The surest way to secure a satisfactory stand of forest trees is to 

 plant the young trees. The most precarious time in the life of a tree 

 is from seed to two or three years of age. This period is rendered 

 safer by the use of nursery grown material. But since planting is more 

 expensive than sowing, a careful study is necessary to determine which 

 of these operations is best. 



Planting in the mountains should usually be done in the spring as 

 soon as the ground can be worked. In this way growth starts imme- 



*In the spruce forest this is true only if fire is kept out. 



